(Publisher’s Note: This archived article is published again this Easter Sunday to remind us all that not everyone has families with whom to celebrate.)
It’s true.
The rumor always has been that other communities in surrounding states have purchased bus tickets for folks who are in need of services unavailable in those respective areas.
So, the story goes that one-way tickets to Wheeling have been purchased for homeless men and women who suffer from problems involving financial, psychiatric, and addiction issues, and that practice was confirmed by Ohio County Sheriff Tom Howard.
“It’s a fact. It’s definitely a fact. While I was with the Wheeling Police Department, it happened many times,” Howard said. “The first time I encountered it involved a man who was from Denver. He got off the bus, came to us, and told us the city of Denver bought him a bus ticket to Wheeling, and he’s not the only one. That happened pretty often.
“Now, as the sheriff of Ohio County, I have not experienced it and neither have any of our deputies, but I do know it is a practice in other communities to send people here for whatever reason,” he said. “That first one was pretty early in my career, so it’s been taking place for at least 25 years, and I’m sure it was happening long before that.”
There’s Help Here
For many years, a plethora of social services has been offered in the Wheeling area, and the addition of the winter freeze shelter at Youth Services System a decade ago made the Friendly City even more friendly to those in need of assistance.
“The city of Wheeling is very well known for the facilities that we have here for people in those situations,” Howard explained. “They know we have places here that will take care of them and will feed them, and while that’s a good thing, since the closures of OVMC and Hillcrest, it’s put a lot of stress on our budget.
“There are a lot of good people out there trying to make sure these folks are taken care of, and other people in other communities know about it, and that’s why they send them to us,” he continued. “But now that we are in this situation, we may just have to give a call to the people buying the bus tickets and find out why they are still doing it after Hillcrest closed.”
For Many Years
Howard began his law enforcement career in the early 1980s, and the city of Wheeling was a different place in many respects, one of which involved the persistent presence of a transient population.
“I would say that the numbers have likely decreased over the years because Greyhound is not as huge in Wheeling as it once was. There’s not even a station in town anymore,” Howard said. “But there was a time when Wheeling was a major stop for Greyhound because of Interstate 70 and because of the changes that have taken place in downtown Wheeling through the years.
“These days, there are four or five Greyhound buses that come into the downtown, but several years ago, it was almost a constant. You saw them all of the time,” he said. “But, even though as sheriff I’ve not seen it, I’m sure it’s still happening because of those great organizations that we’re lucky to have. The people in other communities hear great things about Wheeling, and they know if they come to Wheeling, we’ll take care of them. That’s how we are and what we have here, and other communities just aren’t like that. That’s why they send them here.”
Economic Impact
Since the early September closure of OVMC and Hillcrest, Howard reported, deputies with the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office have transported 82 psychiatric patients to facilities in Bluefield, Huntington, Charleston, Martinsburg, and Fairmont Regional. Some of the trips have extended nearly 600-miles roundtrip, and the sheriff has projected the transportation costs to be $150,000 for the first year.
County sheriff’s offices in West Virginia are mandated to operate the mental health transport system.
“It wasn’t a complete shock that the facility in Fairmont is closing because I think we all saw the writing on the wall,” Howard said. “They laid off some people a few months ago, and it’s the same company that did what they did here in Wheeling and over in Martins Ferry. Alecto, for whatever reasons, couldn’t make it work in West Virginia and particularly in this area.
Several Hillcrest employees, though, were hired by WVU Medicine to offer daily out-patient psychiatric care in Glen Dale. The health care organization has initiated a renovation that will construct a mental health care facility at Reynolds Memorial Hospital, and once it’s operational, it will become another transport option for Sheriff Howard.
“I know they are doing what they can there, and we’re hoping it will be ready by fall,” Howard said. “Once it’s open, they will have 25 beds, and I think that will fill up very quickly. Wheeling Hospital is a couple of years out, and that’s why we are really hoping it opens in Glen Dale in the near future.
“As far as OVMC and Hillcrest, Alecto put that (WARN) letter out, and then suddenly closed well before the time people were expecting,” he said. “The employees at OVMC and Hillcrest ultimately were given only two days before it closed, and those folks were left to scramble to try and find new jobs. Some did, but we lost a lot of jobs, and not all of them were able to stay in the area. We know some folks were forced to move. They didn’t have a choice.”
“That’s because once someone comes here, it is our responsibility to get them to where they need to be,” he continued. “Losing Hillcrest, though, really changed our situation, and it’s taken a lot of hours and a lot of dollars to get those folks to the places they need to be.”
