THINKING OF MOVING TO WEST VIRGINIA. Lots of questions???? (Charleston: to rent, neighborhood) - (WV) - City-Data Forum

beccaforsyth · 12-26-2010, 08:45 PM

My husband and I have been toying with the idea of moving to WV. We have family that live in Parkersburg, WV. and are needing a change of scenery. We are gonna miss the family we have in Georgia

but there aren't a whole lot of jobs out here. The photos of Wood County are beautiful.

My husband and I are planning to visit pretty soon to look for jobs and somewhere to rent. We just don't know where to begin.....WE NEED HELP!

We have 4 children so I am looking for childcare possibly and pediatricians. Our 1 month old currently has a feeding tube and I would like to know where the best Pediatric Care and Children's Hospital is located. My 7 year old is in the first grade. I want to know what schools are in the area and what to expect.
We plan on attending The Celebration Center of Belpre, OH with our family. What do you think about the children's ministry?
Like I said before.. Need your Help! Anyone?

pknopp · 12-28-2010, 06:37 AM

I believe the nearest "childrens" hospital is in Charleston. I don't know your situation or how specialized it is.

There are jobs to be had but not many of the sort to support a family of 6. Childcare isn't too tough for ages 3-4 and above but it seems to me that getting childcare for the very young is sort of tough to come by.

The schools are fine. Nothing to concern yourself too much there. I haven't been to the Celebration Center in likely 25 years so I have no idea there.

MrDerek · 12-31-2010, 01:40 AM

If you are looking for "the best" medical care, then I suggest you live near a large city such as Washington DC. It sounds like that is the most important factor for you in choosing a place to live. Keep in mind that urban areas with cutting edge medical care tend to have a high cost of living, so you need to weigh your options.

beccaforsyth · 12-31-2010, 10:52 PM

We are not wanting to move to Washington DC. We want to live closer to my husbands family.

Rebek56 · 01-01-2011, 07:57 AM

There are pediatricians here, but the closest children's hospital is in Charleston. I don't know what your infant's problem is, but I can say that overall medical care here is good; we have four hospitals in a two-county metro area with a population of only 150,000 or so.

Schools vary depending on neighborhood, but I work with student teachers at a local college and can say that the new teachers coming out are bright and well-trained. There are also various Christian schools if that interests you. Most parts of town are safe, and I walk a lot. If you're planning on attending a Belpre church, you might want to look at property there, too; it's much smaller than Parkersburg and a pleasant place, as is Marietta.

Almost Heaven WV girl · 01-01-2011, 08:34 AM

Absolutely if you need a hospital for your infant, then you'll want to be near Charleston Area Medical Center's (CAMC) Women's and Chidren's Hospital.

Jesco White · 01-01-2011, 07:47 PM

Morgantown has a pretty good hospital due to the presence of WVU. It probably ranks the best in the state outside of what Charleston has to offer. I had an emergency appendectomy there while in college and they didn't kill me

denisemarie1980 · 01-02-2011, 03:16 PM

If you have a sick child I would move closer to Morgantown (if you have to be in WV) or Columbus, Ohio is another option you should consider. It is only about 2.5 hours from your family here in Parkersburg.
Information you will not find on any website or possibly your family may not know about, is the fact we have no pediatricians in our area who will take care of sick children. They are ALL referred to Columbus Childrens Hospital. Even minor breathing difficulties coming into our local ER's are shipped out to another facility due to our lack of specialists. As a nurse who has witnessed this numerous times, if I had known about our lack of healthcare facilities for children, I'm not sure I would have felt comfortable raising my children here. Thank god they were healthy.
There are no jobs here. I have two college educated children who had to leave the state due to job conditions in our local area. This is a dead area for any development or job prospects. One of our largest plants has dropped from over 2500 employees to less than 100. Rumored to be closing soon. It's sad because it is a nice area to live if you are retired and have a pension. Healthcare may improve over time, but now I would travel to a bigger hospital if I needed surgery.
Healthcare for children, other than well child checkups, is just not available in our area.

pknopp · 01-02-2011, 03:23 PM

My daughter is now 24 but was diagnosed with A1AD as a child and Dr Watson in Belpre has done a great job staying on top of it.

denisemarie1980 · 01-04-2011, 08:07 PM

No offense to the other response, but Dr. Watson does NOT go to the hospitals to take care of anyone. That is the recurrent problem around here. A lot of our doctors only want to do preventative medicine. Many physicians have stopped admitting to our local hospitals and a patient must depend on hospitalist to manage their care while an inpatient. We currently do not have any hospitalists who are taking pediatric emergencies. Except for minor surgeries such as tonsillectomies and emergency appendectomies, there are no surgeries performed on children.
We do not take care of children at either hospital on a regular basis. Just visit the pediatric wing. It is very very small because they never need to use it. I wish I could give you better news, but it is what it is. Ask anyone affiliated with any of the hospitals, and they will tell you the same thing. Some of our doctors are good at recognizing a problem and making the proper referrals out of town, which means a 2 to 3 hours drive one way to a hospital that will take children.