Photo Provided Clay Wood, left, food service director, Bernie Albertini, center, chief operating officer for East Ohio Regional Hospital and Dr. John Johnson, owner of EORH, all joined in an official ribbon cutting Friday morning at the Hometown Cafe inside EORH. The cafe opened last Friday as a sort of test run before cutting the ribbon.

MARTINS FERRY — There is now another place to grab a snack in Martins Ferry with the addition of the Hometown Cafe inside the main entrance to the East Ohio Regional Hospital located at 90 N. 4th St.

The official ribbon cutting took place Friday morning after a week-long test run after opening its doors on Dec. 3, Food Service Director Clay Wood said.

“We went for the soft opening to work the bugs out,” Wood explained. They’ll mostly focus on the various coffees but sandwiches will be made there as well. He said they are serving Starbucks but they buy their own with the arrangement that they “proudly serve” its coffee.

“As a community hospital we want to continue to provide new services for our community, and adding a Starbucks in the hospital will give many residents their favorite specialty drink, without having to travel to St. Clairsville or Wheeling,” Wood said earlier in a press release.

Wood said later they are going to have an online ordering service from a prepared menu where customers can login and register their pickup time.

East Ohio Hospital LLC, is owned and operated by Dr. John Johnson, MD, MBA, a resident of Ohio and board-certified psychiatrist.

Over the last 35 years, Dr. John Johnson has started, acquired, and grown a variety of healthcare organizations that he continues to own and operate; including one of Ohio’s largest independent behavioral health centers, Access Ohio, and a 110-bed in-patient psychiatric hospital, Access Hospital outside Dayton, Ohio. He also owns and operates primary care centers, substance abuse and residential treatment facilities, and telemedicine and healthcare technology enterprises.

The Ohio-based operator is committed to returning localized and personal medical care to

the residents of Belmont County and the surrounding communities.

Hours for the cafe will be Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday being 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.