One of WVU Medicine’s small hospitals in rural West Virginia was nearing closure just a few years ago. Today its beds are nearly full, and leaders say a low-cost virtual care model helped reverse its trajectory.
The Morgantown, W.Va.-based health system’s virtual ICU program, piloted at Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser, earned national recognition with the 2026 Rural Hospital Excellence in Innovation Award from the American Hospital Association. The initiative connects critical care physicians at WVU Medicine with care teams at rural facilities, allowing specialists to support local providers without requiring patients to leave their communities.
For Allison Wilson, MD, professor of surgery and executive director of the WVU Critical Care and Trauma Institute, the goal was not to replace local care teams but to strengthen them.
Potomac Valley Hospital, a 20-bed critical access hospital, faced familiar pressures: limited specialty coverage and growing financial strain. Patients who became seriously ill often were transferred to hospitals hours away, separating them from family support and shifting revenue away from the hospital.
Dr. Wilson said leaders asked how high-level expertise could reach rural hospitals without stripping away local care.
Many telehealth models either provide one-time consults or rely on expensive monitoring systems in which remote physicians take over patient management. WVU Medicine pursued a different approach.
Instead, ICU physicians at WVU Medicine join rural care teams via secure video each day to round on the hospital’s sickest patients, working alongside local physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists rather than directing care remotely.
“We round with your physicians not in place of but with your physicians,” Dr. Wilson said. “We see the patient with them every day through that week.”
The collaborative structure is central to the model, she said. Local clinicians know their patients and communities deeply; the virtual ICU adds critical care expertise while keeping decisions grounded locally.
The financial impact was swift. Before the program launched, Potomac Valley averaged two hospitalized patients per day. Within six months, occupancy climbed to more than 15 of the hospital’s 20 beds.
“You saved our little hospital,” Potomac Valley CEO Mark Boucot told Dr. Wilson, adding that the program gave physicians confidence to admit and treat patients who might otherwise have been transferred immediately.
As a result, more patients remained local, boosting hospital revenue and allowing families to stay close to loved ones.
Startup costs were minimal. Dr. Wilson said the program required about $5,400 in upfront expenses, largely for secure communication technology and coordination, compared with traditional electronic ICU systems that can cost up to $1 million per bed.
Return on investment came quickly as hospitals began retaining more patients almost immediately, she said.
Patients have embraced the model. Rather than replacing their physicians, families view the virtual ICU physician as an added layer of expertise.
The hospital’s emergency department volume has more than quadrupled, Dr. Wilson said. Clinicians at other regional hospitals now report patients choosing Potomac Valley because of its connection to WVU Medicine specialists.
The success prompted WVU Medicine to expand the program to seven additional rural hospitals in its system. Each week, one ICU physician rotates through daily virtual rounds across participating facilities and remains available for new admissions or urgent questions.
Next, WVU Medicine leaders are exploring whether the model can support trauma patients who may not need surgery but could benefit from specialist oversight without requiring transfer.
For Dr. Wilson, the program’s success hinges on partnership rather than technology. Her advice to other health systems hoping to replicate the model: Build relationships first.
“Take the time to go out to the rural hospital, meet all the doctors, work with them, explain the vision and build a team there,” she said. “You have to go out and meet them in their place and really build an understanding of what that is.”
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