WVU Medicine Children's Gala raises funds for new 10th floor clinic
In the event center itself, vines hung from the ceiling. Palm fronts, tropical flowers and animal sculptures decorated the tables. Jungle noises filled the air.
It was the 21st annual WVU Medicine Children's Gala, titled Into the Jungle.
This year's gala will raise money for the children's hospital 15, 214-square-foot Children's Outpatient Clinic to be built on the hospital's 10th floor, next to the Jeff and Vicky Hostetler Family Resource Center.
The clinic will take shape in shell space on the 10th floor, and will consolidate outpatient services via a dedicated clinic space to streamline care and access for patients and their families.
The project will build out new clinical space for existing services, including medical weight management, neurology, neurosurgery, pulmonology, sleep disorders, plastic surgery, trauma, surgery and their associated multidisciplinary clinics and procedure spaces.
Last year's gala raised $1.45 million and they hope to top that this year, hospital leaders said.
Amy Bush, chief administrative officer of WVU Medicine Children's, said about 1, 300 people were expected to attend and more than 87 sponsors contributed.
Planning a gala begins as soon as the prior one ends, she said. They go into full planning mode about six months out.
"This event is a combination of so many people from the WVU Medicine Children's Foundation, our hospital team and hundreds of community folks who come out and volunteer either with their time, decorating, or giving of their money, sponsorships, " she said.
And the gala helps the hospital's overall mission, she said. "We want to build healthier futures for the kids. We want to be able to give them access to care here in our home state."
Michael Grace is president and CEO of WVU Hospitals and explained the importance of the gala.
Children's hospitals mostly don't make money, he said. And while WVUMC doesn't exist to make a profit, there is a need to generate a positive bottom line. "Events like this really contribute to and help our ability to do things like renovate the 10th floor."
Galas have generated just under $10 million over the last 20 years, he said.
Dr. David Rosen is WVU professor of pediatrics and anesthesia, head of pediatric cardiac anesthesia and vice chair for research in the Department of Anesthesia. He was title sponsor for the evening, reflecting his financial support for the event.
He's bee at WVU for 33 years, he said. "This has been special, I've been able to watch the children that I care for grow up."
He mentioned patients who he took care of as babies who met, married, and had a baby that he also cared for. "I live for these kids, to give them their life possibilities."
Pediatric services are spread across the medical campus, he said. The centralized clinic will be more comfortable and enhance the experience for the kids and their families.
"You just feel better when you walk in the door of Children's Hospital, " he said. "It's where I need to be, it's where I'm going to be cared for, as opposed to being shuffled all over the campus."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dominion Post
09-08-2025
- Dominion Post
Medical student debt: A look at where WVU stands and what it means
dbeard@ MORGANTOWN – Out of 160 medical schools across the country, WVU's ranks 86th for the amount of average student debt among graduates, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges published in Becker's Hospital Review. WVU medical school's average debt load for students graduating in 2024 was $188,892. Marshall University's medical school ranked 113, with an average $161,652, according to the AAMC. Both schools fare better than the national average of $212,341. The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine confers D.O degrees rather than M.D. degrees and was not included in the list. The Dominion Post talked to Clay Marsh, chancellor and executive dean of WVU Health Sciences, about what the numbers mean. We'll take a closer look at the figures and then get marsh's perspective on them. According to AAMC, Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans had the highest average debt load, at $317,890. University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine in Texas had the lowest load, at $33,993. Seven schools had an average $0 debt load, for various reasons. Nationally, 71% of medical students carry some debt, with 56% carrying more than $200,000 worth. At WVU, 89% carry debt. For Marshall, it's 96%. Medical school costs can exceed doctoral training costs for other professions, and Marsh said there are several reasons for that. One is supply and demand. Last year, WVU had 6,500 applications for 115 slots. WVU, he said, prioritizes West Virginia resident students first, then non-residents with close West Virginia affiliations, and then out-of-state students with no state affiliations. Last year, 145 West Virginia students applied. 'We're proud of that,' he said. They want to have all qualified West Virginia students accepted into WVU or Marshall or the osteopathic school, and stay here and serve the state. Another factor contributing to costs is the instructors, he said. Many of them are physicians or healthcare workers who are well compensated. 'We don't want to see our students have any more debt than is necessary,' he said. Based on national figures, WVU's tuition is right on target for out-of-state students and a little below average for in-state students. 'But it's still very expensive and I do think that that's an important opportunity for us for the future, is to figure out how to make medical school or other professional schools more affordable.' Does medical student debt contribute to high healthcare costs? Marsh said U.S. spending on healthcare last year was $4.6 trillion – more than $14,000 per person, which is twiceas much as the average Western country, but we still have lower health outcomes. There are many factors contributing to those costs and the role of student debt isn't clear, he said. But debt can play a role in which area of practices students choose. Lower-paying specialties may make it harder to pay off debt – approximating a house mortgage without the house – and could lead them to decide not to serve in rural areas or not to go into lower-paying specialties. Becker's published an article on Doximity's Physician Compensation Report 2025 which includes a ranking of specialties by pay. Neurosurgery is at the top, at $749,140 per year. Pediatric endocrinology is at the bottom, at $230,426. But general pediatrics, family medicine and internal medicine are also in the bottom 20 – at $265,230, $318,959 and $326,116, respectively. The Becker's story raised a new issue that will play a role in student debt: the One Big Beautiful Bill recently passed by Congress. It includes federal loan caps of $200,000 staring in July 2026, and ends the federal Grad PLUS loan program, which allows students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, including living expenses. Becker's speculates that this could lead some considering a medical career to choose another field, and contribute to the physician shortage. We asked Marsh if he thought the OBBB will play such a role, and he said, 'I think it's going to play a huge role.' Students will face a challenge without other sources of money, such as scholarships, parent contributions or schools offering tuition and fee reductions. Rural areas are a significant issue in healthcare, he said, and combining these loan measures with OBBB's changes to Medicaid, rural areas will face more challenges and pressures. 