MARTINS FERRY — As a thank you to the community and celebration of its reopening, East Ohio Regional Hospital is slated to host a free Community Day and ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.

The ribbon cutting is set to begin at 10 a.m. in front of the hospital, located at 90 N. Fourth St., Martins Ferry. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is scheduled to make remarks along with U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Following the ceremony, the EORH Community Day celebration will kick off at 11:30 a.m. and last until 3 p.m. It is for the general public as well as hospital employees and their families.

The celebration will include food and treats, giveaways, music, face painting and inflatables for children to play on.

Bernie Albertini, EORH’s chief operating officer, said hospital officials and its owner, Dr. John Johnson, said giving back to the community that helped support the reopening effort was important to EORH.

“It was a great deal of work to reopen and re-establish EORH and this would not have been possible without the continued support of our community,” Albertini said. “From our elected officials to our employees and patients, we serve an important role in the community and the community is essential to us. It was important to us to do something to say thank you to all of those who helped make this possible.”

Johnson purchased the hospital in May 2020 after it was closed in 2019 by its former owner, Alecto Healthcare Services of California — the same company that closed Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling. The news was devastating to the community that had relied upon its services since its original opening more than 100 years ago in 1906.

Johnson saw the value and significance of the facility and decided to purchase it and reopen it as a community hospital again.

“This community, as well as the broader Ohio Valley, deserves to have a solid community-focused hospital. I am very grateful to join Gov. DeWine and Congressman Johnson, as well as many other elected officials and community leaders who helped us make this dream a reality,” Johnson said.

The hospital recently marked being open for its first 100 days

“When we reopened in February, we promised that we were planning for an official and more traditional ribbon cutting later and celebration for the community later in the year and we are really pleased that the time has arrived. We want the greater local community to come out and celebrate with our EORH family,” Albertini said.

The hospital now employs about 500 people and has an emergency room, medical/surgical unit, laboratory services, imaging/radiology services, a 50-bed skilled nursing facility, a retail pharmacy for the public and patients to use, a sleep lab and robotic knee replacement services.