Published: January 07, 2009 01:05 am      

‘Everyday compassion’

Wishing Well: New management, names

FAIRMONT — After owning Wishing Well Health Center and Wishing Well Manor for many years, brothers George and Herman Haupstein recently sold their business.

“It was just an opportunity that we just didn’t want to forego, so we took advantage of it,” George said. “We weren’t actively looking for a sale, but the opportunity came up and we decided to go with it.”

Around 1975, the Haupstein brothers bought the Four Seasons Nursing Home, a vacant facility in Fairmont that was never operated, and opened it as Wishing Well Health Center, a skilled-nursing facility.

They established Wishing Well Manor, a nursing home and assisted-living facility, in 1988. Nearly 10 years later, they built a new structure at the back of the manor, which they called the Chesapeake.

Genesis HealthCare is now operating Wishing Well Health Center and Wishing Well Manor, both stationed on Country Club Road on one campus. The change in management, which was in the works for about a year and a half, became effective Jan. 1.

Wishing Well Health Center is now called Tygart Center at Fairmont Campus. At Wishing Well Manor, the skilled-nursing component is now known as Pierpont Center at Fairmont Campus, and the assisted-living wing is Wishing Well Assisted Living Community at Fairmont Campus.

These name changes are a way “to build some identification with Genesis,” said Jane Wade, regional vice president of operations for Genesis HealthCare.

She said this was a great acquisition for the corporation, which is the largest provider of long-term services in West Virginia.

“These buildings, they give good patient care,” Wade said of the Fairmont facilities.

Genesis HealthCare is headquartered in Kennett Square, Pa. With centers in Grafton and Morgantown already, it made sense to fill in the Fairmont market, Wade said.

“They fit our philosophy of care,” she said. “We improve the lives of the people whom we touch through everyday compassion.”

Cathy Fleece, who has worked with the Haupsteins for more than 20 years, serves as the administrator at Tygart Center. Beth Harris, who came from Genesis’ Grafton center, is the administrator of Pierpont Center and Wishing Well Assisted Living Community.

Wade said the Fairmont facilities will benefit from the support of a corporate structure like Genesis HealthCare and new policies and regulations.

“We bring a lot of new technology to the centers,” she said.

George and Herman will remain involved in the business for a while longer as it goes through the ownership transition.

The people at Wishing Well Health Center and Wishing Well Manor made the two facilities special, and the experience and dedication of long-time staff members played a big part in the business’ success, George said.

“The building’s not what’s important — it’s the people who work inside those buildings,” he said.

George said it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to the business after 30-some years, and he’ll miss the day-to-day interaction with the staff and residents.

“I just want to thank ... the people of Marion County for supporting us all these years,” he said. “It was a great opportunity working here. It’s been an honor and privilege.”

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.