The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department Building at 211 Sixth St., Parkersburg, suffered a waterline break recently. As county officials mull over the cost of repairs, some have started looking at the possibility of moving the health department. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)
PARKERSBURG — Wood County officials are looking into the possibility of moving the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department to another location.
It has been over a week since a waterline break caused the offices to close in their building at 211 Sixth St. with services being handled from other locations in the area while the building was being cleaned up.
On Monday, the Wood County Commission discussed options on what to do as the county owns the building. The county received a bid for over $61,120 to repair and replace some of the brick work on the top six feet of the exterior of the building as they have had some bricks falling off the top of the building and “bulges” that concerned Wood County Maintenance Supervisor Todd Nonamaker. That estimate did not cover any other issues officials said the building has.
County officials thought that was a lot of money to put towards that building.
“It is going to be expensive,” Wood County Commission President Blair Couch said.
Couch. who serves on the health department board, said he has talked with officials with Wood County Schools to see if one of the buildings they are planning to close might be used for a new location for the health department. He has toured a couple of locations.
“Nothing has been decided,” he said. “(The school board) has to go through a series of public meetings, they have to have consolidation discussions and the state school board has to sign off on it.”
The health department would need around 40,000-50,000 square feet, Couch said, adding they are also looking for a location with ample parking and is on established city bus routes to allow people access for health department services.
“Each floor of the health department is like its own business,” Couch said. “You have clinical, WIC, disaster/threat preparation and administration.”
Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said taking the health department out of downtown would be taking jobs out of the central part of Parkersburg. He wanted to see if those services could remain in a centralized location.
Couch said other locations in the downtown area have been looked at and were still being evaluated. Some had issues that would make moving in difficult without extensive renovations. Also, some of the properties had high asking prices.
Officials talked about possibly locating at the St. Joseph’s facility, in sections not being used, but they expressed concern about what kind of monthly rent the county would end up paying.
Couch said health department officials estimated it would take around $14-15 million to build a new building from the ground up as officials looked at lots around the area where an older building could be torn down and something new could be built in its place. That cost did not take into account purchasing the property or demolition costs.
“It is not fair for the people of Wood County to pay for a new health department that serves other counties,” Couch said. “All of these counties should come together to do something.”
The MOVHD serves Calhoun, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties.
Commissioners decided to hold off on the repair bid for a couple of weeks to see if something could be worked out on another location. If not, the job would have to be bid out again.
“As much as we would like to keep the health department downtown, it may not be compatible,” Couch said.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com