RAINELLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Hundreds gathered at Rainelle Medical Center’s main office in Rainelle on Wednesday to celebrate 50 years of providing “excellent health care right at home.”
The celebration event kicked off at 2 PM and included speakers, music, food, and a reflection of what Rainelle Medical Center has done for the communities it serves.
Rainelle Medical Center (RMC) was founded in 1974, originally operated by Hygeia, and later by a local organization known as Community Aid, which was established to manage the clinic.
During the 1980s, the Board of Directors reorganized the clinic under its current name, Rainelle Medical Center, Inc. In 1979, RMC began receiving annual Section 330 funding, which supports health centers serving medically underserved areas.
RMC CEO Kristi Atha-Rader says the dedication of the RMC team is what has contributed to the growth and longevity of the medical center.
“It has been a lot of hard work and really good people behind the scenes doing what we need to do to grow,” Atha-Rader said. “We kinda saw the handwriting on the wall, it was probably 14 or 15 years ago if we wanted to sustain if we wanted to stay around into the future we were gonna have to grow and expand.”
“We took it head-on, we added dental services, we added more behavioral health, we started adding sites,” Atha-Rader explained.
A new Rainelle Medical Center Mobile Unit was also unveiled at the event which will provide additional care to local schools RMC already serves and even new schools.
RMC has grown from a handful of employees in 1971 to over 250 in 2024. RMC has also expanded its footprint in Southern West Virginia serving the counties of Fayette, Greenbrier, Nicholas, and Summers.
To learn more about RMC you can visit their website at CommunityHealthCenter.net.
