Despite recent speculation, the chief operating officer of East Ohio Regional Hospital confirmed this week that Dr. John Johnson does not have and never has had a relationship with Alecto Healthcare.
COO Bernie Albertini said while he understands the concerns because the former health care provider shuttered a pair of hospitals without much warning nearly a year ago, he wants to assure local residents that Dr. Johnson is an independent developer who is reopening the Martins Ferry hospital.
“In no way are we affiliated with Alecto,” Albertini insisted. “Dr. Johnson, our owner, has not even met Lex Reddy from Alecto, so we have no affiliation with the former owners.
“I know that has been out there recently, and I honestly don’t know where it comes from,” he said. “Dr. Johnson is the owner of a 110-bed facility in Dayton, and he’s done very well with that. Now, he is looking to be very successful here in Martins Ferry. He wants to do right by this community, so I believe it’s going to be a great change for the people in the Upper Ohio Valley.”
Closer and Closer
The HVAC system was down. Only one of seven elevators was operational. It was dim, barren of most equipment, and left full of debris. Although Albertini had departed the East Ohio facility just two years prior to his return, the negative impact of the former operator was obvious.
“When I first walked through this place, I was very sad at the condition. I had only been gone for a couple of years, but it was obvious to me that they had cut back drastically on the maintenance of the building and the upkeep of the equipment,” Albertini admitted. “When I left here in April 2018, the building was still in pretty good shape, but I could tell they had scaled back the preventative maintenance.
“There are seven elevators in these buildings, and most of them were not working when they closed up,” he said. “The floors were not even maintained, and when I walked in, it felt like it was 110 degrees in this place, so I knew there were HVAC issues immediately. So, it was a pretty sad moment, honestly, but it’s been a good challenge, and we’re getting very close to being ready to serve the community once again.”
A significant investment was made to upgrade the chilling system, and the building’s boilers have been improved for this winter but will be replaced in 2021.
“We have addressed a ton of infrastructure,” Albertini explained. “The chiller, replacing every light ion the building with LEDs, elevator upgrades and repairs, new flooring, and the nurse-call system have all been addressed. Plus, every piece of equipment had to be counted and inspected, and we’re talking about 1,800 pieces of equipment.
“It all has to be certified again by the state, and we have a lot of equipment that still needs to be delivered and installed,” he continued. “There will be all new lab equipment that has been ordered, so we are totally functional when we open our doors. We’ll have to be prepared for everything because the intention here is to open a fully functional hospital for the Upper Ohio Valley community.”
Preparations for a Pandemic
The COO has worked with state agencies to determine expectations for EORH when it comes to the treatment of local residents who have been infected with COVID-19, the virus that has reportedly claimed more than 190,000 lives in the United State since March.
In Ohio, nearly 130,000 positive tests have been reported, and in West Virginia, more than 11,000 have registered positive.
“It all depends on how many of those patients we have here at one time,” Albertini explained. “We do have negative pressure rooms in our ICU, so they can be used for those patients, but if we have more than a few patients with the virus, we have designated an area of the hospital for them so everyone else can be completely safe from exposure.
“We have also consulted with the folks from Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration,, and they have helped us look at this facility to find the best possible location for those patients to be treated,” he said. “When Dr. Johnson first started looking at this facility, the pandemic had not started yet, so we have had to adapt accordingly, and now the plan is in place.”
J-O-B-S
He refers to the reopening of East Ohio Regional Hospital as a “challenge,” but what Albertini and Dr. Johnson are soon to accomplish has been a monumental task.
At this point, the COO has hired a total of 22 individuals, but he expects the facility will need hundreds more for the reopening in the next few months.
“My staff sometimes makes fun of me because I have sent them emails at 3 a.m. because I’m up, and my mind is moving in all directions,” Albertini said. “Some of the employees have told that I wake them up because their phones are making noises because they’re getting emails from me in the middle of the night.”
One of his staff members has created a Facebook page for EORH, where updated and accurate information will appear as the time nears to hire staff members for every department within the medical facility.
“We will be hiring very soon, and we are making plans to hold a job fair,” Albertini reported. “I do not have a date for that job fair just yet, but that is something that will be announced in the very near future.
“Plus, we still have to finalize and install all of the equipment, and that process begins next week, and our supplies will be delivered pretty much at the same time,” he continued. “We have been working with our suppliers so we can be sure to have everything that we’re going to need not only for general services, but also for COVID-19.”
