March 5th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

UPMC Western Maryland has filed a Certificate of Need application with the state of West Virginia and, barring opposition, intends to reopen Hunt Club Urgent Care within 60 days.
Western Maryland Health System (now UPMC Western Maryland) had successfully operated the Hunt Club Urgent Care for 28 years but was forced to close the facility in late January because it lacked a certificate of need (CON) required by the state of West Virginia.
Last summer, UPMC Western Maryland began inquiring about the CON requirements in West Virginia. At that time, UPMC Western Maryland learned that a required CON did not exist for the Hunt Club Urgent Care facility since the physicians, who were the initial owners of the facility, were not required to file a CON. UPMC Western Maryland immediately self-reported to the West Virginia Health Care Authority and filed a CON application for the Hunt Club location. Subsequent to the filing, Potomac Valley Hospital/WVU Medicine filed opposition to the CON, causing UPMC Western Maryland to withdraw its application until now.
Hunt Club Urgent Care was established 33 years ago by former Memorial Hospital Emergency Department physicians, Dr. Nick Casto and Dr. John Stansbury. Memorial Hospital purchased Hunt Club Urgent Care in 1992, and it then became part of Western Maryland Health System in 1996. Both physicians continued to serve at the urgent care facility until their subsequent retirements in 2013 and 2016, respectively. UPMC Western Maryland then assumed operations of the facility in order to continue urgent care services to residents of Mineral County, WV, and the surrounding region.
During this temporary closure, Hunt Club Urgent Care patients have been encouraged to visit the UPMC Western Maryland Advanced Medical Care, formerly South Cumberland Urgent Care, on Industrial Boulevard in Cumberland. This location is approximately six miles from the Hunt Club facility. In anticipation of an increase of patients to the South Cumberland location, UPMC Western Maryland has renovated and expanded that Center to now include urgent care, occupational medicine, and diagnostics, such as lab and radiology.
Upon approval of the CON, urgent care services can return to Hunt Club and once again serve Mineral County and the surrounding region.