Mountain Health Network and WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital announce collaboration milestone

Monday, May 3, 2021

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 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,” said Mike Mullins, FACHE, CEO, Mountain Health Network.” 

“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 III 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 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.