Valley Health History
Valley Health began its mission in 1975. By 1978, Valley Health opened three health centers in Barboursville, Wayne, and Milton.
Since founding those original health centers, Valley Health has continued its passion for meeting primary care needs in rural West Virginia and Ohio. Today, Valley Health operates more than 40 health centers and public health programs in southwestern West Virginia and southern Ohio.
Timeline
Access to Care
Valley Health provides access to health services in rural communities
New Beginnings
Grant, Barboursville, and Wayne open in three trailers
Grand Opening
 Guyandotte opens
Dental Site
Fort Gay opens first dental site
2 New Locations
Upper Kanawha & Harts were added (as a result of the UMWA strike)
WIC Program
WIC Program in Lincoln and Wayne counties
Cabell WIC Program
New Programs
Cabell, Kanawha, Putnam, & Boone Co WIC; Black Lung program
Youth Health
 Youth Health Center (now Southside)
New Service
Healthcare for the Homeless (McKinney Act)
 VHH opened at Fairfield; moved to Hal Greer 1998
Ultrasound services added
New Services
 Pharmacy services added; A Woman’s Place opens, Mobile Children’s Unit (WV Health Project passed on to M.U. in 2003)
New Facility
Stepptown opened
More Locations
Fort Gay facility with Capital Improvement grant, 1st school based health center at Huntington High, Ironton opens (now Coal Grove)
West Virginia Immunization Network, 1993
Htg. Immunization Network
New Services
Lab/Diagnostic services and school based health center at Spring Valley High School
SBHC
School based health center at Wayne High School
Access to Care
Access to care brings programs for the working uninsured
Facility Funding
Harts facility funding from Senator Robert C. Byrd
Grand Opening (NAP)
Grand opening at Westmoreland location
Grand Opening
Grand opening at Highlawn location
Grand Opening
Grand opening at Hurricane
Elementary SBHC
First elementary school based health center at Southside Elementary
Network Expansion
Expansion to Mason County with Gallipolis Ferry and Point Pleasant Pediatrics
Capital Development
Grand Opening East Huntington (Capital Development grant)
Health Plans
WV Family Health Plan & Affordable Care Act; Outreach & Enrollment program; PCMH recognition, Behavioral Health services introduced
New Service
Optometry services (Expansion of services grant); grand opening Teays Valley
Practice Acquisition
Practice Acquisition (Huntington Otolaryngology) becomes VH ENT; Grand opening 10th Street, Grand opening Foodfair, Enter collaboration with MU School of Pharmacy for Residential program
Wayne relocation
Two additional pharmacies open (VHH & Wayne); received perfect score from Health Resources & Services Administration Operational Site Visit (top 5% in the nation)
Groundbreaking for new Milton facility (Health Infrastructure grant)
Grand opening for Milton; welcomed Teays Pediatrics as VH Teays Pediatrics
 Opened VH Pea Ridge Business Center, welcomed KidCare as VH KidCare
Received perfect score from Health Resources & Services Administration Site Visit (top 5% in the nation)
Opened Milton Pharmacy; converted East Huntington to 100% clinical/patient care space
Went live on new EHR (Epic) and provided MyChart patient portal; Grand opening for VH Pea Ridge Health Center, opened Pea Ridge Pharmacy, Fort Gay Pharmacy & Harts Pharmacy, opened Apple Grove, added VH Mobile Unit
Welcomed SC Pediatrics practice with opening of two locations- SCPediatrics-Charleston and SCPediatrics- Hurricane; asked to add nine southern counties to VH WIC program (Fayette, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, Wyoming)
Funding
Valley Health has been an annual recipient of dollars awarded through Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act over its history.
In 1991, Valley Health expanded to become the largest regional lead agency for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program, serving six counties, two of which are the most urban counties in West Virginia. Additionally, Valley Health has managed and directly supervised grant programs such as:
- The Federal Community Health Center (CHC) Perinatal Grant
- Federal Rural Health Outreach Grants
- Federal Community Access Program (CAP)
- Federal Black Lung Clinic Grant, through the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health
Valley Health has been a grantee and a sub-grantor for the Federal Health Care for the Homeless grant. The grant oversees not only the Harmony House Homeless Clinic in Huntington, WV, but also homeless programs throughout West Virginia, including Charleston, Wheeling, and Morgantown. In collaboration with the Children’s Health Fund, Valley Health began operating the unique West Virginia Children’s Health Project. This mobile medical unit has taken medical care directly to children in isolated areas since 1992. Valley Health has demonstrated a record of responsible grant oversight and sound fiscal management throughout this time.
