Hoops Family Children’s Hospital and WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital form clinical affiliation

HUNTINGTON, W.VA. — Hoops Family Children’s Hospital and WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital have entered into a clinical affiliation designed to promote effective and efficient access to one another’s programs, capabilities, and best practices. Together, they share the goal of providing an enhanced level of high-quality, affordable, and accessible, comprehensive care for the children and families of West Virginia and the surrounding region. 

Hoops Family Children’s Hospital and WVU Medicine Children’s will partner to raise funds for the children and families who seek care at their respective hospitals. Hoops Family Children’s Hospital will benefit from Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals^® fundraising under the umbrella of WVU Medicine Children’s, which has been the state’s only CMN hospital for more than three decades. CMN is a national organization that raises funds and awareness for its 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada.  

This new collaboration will help grow and maintain nationally recognized pediatric care at Hoops Family Children’s Hospital in Huntington and WVU Medicine Children’s in Morgantown. 

Mountain Health Network CEO Mike Mullins, FACHE, announced the affiliation with WVU Medicine Children’s as an important milestone in better serving the thousands of children throughout the southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southern Ohio region. 

“Through this important collaboration, we will be better able to advance education, services, equipment, and, ultimately, outcomes for children,” stated Mullins. “We are grateful to join our colleagues at WVU Medicine Children’s in this initiative to increase funds and awareness for two West Virginia children’s hospitals that enhance the high quality care for children in our region.”

“When a child is injured or becomes ill, it causes a great deal of stress for the family. Finding the appropriate healthcare for that child should not be an additional stressor. Through this partnership, we are ensuring that families all across West Virginia and the surrounding region have convenient access to high quality healthcare in all corners of the state,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System, said. “By raising funds for our respective children’s hospitals, we can care for every child and family that walks through our doors.” 

Children’s hospitals rely on donations and community support, as Medicaid and insurance programs do not fully cover the cost of care. Three-quarters of the hospitals’ young patients receive some sort of government assistance. By Hoops Family Children’s Hospital and WVU Medicine Children’s joining together, each community can support its local children’s hospital via a number of CMN Hospitals’ partner campaigns.  

Hoops Family Children’s Hospital, located at Cabell Huntington Hospital, a member of Mountain Health Network, includes 71 beds: A 36-bed Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a 25-bed general Pediatrics Unit, a 10-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and a Neonatal Therapeutic Unit. WVU Medicine Children’s, currently located on the sixth floor of WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, includes a 32-bed acute care unit, a 19-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, a 39-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and a 29-bed Maternal Infant Care Center. In 2021, WVU Medicine Children’s will move into a nine-story, 150-bed hospital that will be attached to Ruby Memorial. 

About Mountain Health Network 
Mountain Health Network  is a West Virginia-based not-for-profit health delivery system comprised of Cabell Huntington Hospital, a 303-bed teaching hospital for Marshall University Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing; St. Mary’s Medical Center, a 393-bed teaching hospital that operates St. Mary’s Schools of Nursing, Respiratory Care, and Medical Imaging; Hoops Family Children’s Hospital, a 72-bed pediatric specialty hospital within Cabell Huntington Hospital; and a management agreement with Pleasant Valley Hospital, a 101-bed hospital. Mountain Health is committed to improving the health and well-being of over one million children and adults in 23 counties in West Virginia, southern Ohio, and eastern Kentucky through understanding, respecting, and meeting their needs. To learn more, visit www.mountainhealthnetwork.org. 

About the West Virginia University Health System  
The West Virginia University Health System, West Virginia’s largest health system and largest private employer, is comprised of 16 hospitals – its flagship hospital, J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, including its Fairmont Medical Center campus in Fairmont; Barnesville Hospital in Barnesville, Ohio; Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg; Braxton County Memorial Hospital in Gassaway; Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg; Harrison Community Hospital in Cadiz, Ohio; Jackson General Hospital in Ripley; Jefferson Medical Center in Ranson; Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser; Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Glen Dale; St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon; Summersville Regional Medical Center in Summersville; Uniontown Hospital in Uniontown, Pennsylvania; United Hospital Center in Bridgeport; Wetzel County Hospital in New Martinsville; and Wheeling Hospital in Wheeling. It also provides management services to Garrett Regional Medical Center in Oakland, Maryland, and Princeton Community Hospital in Princeton. The WVU Health System also includes five institutes – the WVU Cancer Institute, the WVU Critical Care and Trauma Institute, the WVU Eye Institute, the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, and the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. For more information, visit WVUMedicine.org.  

About Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals 
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals^® raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals that support the health of 10 million kids each year across the U.S. and Canada. Donations go to local hospitals to fund critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services, along with innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, child life services that put kids’ and families’ minds at ease during difficult hospital stays, and financial assistance for families who could not otherwise afford these health services. When we improve the health of all children and allow them the opportunity to reach their full potential, we also improve our communities for years to come. Together, we can change kids’ health. Together, we can change the future. To learn about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and your local children’s hospital, visit cmnhospitals.org. 

For Media Inquiries:

Lisa Chamberlin Stump, Chief Strategy Officer, Mountain Health Network, 304-399-6742, lisa.chamberlin@mhnetwork.org
Angela Jones-Knopf, Corporate Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs, WVU Health System, 304-285-7259, knopfa@wvumedicine.org