Raleigh-Boone Medical Center

The medical center was chartered in 1955 and was one of the first non-profit organizations to pursue health care delivery in West Virginia. The Foundation was chartered to provide facilities and supporting services in the those areas within the State of West Virginia in need of health and medical services, so that high quality care could be provided to every person, especially in rural communities.

Raleigh-Boone Medical Center began with a dream of one doctor. Doctor Wilkerson, who lived near Whitesville. Wilkerson dreamed of having a hospital in the area. In 1953, the facility was dedicated at the site and officially opened in 1956. A brick on the building states that G. Cameron Hunter was the architect for the Raleigh-Boone Medical Center. The center developed because the United Mine Workers of America got involved and helped provide financing, staffing, and technical support.₁

The facility offers laboratory, x-ray, breast and cervical cancer screenings, family planning, screening and health services for children, and provides patients with a Black Lung/respiratory program. The center sees about 10,000 patients annually. Raleigh-Boone also operates two school based clinics at Sherman Jr. High School and Sherman Elementary School. Today, there are two other facilities in rural communities connected with Raleigh-Boone Medical Center. The Oceana Medical Center was established in 1963. Since that time, the medical center has become one of the major providers of health care for the population in the southern coalfields. The Wharton Medical Center was established in 1972 as part of the Hygeia Facilities Foundation to help serve southern Boone County. The counties that the facility serves is Boone, Wyoming, and Raleigh in West Virginia. ₁