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By Mannix PorterfieldRegister-Herald ReporterThe Register-HeraldMon Feb 11, 2013, 12:03 AM EST
CHARLESTON — A highly critical legislative audit, unwrapped Sunday, called for the replacement of Jackie Withrow Hospital in Beckley, saying the cost of repairs at the long-term care facility would far exceed building a new one.
Bearing the name of the late Raleigh County delegate who toiled for health care improvements while in the House, the facility was erected eight decades ago as a tuberculosis sanitarium.
In the 1970s, it was converted to a long-term care hospital but serves only 84 patients, far below the 655 it was intended to treat for tuberculosis.
In the report, detailed by John Sylvia, director of the Performance Evaluation & Research Division of the legislative auditor’s office, it is noted that running Jackie Withrow Hospital costs between $1.5 million and $2 million more per year than three other state-run facilities — Hopemont, Lakin and John C. Manchin Sr. hospitals.
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