'That really is going to require us all to be creative and try to understand what may be additional measures to try to help students and others who want to enter the field of patient care.' We asked if WVU is considering some measures. He named a few. WVU has a MATTER track – the Mountaineer Accelerated Track to Enter Residency. Qualifying students who want to complete their specialty training residency in the state have the opportunity to finish medical school in three years instead of four. In MATTER's first year, he said, five participated. Last year, more than 20 applied. With the accelerated medical school program, students can save money and reduce their debt load. WVU and Marshall both have an accelerated track where a student applying for an undergraduate degree can also apply for medical school at the same time. They can complete their bachelor's in three years, and with MATTER could finish medical school in three years – a total of six instead of eight – thus reducing their debt. This is an option for a small number of the more extraordinary students. Another possibility is a student agreeing to some years of service in West Virginia in in exchange for tuition forgiveness or having some portion of the loans paid off. Marsh noted that students who do their residency training here are more likely to stay here – about 77% – compared to those who train for their specialty out of state and return, just 7%. 'We, like others, have actively worked to try to reduce student debt,' he said. The conversation ended on a positive note. The most recent federal jobs report, he said, shows healthcare jobs staying in equilibrium. This means healthcare is an area of tremendous growth for jobs and economic development. 'We see our role as being able to create pipelines for our health system and other health systems in the state so we can meet the needs of our citizens with the highest skilled professionals,' he said. It's WVU's responsibility to continue to perform at higher and higher levels, including finding ways to reduce student debt.
New York Times
08-07-2025
- New York Times
Lung Cancer Screening on Wheels
West Virginia's back roads — two lanes, carved into steep mountainsides — were never meant for LUCAS, a 68,000-pound tractor-trailer that brings lung cancer screening to the most rural parts of the state. Lung cancer is the deadliest type of cancer in the United States, claiming about 125,000 lives each year — more than breast, colorectal and cervical cancers combined. Though lung cancer screening by CT scan can be lifesaving and insurers are required to cover it, the test is a little-known option. Less than 20 percent of eligible people get screened, compared with the 70 to 80 percent who get mammograms, colonoscopies and Pap smears, federal data shows. These challenges are exacerbated in West Virginia, which has the highest smoking rate in the country and a largely rural population without easy access to a hospital with lung screening. Half of its lung cancer cases are not caught until Stage 4, when treatment options are limited. LUCAS, which is run by the West Virginia University Cancer Institute, hit the road in 2021. It was the first fully mobile lung cancer screening unit in the country. 'We have to be more creative about bringing health care to people,' said Dr. Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, the institute's director. 'As opposed to always forcing them to us.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Full Interview: WVU student who saved friend's life with CPR
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — A West Virginia University student and Monongalia County paramedics were honored on Wednesday for their quick action that helped save a teenager's life. Back in February, Mason Solliday, a sophomore nursing student at WVU, gave his friend CPR after he suffered a cardiac emergency outside the MountainLair on WVU's Morgantown campus. Solliday continued CPR until first responders arrived and took over and was 'integral' in saving his friend's life, according to paramedics. In an interview with 12 News, Solliday said, 'Everybody's like checking for a pulse, he's unresponsive, I kind of get my way in there next to him, kneeled beside him. Kind of rub on his sternum a little bit, yelled his name, had no response whatsoever, felt for a pulse—had nothing. And I was like, I'm just going to start compressions because best case scenario, he wakes up, tells me to get off of him, so I was like I'm just going to go ahead and do it.' For many EMS responders, after they treat a patient, they don't know what becomes of them, so for the Mon EMS team that helped save Grant Schola, Wednesday's ceremony served as a full circle moment. Mon EMS Paramedic, Robert Berens, who was one of the first responders on scene, said this was the best case scenario. 'There's no possible way that this could've ended any better, no possible way. And Mason was imperative in all of this […]It's just wonderful to see such a positive outcome because the statistics of even witness field cardiac arrest are very, very poor, as far as outcomes go. So to see him […] just being himself, being neurologically intact, being who Grant is, is a big shot in the arm,' Berens said. On Wednesday, Monongalia EMS honored the WVU Nursing student with the inaugural 'Lifesaver Award' for his immediate actions in performing CPR. Officials said that this award will now be given out as situations like these happen and people step up to help. Missing 3-year-old found alive in Braxton County Schola, who was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time he suffered a heart attack outside of the MountainLair, said that he's grateful for those who saved him, especially his friend. 'I'm just really glad I know Mason, I'm so happy that God put Mason in my life because he saved my life,' he said. Dr. Robby May, the Director of Clinical Services, said less than 10% of people who go into cardiac arrest outside of the hospital survive, and even fewer of those survive and are 'neurologically intact.' 'Most ambulances are not going to get to a patient in five minutes and that first five minutes is critical. So it's why it's so important for people to get trained in CPR, it's super simple and that little bit of training that you do can literally save someone's life and we get a story like this,' May said. EMS officials encouraged the community to go to CPR classes like the one offered at Mon EMS so anyone can be ready to jump in and help in case of an emergency. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
