U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice were on hand for the check presentation Wednesday. (Photo/Jack Carlson)
CHARLESTON, W.Va.— Infrastructure and cybersecurity improvements are coming to the Vandalia Health CAMC system with a $15 million federal grant.
U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice joined local healthcare workers for the check presentation Wednesday afternoon at the CAMC Memorial Hospital. The funding will go toward supporting equipment, infrastructure upgrades, and further securing health data within the system.
Vandalia Health President and CEO Jeff Sandene says it’s incredible to have the support of Capito and Justice, championing the need for infrastructure improvements.
“They’re such supporters of West Virginia,” Sandene said. “They are through and through. They know what the state needs, the challenges, but they also know the opportunities that the state has. They know Vandalia extremely well, and they knew that we had a need from an infrastructural request perspective.”
Capito said 8,000 people work in the Vandalia Health system in the Capital City, and the funds will go directly toward supporting their efforts. She mentioned that the investment will allow the system to better utilize artificial intelligence and the most modern technology.
“This is going to help upgrade their systems, also protect against cyber-attacks and cybersecurity,” Capito said. “We know that healthcare information is extremely personal, is extremely guarded, and we want to make sure we have the highest technology safeguarding our patient info.”
Justice said that supporting healthcare infrastructure is crucial and this investment does just that.
“It will bring us into the next age,” Justice said. “That’s all there is to it. We have got to be ready for all the different things that can come. All the advancements in AI, (artificial intelligence) that can absolutely bring more and more goodness to the patients, that’s what this is really all about.”
The money was secured through Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) through the U.S. Departments of Health of Human Services in Fiscal Year 2026. Capito said Vandalia brought the need to her and Justice and they went to work.
Justice praised Capito’s work in securing the federal funds. He emphasized that he and Capito work together well.
“You’ve got two U.S. senators right now that never butt heads,” Justice said. “We literally work together all the time, and we’re a pretty potent force and everything. I let Shelley have the ball. I’ll do the blocking. And I’ll knock whomever is in the way, out of the way.”
It’s critical to have good community care in the region, Capito said. She said for that to happen, you have to implement IT upgrades that are in sync with the artificial intelligence advancements.
“I live in Charleston, we use Vandalia all the time for many of my family members,” Capito said. “We want to have the assurance as community members that our healthcare is as good as any place in the country.”
Sandene said that, in the ever-changing landscape of the latest technology, Vandalia has to stay up to date.
“AI is kind of the new buzzword that everyone talks about, what’s changing from the standpoint of AI,” Sandene said. “So, we want to make sure we have all the tools, we have all the security, (we) want to make sure our patients have the secure information so that they can receive their test results on a timely fashion; know that their information is secure.”
The changes will be implemented immediately, Sandene said.
“Day to day is really enhancing our patient portal, so that they be able to see their test results, knowing that they’re secure, knowing that they can pay a bill online securely is another big part of what this will be able to do.”
