In time for the first anniversary of the opening of WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital, the William A. Neal Museum of the Health Sciences has opened a new exhibit in the hospital lobby. “Building Healthier Futures: The 60-year Journey to WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital” celebrates the progress and innovation that led to the construction of this state-of-the-art pediatric hospital.
The year 1960 marked a pivotal point for maternal and pediatric care in West Virginia. During that year WVU established its four-year School of Medicine, including the Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology. At that time, University Hospital opened as a teaching hospital.
From that point, WVU
was at the center of crucial changes in the advancement of pediatric and
maternal care in the state. With the opening of J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in
1988, the Children’s Hospital was born as a “hospital within a hospital” to
improve services to West Virginia’s children and mothers. The exhibit follows
this transformation and features images from the West Virginia and Regional History Center
and WVU Medicine. Objects related to the
construction of WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital are also on display.
The inclusion of an exhibit case in the lobby of WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital came from the efforts of Dr. William A. Neal, who was instrumental in both the expansion of WVU Medicine Children’s to the new building and the founding of the Neal Museum. The Children’s Hospital exhibit is in the main lobby behind the front desk, by the visitor elevators. The Neal Museum is in the Pylons Commons in the WVU Health Sciences Center.