WHEELING — WVU Health System’s board of directors approved on Wednesday nearly a half-billion dollars in capital investments, with a healthy chunk of that coming to Wheeling.

WVU Health System will invest $460 million in projects around West Virginia, the health system announced Wednesday. The projects, all subject to regulatory approvals, will be in Berkeley, Jefferson, Ohio, Harrison, and Nicholas counties.

“We want to be a top-quartile academic health system,” said WVU Health System President and CEO Albert Wright Jr. “We take our mission very seriously, if there are investments that we can make that improve healthcare in West Virginia and ultimately improve the health of our population.”

The two Wheeling projects – a new regional cancer center on the old Ohio Valley Medical Center campus and a new pediatric outpatient center on the campus of WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital – have been public knowledge for a while, but Thursday’s announcement included dollar figures and prospective completion dates.

The regional cancer center is expected to cost $122.6 million with an anticipated completion date of October 2028. The center will be a four-story, 127,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that will consolidate cancer services at WVU Medicine Wheeling and Reynolds Memorial hospitals. The new center will include infusion therapy, radiation oncology, imaging, labs, specialty clinics, and space for future expansion.

The pediatric outpatient center is expected to cost $16.6 million with an anticipated completion date of November 2026. It will be a 21,000-square-foot, one-stop outpatient pediatrics facility with 38 exam rooms, dedicated well- and sick-child zones, lab and imaging spaces, lactation rooms, after-hours care, and an Austin’s Playroom sponsored by the Mario Lemieux Foundation.

Wright said this investment in Wheeling reinforces WVU Health System’s belief that the Friendly City is an integral hub within the entire health system.

“Wheeling is one of our major markets,” Wright said. “As we put resources in Wheeling, we’re able to attract great physicians there. And we really have pulled the thread of those institutes, the Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital. Morgantown is always busy. If we can take great care of patients in Wheeling, it’s better for us, it’s better for them.

“It’s a formula that we find is a winning solution,” he added.

The Eastern Panhandle also finds itself with a significant investment from WVU Health Systems, more than half of the total approved Wednesday.

The health system is spending $200.9 million to build a new patient tower at WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center. The new tower will increase inpatient bed capacity from 190 to 316 and eliminate all semi-private rooms. It also includes a replacement linear accelerator for cancer treatment, redesigned emergency department flow, and 300 additional parking spaces. It is estimated to be completed in the first quarter of 2028.

WVU Medicine Jefferson Medical Center will see an expansion of its ambulatory campus, costing $60 million with an anticipated finish in the fourth quarter of 2027. The project includes a three-story building with medical office space, ancillary services, and shelled space for future growth. Renovations within the hospital will create a new infusion and cancer care suite that will be part of the WVU Cancer Institute. The plan also includes significant infrastructure modernization and improved parking access.

In Harrison County, WVU Medicine United Hospital Center will see a new $48 million outpatient surgery center to be completed in December 2026. It will include eight operating rooms (four initially active), pre-and post-op recovery areas, same-day total joint replacement capabilities, and shelled space for future growth. The operating rooms will be orthopedic-focused but can also accommodate other specialties.

The WVU Medicine Summersville Regional Medical Center will see a $16 million outpatient services expansion to be completed in September 2026. It will transform a former extended care facility into a modern space that will serve as a branch campus of the WVU Cancer Institute with oncology and infusion services. The facility will also offer rehabilitation therapies, cardiac rehab, nuclear medicine, and pharmacy operations. It will include updated waiting areas and improved patient wayfinding.

“I thought it was neat that our board today was especially proud of the fact that all of this $460 million in investments, none of them are in Morgantown,” Wright said. “They’re in different parts of the state. That’s a big part of our 2035 strategic plan, growth in breadth and depth of services in all parts of the state, not just in Morgantown.”