J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital is home to several medical institutes, including the WVU Cancer Institute, WVU Critical Care and Trauma Institute, WVU Eye Institute, WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, WVU Medicine Children's, and the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute.

In 1984, in honor of her late husband, John Wesley Ruby, Morgantown philanthropist Hazel Ruby McQuain made an $8 million donation toward the construction of the new hospital. The donation, the largest in West Virginia history at the time, saw the hospital bear Mr. Ruby’s name; he remains the hospital’s namesake to this day.

History

University Hospital (1960 – 1988)

In 1960, the original hospital (or, what is now the south wing of the university’s Health Sciences Center), financed by West Virginia’s penny-a-bottle excise tax on soda, first opened as University Hospital.

Although the hospital was constructed to last a lifetime, the building was plagued by several events that would leave it in a state of disrepair, including a fire in 1967 and a ventilation system breakdown in 1981, which left a significant majority of the hospital covered in soot, including ten of the hospital’s 11 operating rooms, and required the transfer of all the hospital’s patients to surrounding facilities for approximately three weeks.

Ruby Memorial Hospital (1988 – 2016)

As a result of University Hospital’s many safety concerns, which would cost an estimated $60 million to repair, West Virginia University president Gordon Gee developed a plan to reorganize the hospital, then owned by the state and funded in large part by its revenue, under a new non-profit corporate structure controlled by the University, which would allow the hospital to borrow debt as a source of financing.

Initially an unpopular idea, the plan had the support of then-Governor John Rockefeller IV and was backed by the West Virginia Legislature, as a means to construct a new state-of-the-art hospital without requiring financing by the state, all while avoiding costly repairs to the twenty-plus-year-old original structure.

By mid-1984, the Legislature had finalized the hospital’s transfer into the new West Virginia University Hospitals corporation.

Also in 1984, the Hazel Ruby McQuain made an $8 million contribution toward the construction of the new hospital, in honor of her late husband, John Wesley Ruby. At that time the largest donation in West Virginia history, Ruby McQuain’s gift would see her late husband become the namesake of the new hospital, Ruby Memorial Hospital.

Ruby Memorial Hospital officially opened in 1988, along with the WVU Children’s Hospital; Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center; and Chestnut Ridge Hospital, a psychiatric and chemical-dependency hospital.

J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital (2016 – present)

In 2016, the hospital once again received a new name, this time as J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, a move which sought to honor the life of the hospital’s namesake, John Wesley ("J.W.") Ruby, as well as the significance of the Hazel Ruby McQuain’s 1984 donation in honor of him.

In adding the "J.W." to the hospital’s name, Albert Wright Jr., the hospital’s president and CEO, said, "we want people everywhere to remember the significant contributions that John Wesley Ruby made to West Virginia, and that the Ruby family was the catalyst that helped begin the transformation of the hospital into a nationally recognized academic medical center."

WVU Medicine Children’s

Located on the sixth floor of J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital is a 119-bed children’s hospital-within-a-hospital, WVU Medicine Children’s, a member hospital of the Children’s Miracle Network.

In November 2017, the hospital announced the construction of a new $152 million, 256,000 sq.-ft., 150-bed, ten-story women and children’s tower, which will house the children’s hospital, once opened. Ground broke on the tower in December 2018.

The new free-leaning hospital, expected to open in summer 2021, will have its own pediatric emergency department and rapid-care center, cardiology unit, epilepsy monitoring unit, operating rooms, cardiac catheterization and endoscopy facilities, pharmacy, cafeteria, and gift shop. Once completed, the new hospital is expected to have a 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit with a 10-bed procedure/sedation unit, 50-bed neonatal intensive care unit, 40-bed pediatric acute care unit, and 30-bed obstetrical unit.

In November 2020, hospital officials announced the overall cost of the new women and children’s hospital would total approximately $215 million.

Rankings

J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital has been ranked both nationally and regionally by U.S. News & World Report. In the 2020–2021 Best Hospitals edition, Ruby Memorial was ranked as the number one hospital in the state of West Virginia. The hospital’s urology specialty ranked number 40 nationally, and its pediatric urology specialty ranked number 37 nationally.

Additionally, the hospital had four high performing adult specialties, nephrology,neurology & neurosurgery,orthopaedics, and pulmonology & lung surgery, as well as two high performing conditions, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

External links

J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital
WVU Medicine
Hannah Knowles; Karoun Demirjian (February 17, 2022). "Omicron slammed essential workers. So the National Guard became teachers, janitors and more". The Washington Post. - mention of many West Virginia National Guard deployed at WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital.

v t e West Virginia Trauma Centers
List of hospitals in West Virginia
Level I	Charleston Area Medical Center – General Hospital West Virginia University Hospitals – Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center
Level II	Cabell Huntington Hospital St. Mary's Medical Center – Huntington Wheeling Hospital
Level III	Berkeley Medical Center Camden Clark Medical Center Raleigh General Hospital
Level IV	Beckley ARH Hospital Boone Memorial Hospital Braxton County Memorial Hospital Charleston Area Medical Center – Memorial Hospital Charleston Area Medical Center – Women & Children’s Hospital Jackson General Hospital Jefferson Memorial Hospital Logan Regional Memorial Hospital Mon Health Medical Center Pleasant Valley Hospital Pocahontas Memorial Hospital Princeton Community Hospital Reynolds Memorial Hospital Roane General Hospital St. Jospeh’s Hospital – Buckhannon Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital Summers County ARH Hospital Summersville Regional Medical Center Thomas Memorial Hospital United Hospital Center Weirton Medical Center Wetzel County Hospital
Pediatric Level II	West Virginia University Hospitals – Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center
Verified by either the American College of Surgeons or the State of West Virginia

v t e
Located in: Morgantown, West Virginia
Academics	Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources John Chambers College of Business & Economics College of Creative Arts College of Education & Human Resources College of Physical Activity & Sports Sciences Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design Eberly College of Arts & Sciences Honors College Reed College of Media School of Nursing School of Pharmacy College of Law School of Dentistry School of Medicine School of Public Health
Campus facilities	Boreman Hall Coliseum Core Arboretum Downtown Library Monongalia County Ballpark Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit Mountaineer Field Mountainlair Oglebay Hall Stansbury Hall J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital
Divisions and affiliates	WVU Institute of Technology Potomac State College WVU Medicine
Athletics	Mountaineers Baseball Basketball men women Football Rifle Soccer (men) Soccer (women) Hail, West Virginia
People	Notable alumni
History	History of WVU M.B.A. controversy
Founded: 1867

v t e
West Virginia University Health System
Flagship	J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital
Main Campus	J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital WVU Medicine Children’s
Critical Access Hospitals	Jefferson Medical Center Potomac Valley Hospital St. Joseph's Hospital
Community Hospitals	Berkeley Medical Center Braxton County Memorial Hospital Camden Clark Medical Center Fairmont Medical Center Jackson General Hospital Reynolds Memorial Hospital Summersville Regional Medical Center United Hospital Center Wetzel County Hospital
Affiliated Hospitals	Barnesville Hospital Garrett Regional Medical Center Harrison Community Hospital Highland–Clarksburg Hospital Princeton Community Hospital Uniontown Hospital Wheeling Hospital
Institutes	WVU Cancer Institute WVU Critical Care and Trauma Institute WVU Eye Institute WVU Heart and Vascular Institute WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute
Academic Affiliates	WVU School of Medicine WVU School of Dentistry WVU School of Pharmacy WVU School of Nursing WVU School of Public Health
affiliated academic medical system of: West Virginia University

J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital