File Photo The former Ohio Valley Medical Center, seen in this 2020 file photo, is the subject of a new documentary.

WHEELING — Local historians have been researching the history of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, and there is one thing they couldn’t help but notice.

The hospital never did make a profit, according to Mary McKinley, a long-time former nurse at the hospital.

Over the past months, McKinley and others have been working on a documentary about OVMC featuring interviews with past employees and others with strong connections to the hospital. That documentary is set to premier at 1 p.m. May 31 at the J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center at Wheeling Park High School.

Those attending the premiere will not be walking a red carpet. Instead there will be a green carpet, as OVMC’s colors were green and white.

McKinley reported some of the things she and the group discovered about the hospital “were interesting,” especially as it pertained to its financial status.

“We looked at records dating back to the 1890s, and very rarely was it ever operating in black,” she said. “Healthcare is expensive, and hospitals are not going to make a lot of money.”

McKinley also found that there were “so many gracious, generous people” who appreciated the role of the hospital in the community and donated to its mission.

Among them were the Bloch family, who provided for the nurses’ residence and the pediatric wing at the hospital; and the Peterson family, who donated funds for what became the Peterson Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.

“There were always people seeing the need for the facility,” McKinley said.

Among those interviewed for the documentary were former OVMC Administrator Fred Blair; and Jeanne Carter, first woman president of the OVMC board; Dr. John Holloway and Dr. David Kappel.

McKinley added there’s a lot of history with the OVMC school of nursing, which was the first nursing school in West Virginia. It started when the hospital opened in 1892, and its first graduates were in 1894.

She explained the goal of the documentary was to show what a personal impact the facility had on so many lives in the Ohio Valley. Much of McKinley’s personal history happened within the hospital’s walls, as she was a 1972 graduate of its nursing school.

It was during the graduation ceremony that year that McKinley met her future husband, former U.S. Rep. David B. McKinley, R-West Virginia.

“He was on the board (for OVMC), and I gave a speech. After, he came over to talk to me and we just connected.”

McKinley, would go on to work 45 years at the hospital, give birth there and also watch as her grandchildren also were born at OVMC.

OVMC closed its doors in September 2019 without much notice, according to McKinley.

“It was a place where people worked, but It had a lot of family feel to it,” she said. “The workforce went to work that day at 8 a.m. and were told don’t come back tomorrow.

“There was a problem with closure for many. We’re just trying to show the hospital made a difference, and that it was important.”

While giant 6-foot by 6-foot letters graced the outside of the hospital letting people know it was there, there was more to the hospital, McKinley continued.

“It wasn’t the letters, but the people who made the difference,” she said.

McKinley reported somewhere at sometime those letters are going to return and be seen somewhere in the area. The OVMC group is working with city officials to find a place for the letters.

“We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close,” he said. “They are going to be up and be lit again so people can come see them.”