United States Senator Joe Manchin visits Boone Memorial Hospital

On Friday, May 31st United States Senator, Joe Manchin visited Boone Memorial Hospital in Madison, West Virginia. Senator Manchin took a tour of the facility followed by a round table discussion with hospital leaders.

During the tour, Manchin visited patients and stopped by various departments including The Black Lung Center, Pulmonary Rehabilitation Center, Surgery, Emergency Department and Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy/Rehab One.

Hospital Representatives included Chief Executive Officer, Virgil Underwood; Chief Operating Officer, Mark Linville; Chief Development Officer, David Gresham; Chief Financial Officer, Chad Hovis; Chief Nursing Officer, Terri Castle; Executive Director of Ancillary Services, Angie Christian; Owner of Rehab One/BMH Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy, Shannon Snodgrass; Director of the BMH Healthy Lifestyle Program, Kathy Hill, APRN, FNP-BC and Marketing & Public Relations Director, Karlie Belle Price.

Those in attendance from the Office of US Senator Joe Manchin included Mara Boggs, State Director and Representatives Audrey Smith and Michael Browning. Local and State leaders included State Senator Ron Stollings, MD; Mayor of Madison, Honorable Sonny Howell; Boone County Assessor, Scotty D. Cook and Boone County Clerk, Roger Toney.

Chief Operating Officer, Mark Linville was proud to lead the tour.

"The new hospital involved years of planning. To see it come to fruition and to share this rare gem of the coal fields with United States Senator Manchin was an honor."

Manchin was very complimentary of the facility and staff.

"I am highly impressed. This hospital is top of the line. It's beautiful, clean and most importantly the staff is passionate about the care they provide. It's truly an excellent facility."

Manchin shared important resources regarding black lung. He continues to fight against funding cuts for Black Lung benefits and for miners' pensions. In addition, Manchin praised Boone Memorial for its efforts towards promoting preventative medicine and healthy lifestyles.

Hospital CEO Virgil Underwood was pleased to find the hospital's efforts are in line with Senator Manchin's vision for the future of healthcare.

"At Boone Memorial, we are focusing on tying together prevention with the cure as well as the opioid crisis and economic development needs," said Underwood. "We have already developed a very successful healthy lifestyle program and have future plans focused on prevention. Our goal is to change the overwhelmingly negative health statistics plaguing our area."

"I support Boone Memorial's efforts to promote preventative medicine," said Manchin.

"Boone Memorial is on the move," said Underwood. "We are working diligently to create healthier lifestyles among our citizens and look forward to implementing new programs in the near future," he concluded.