Photo by Craig Howell A banner showing the logos from both Weirton Medical Center and WVU Medicine hung above Friday’s ceremony.

WEIRTON — With the transition of Weirton Medical Center into a full member of the West Virginia University Health System set to become official Jan. 1, hospital officials met Friday morning to sign the final documents.

Representatives of both WMC and WVU gathered in the hospital’s atrium to watch as John Frankovitch, WMC president and CEO, and Albert L. Wright Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System, put their names on the final portions of the agreement.

“Weirton Medical Center has been an integral part of the community for 70 years,” Frankovitch said, with the hospital tracing its history to the opening of Weirton General Hospital in the city’s Weircrest neighborhood in the 1950s.

The current facility, renamed Weirton Medical Center, was built on a 20-acre campus on Colliers Way, opening its doors in 1978.

Frankovitch said, with the transition into the WVU Health System, it will ensure quality, community healthcare is available for Weirton and surrounding communities for years to come.

“We’re ensuring that commitment continues for the next generation,” Frankovitch said.

Discussions for the transition began in 2020, with the launch of a clinical affiliation, with officials announcing the decision to become a full member of the system in March.

Albert noted, if looking at most health metrics, West Virginia often ranks between 45th and 50th, with WVU Medicine looking to address those issues through improving both the quality of healthcare available to the people of West Virginia, and the opportunities for education in the healthcare fields.

He said, while the transition becomes official at the beginning of 2025, it will be a gradual process, with not much change noticeable immediately.

In time, though, new programs will be implemented, new services will become available, and facilities throughout the WVU Health System will be able to compare procedures and systems to see where improvements can be made, in Weirton as well as in other parts of the state where WVU Health System operates.

“Over time, we will learn from each other,” Albert said.

In addition to the change from an independent, non-profit hospital to being part of the WVU network, hospital officials announced in November changes in leadership at the Weirton campus, with Frankovitch set to retire from his position. David Artman, the hospital’s current chief operations officer, has been tapped to step into the top local role beginning Jan. 1.

A more formal celebration of the changeover is being planned for late January.

Albert noted Weirton Medical Center will be the 25th hospital to join the WVU system, with the majority of their facilities — 21 — located in West Virginia. Other locations are in operation in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western Maryland.

Locally, WVU Medicine also has a lab location in Wellsburg, with a series of facilities in the Wheeling area including WVU Medicine-Wheeling.