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WHEELING — Wheeling Hospital CEO Douglass Harrison on Thursday railed against Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott’s efforts to use facilities at the former Ohio Valley Medical Center campus during the COVID-19 crisis, noting that hospital officials already determined it to not be feasible.

Harrison added that Wheeling Hospital should be involved with a regional health response planning during this pandemic.

Officials with the city of Wheeling and the Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency toured the former Ohio Valley Medical Center on Thursday to gather needed supplies and assess the facility’s capability to be used for patients in a “worst-case scenario” if the COVID-19 crisis becomes critical in the area.

Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are expected to join city leaders on another tour of the OVMC campus today to see if the recently closed hospital facility can be used as a “regional back-up plan” in the event the spread of the virus increases exponentially in the coming weeks. However, Harrison later in the day issued a statement expressing disappointment in seeing Elliott’s proposal to repurpose the the vacant OVMC facilities for use as a backup plan in the event of a COVID-19 local surge.

Harrison said these efforts to utilize the OVMC campus come after a phone conversation with the mayor, during which Harrison noted the OVMC building probably will not be needed.

“I couldn’t help but notice there was not one mention of Wheeling Hospital nor the other hospitals in the region, such as Sistersville General Hospital, Wetzel County Hospital, WVU Reynolds Memorial Hospital, WVU Barnesville Hospital and Harrison Community Hospital,” Harrison said. “How can the city of Wheeling develop a regional backup plan without talking to the regional hospitals and getting input into what the hospitals already have in place?”

Harrison said all the area hospitals have been in daily discussions, making plans for managing the crisis to best protect the community and keep residents safe. Each of the hospitals, he said, has the ability to expand bed capacity, whether in its own facility or through shared resources.

“Trust me,” Harrison said, “the Ohio Valley Medical Center and East Ohio Regional Hospital buildings were looked at and considered as potential options, but were rejected for a variety of reasons from the health care experts in this region.”

Harrison also said he was surprised that Elliott wanted to bring in representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh and Huntington to assess the possible reuse of OVMC as a regional backup.

“While I appreciate Mayor Elliott’s efforts, perhaps the best approach would be to pull in the local hospital CEOs, understand the capacity and work with us to develop a comprehensive plan that meets the needs of the community” Harrison said. “But instead, politics are shining bright, and he has chosen to speak with Pittsburgh and Huntington about spending valuable tax dollars on reopening a building that needs to remain closed as a hospital. Perhaps the better use of money, if there is money to be spent, is to expand the physical plant at Wheeling Hospital to meet the health care needs of the community. Trust me, it would be a cheaper alternative and be much more beneficial given the expansion of clinical services happening at Wheeling Hospital through its partnership with WVU Medicine.”

While Harrison said the mayor has not reached out to him regarding a “regional backup plan,” he said he would be willing to discuss such suggestions with city officials.

“I, along with the other regional hospital CEOs, stand prepared to meet with city officials to develop a realistic plan that meets the entire region’s needs,” Harrison said.

When asked later Thursday afternoon to Harrison’s comments, Elliott indicated the city would be negligent in its duties to not work with all local and regional entities and be prepared for situations that have been seen in communities around the world where COVID-19 cases have surged.

“We are in the midst of what could be the worst global pandemic in 100 years, with each day bringing in frightening new data and worsening projections,” Elliott said. “This is a time we need to come together as a community to prepare for the worst. I called Mr. Harrison personally last week and told him that the city was looking at ways to activate a portion of the OVMC facilities for surplus capacity. He said that Wheeling Hospital was looking at other options but that he would call me back by Tuesday at the latest with more details on their plans. That call never came.”

Elliott said in the meantime, he has been in regular contact with county, state and federal officials trying to ensure that local officials in Wheeling are doing everything they can to prepare for an exponential spike of COVID-19 cases locally.

“From my conversations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials in particular, two things became very clear,” the mayor said. “First, their worst-case modeling for COVID-19 cases in West Virginia shows a significant hospital bed shortage statewide. Second, their primary strategy right now is to convert empty or underutilized facilities into temporary hospital space. Obviously, they are very interested in OVMC’s facilities because it operated as a hospital through last fall.”

Elliott said the city has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Huntington District office and officials with Medical Properties Trust or MPT, property owner of the OVMC campus facilities, to coordinate a site visit and assessment, which is expected to take place today.

“It would be incredibly negligent for any city in this situation to not be soliciting federal assistance in providing additional hospital beds — let alone a city like Wheeling that is home to a recently closed regional hospital,” the mayor said. “The city is very appreciative of the efforts that Wheeling Hospital has taken and is taking during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis–particularly in setting up a mobile testing site.

“If Mr. Harrison thinks that the city is trying to re-open a hospital to compete with his organization, he is mistaken. While he was busy writing a press release today criticizing my efforts, I was walking through OVMC facilities with county health officials and city first responders collecting masks, gowns, gloves and other supplies that will be available for use at Wheeling Hospital’s testing sites.”

The mayor said the city’s goal is to be prepared locally for the worst-case scenario of a global pandemic as the COVID-19 virus is just taking root in the Ohio Valley.

“I cannot sit by idly while there is a six-story hospital sitting in our city that could be mobilized for overflow,” Elliott said. “I hope that I am wrong and that our existing hospital bed capacity will suffice. But I am not prepared to roll the dice with peoples’ lives.”