WINCHESTER — If you’re looking for Shenandoah Head and Neck Specialists on Linden Drive, you won’t have any luck. That’s because the 28-year-old clinic has moved to 650 Cedar Creek Grade, Suite 100, and rebranded as WVU Medicine Ear, Nose and Throat.
Dr. Joe Mikus said WVU Medicine Ear, Nose and Throat started seeing patients at its new facility on Monday, in advance of a formal ribbon cutting that took place on Thursday morning.
WVU Medicine, also known as the West Virginia University Health System, is a nonprofit operation that oversees 25 hospitals and numerous clinics throughout the Mountain State. In the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, WVU Medicine rubs shoulders with Valley Health of Winchester, another nonprofit healthcare provider with six hospitals and multiple clinics in the Shenandoah Valley, including Winchester Medical Center.
Mikus said the new WVU Medicine Ear, Nose and Throat clinic will have the same offerings as the former practice, such as treating sore throats, facial paralysis, nose bleeds, ear infections and more.
“The beauty of this alliance with WVU is, they take over the management of the practice and I continue to serve the same patients in the same area while having the opportunity to grow this practice to include services that I can’t provide as a solo practitioner,” Mikus said.
When asked what led the independent Shenandoah Head and Neck Specialists to become a WVU Medicine affiliate, Mikus said it was so the practice could grow into the future.
“I approached the leadership of WVU Medicine [East], Mark O’Hern, who also had a vision of growing ear, nose and throat services in the [Winchester] area,” Mikus said. “Our visions gelled and we were able to come up with an alliance and plan where they acquired our practice.”
All of the medical and support staff from Shenandoah Head and Neck Specialists carried over to the new practice, he added.
Mikus said he also approached Valley Health about a potential partnership, but “timing-wise and with the natural attrition of my own practice, it happened to be the right fit with WVU.”
Over the past decade, Valley Health has been making inroads into West Virginia, opening clinics next door to existing WVU Medicine clinics in Inwood and Spring Mills, West Virginia. In 2018, WVU Medicine established a practice in Winchester by partnering with the existing Heart and Vascular Institute of Winchester and making the practice part of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute.
“I think that’s good,” Mikus said of WVU Medicine and Valley Health sharing the same territory. “I’m a firm believer that if there’s competition, it’s better for all.”
Both of WVU Medicine’s Winchester clinics — WVU Heart and Vascular Institute and the new WVU Medicine Ear, Nose and Throat — are located at 650 Cedar Creek Grade, Suite 100.
Alex Johnson, associate vice president of ambulatory operations for WVU Medicine, said sharing territory with Valley Health benefits area residents because they now have expanded access to more healthcare services. Additionally, a significant number of people in the Northern Shenandoah Valley use a Peak Health insurance plan, which is supported by both Valley Health and WVU Medicine, so they now have more healthcare options closer to home.
“We wanted to be closer so that they aren’t having to travel to Berkeley Medical Center [in Martinsburg, West Virginia] or Jefferson [Medical Center in Ranson, West Virginia],” Johnson said, referring to two of WVU Medicine’s hospitals.
Also, WVU Medicine’s association with the former Shenandoah Head and Neck Specialists allows the local practice to have access to high-quality services that it would have been challenged to pay for and utilize on its own.
“We offer a full gamut of services behind the scenes so that the providers can focus on seeing patients, which is what they trained to do,” Johnson said.
“We’re looking forward to a healthy future for us and our patients,” Mikus added.
To learn more about WVU Medicine Ear, Nose and Throat at 650 Cedar Creek Grade, Suite 100, visit shenandoahent.com. The practice is accepting new patients while continuing to serve those treated at Shenandoah Head and Neck Specialists.
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