T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA A sign at the now-shuttered East Ohio Regional Hospital shows the services that are no longer available in Martins Ferry. Other upper Ohio Valley medical facilities are preparing for increased workloads as EORH patients seek care elsewhere.

After weeks of uncertainty, East Ohio Regional Hospital officially closed its doors Thursday night, the impact of which is rippling through the surrounding healthcare landscape.

Local hospitals are preparing for larger patient loads during an abnormally busy year, while first responders say they expect longer transport and wait times for emergency medical services.

Cumberland Trail Fire Captain Jeremy Rife said it is normal for his department to take multiple patients to EORH a day as it is one of the closest facilities for them. Now, having to drive patients further to WVU Medicine Barnesville or Reynolds Memorial hospitals will make turnaround times for EMS longer.

The closure will also have a ripple effect on local hospitals who will be forced to take on more patients than usual, Rife said.

“I think one of the biggest things is that it’s going to overwhelm other hospitals and cause them to possibly have to go on diversion more often and they’re just going to have to work a lot harder to get patients through that can no longer go to EORH,” Rife said.

OR&W Fire Chief R.C. Fellows echoed this concern, noting that a particularly bad flu and COVID season has already been overwhelming hospitals in recent months.

“The hospitals have been overloaded right now regardless and with taking an ER away from us it’s going to really impact all of these hospitals because they’re getting more and more patients and we’ve been busier than we’ve probably ever seen before,” Fellows said.

Patients with a preference for EORH or who have providers there are also being forced to make changes, Rife said.

“There are a lot of patients that prefer to go to EORH now they’re having to switch up where their doctors are and stuff like that and just try to find different options,” Rife said.

Health Department Deputy Commissioner Robert Sproul emphasized that Belmont County is already an area with a shortage of physicians.

“Any time we lose medical services it is a detriment to the county. So it’s very sad to see [EORH] close because there’s a lot of services, a lot of care that they’re providing to the community,” Sproul said.

“As a health department our job is to fill the gaps and help the community in any way we can.”

Sproul said the county leaned on EORH for things like infectious disease reporting and general medical services, much of which will now be diverted across the Ohio River. He said he hopes Wheeling-area hospitals can sustain the increase in patient load.

He also noted how difficult it is to get a hospital up and running again after a closure, which EORH has already seen once before in its troubled past.

“Anytime we lose these services, it’s hard to get it back. The first time [EORH] closed, look how long it took to reopen. The worry is, how long will it take for another entity to move into that facility to provide care to the county again? That is a concern,” Sproul said. “It’s just a sad day, that’s for sure.”

A statement from WVU Medicine – which has Wheeling, Reynolds Memorial, Barnesville and Weirton hospitals in its fold – extended “good thoughts and prayers to fellow caregivers and support staff” at EORH.

The statement said WVU Medicine’s hospitals are prepared to take on the additional patient load – and potentially offer jobs to some of the laid off EORH healthcare staff.

“Our hospitals and clinics in eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia stand ready to care for East Ohio’s patients, and we encourage the hospital team members to explore opportunities to join our team at WVUMedicine.org/Careers,” the statement read.

The Ohio Department of Transportation said counties will soon work to remove EORH from highway signs indicating that it is the nearest hospital.