Photo by Derek Redd Staff members at WVU Medicine Continuous Care Center, along with other WVU Medicine officials, celebrate the center’s placement as a High Performer in U.S. News and World Reports 2025 list of Best Nursing Homes.

WHEELING — WVU Medicine Continuous Care Center has always been a “gem” in the Wheeling community, said Douglass Harrison, regional president of WVU Medicine. A national publication now agrees with that sentiment.

U.S. News and World Report recently named WVU Medicine Continuous Care Center as a “High Performer” in its 2025 Best Nursing Homes list. The Continuous Care Center was recognized for its work in short term rehabilitation. Only 19% of almost 15,000 skilled nursing

facilities rated by U.S. News meets that “High Performer” standard.

The short-term rehabilitation category considers scores relating to patients following hospitalization for surgery, heart attack stroke, injury or a similar condition. The ratings are based on an assessment of nine quality measures including staffing levels, medical outcomes, resident complaints and more.

Harrison said the WVU Medicine Continuous Care Center’s reputation has grown through the years to become a place where the people of the Ohio Valley are comfortable in having their loved ones rehabilitate themselves there in either the long or short term.

“Everybody knows the Continuous Care Center,” Harrison said. “I get calls all the time from families wanting to get loved ones in here, and I think this is just a direct reflection on what we do every day and care for our residents like they’re family. And the staff, the commitment that they have to people in their community and taking care of those folks is tremendous, and this is just a reflection of that.”

Christine Tarr, administrator at WVU Medicine Continuous Care Center, reiterated that much of the evaluation of the center comes from the opinions of the people who have used it to return to form from serious injuries and maladies. That those people have taken the time to praise the work done at the center, she said, should make everyone who works there proud.

“We can’t do this without people who not only are highly trained, they’re highly skilled and they really love their job,” Carr said. “You make a job that is a very hard, demanding job look like a piece of cake, almost, and it’s a testament that you would treat them like you treat your family.”

Dr. WIlliam Mercer, certified medical director of WVU Medicine Continuous Care Center, said the success of the center comes from two sources. It’s the people who work there every day who put their all into caring for their patients, and it’s the WVU Medicine administration who lets the center’s workers do what’s necessary to help people back to full wellness.

“We are seeing more critical sick patients,” Mercer said, “and we have to be on top of that. We have a great staff, and if we look at outcomes and how many people have to go back to the hospital, I think we’ve done a very good job and it reflects on the administration letting us do what we need to do.”