Dr. John Johnson sees promise in what others have abandoned.
Alecto Healthcare Services closed East Ohio Regional Hospital in 2019. Johnson bought it. Just last week, the facility reopened its doors.
Johnson also bought the landmark Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel building in downtown Wheeling, which had been vacant for years. He’ll work with developer Steve Coon to turn it into a new apartment building, with the city constructing a new parking facility close by.
The total project will be as much as a $31 million investment in the city’s future.
Too often in recent years, the Ohio Valley has seen businesses and people depart, seeking fortune elsewhere while the people who remain try to fill the holes left in the community.
Dr. John Johnson sees promise in what others have abandoned.
Alecto Healthcare Services closed East Ohio Regional Hospital in 2019. Johnson bought it, just last week, the facility reopened its doors.
Johnson bought the landmark Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel building in downtown Wheeling, which had been vacant for years. He’ll work with developer Steve Coon to turn it into a new apartment building, with the city constructing a new parking facility close by. The total project will be as much as a $31 million investment in the city’s future.
Too often in recent years, the Ohio Valley has seen businesses and people depart, seeking fortune elsewhere while the people who remain try to fill the holes left in the community. Johnson, though, looks around and sees potential. He sees a community aching for someone to invest in good people, and he has done that on both sides of the Ohio River.
SHELLEY HANSON Staff writer
MARTINS FERRY Four hours into East Ohio Regional Hospital’s opening day on Thursday and the facility already had three to four ambulances come in and three patients admitted, according to Bernie Albertini, chief operating officer.
And the facility and its 400 employees are ready for more.
Since last May when it was announced that Dayton-based psychiatrist Dr. John Johnson had purchased EORH, local residents have been eagerly awaiting the day it would open again.
“We made it,” Albertini said with a smile.
EORH and its former sister facility, Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, were shuttered in fall 2019 by former owner Alecto Healthcare Services of California. It was devastating news for the Ohio Valley not only because of the job losses, but because two major hospitals were now gone.
For The Times Leader
Photo Provided
EAST OHIO Regional Hospital’s doctors pose for a photo during the facility’s reopening Thursday. From left are Drs. Jeremy Edgmon, Michael Tatro, Tim Genetta and David Shaffer. The hospital had been closed since September 2019.
MARTINS FERRY Within four hours after East Ohio Regional Hospital reopened Thursday, the facility already had received three to four ambulances and had admitted three patients, according to Bernie Albertini, chief operating officer.
And the hospital and its 400 employees are ready for more.
“I’ve been telling people there are no detours on Ohio 7,” Albertini said, referring to the construction-related Interstate 70 detours in Wheeling, home to Wheeling Hospital. “Come see us.”