Boone Memorial Hospital will celebrate the one year opening of its Black Lung Center this month.
The Black Lung Center, located on the Boone Memorial Hospital campus in Madison, West Virginia, has already tested nearly 800 miners since opening February 20th, 2018.
In addition to testing, The Black Lung Center helps miners complete their federal black lung claim forms.
“We help make a daunting and often difficult process easier for our miners,” said Willie Carte, Director of Respiratory Therapy and The Black Lung Center at Boone Memorial Hospital. “We don’t want our miners or widows to get discouraged. That’s one reason why we are hosting outreach events across the State of West Virginia to guide miners through the necessary steps to complete the claims, receive testing, and in turn hopefully receive their black lung benefits,” said Carte.
The next outreach event will be held this Friday, March 1st from 9:00am – 3:00pm at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, Logan Campus. The outreach will take place in Building A, Room 111. Pre-registration is not required and the event is free of charge.
Those attending should bring proof of their coal mining employment: (W-2’s, pay stubs, or employment letters), work history with approximate dates of employment including name and company (NOTE: Do not get social security record due to expense), a certified copy of their marriage certificate, spouse’s social security number and date of birth, copy of divorce decree (if applicable) and copy of birth certificate and Social Security number for self and all dependents.
“We have already held outreach events in Madison, Oceana and Beckley ,” said David Gresham, Chief Development Officer at Boone Memorial Hospital. “Providing convenient locations close to home is just one more way we can help our local miners get the support they need. We hope miners in the Logan area will stop by on March 1st.”
In addition to helping miners file claims, The Black Lung Center at Boone Memorial Hospital performs B-Read chest x-rays (specific to black lung), spirometry testing to determine breathing capacity, EKG’s, exercise stress tests and a complete physical by a physician. The completion of claims application and the initial testing, as described above, are completely free to the miner.
“We encourage miners to attend one of our upcoming outreach events or simply call our Black Lung Center at 304-369-8825 to set-up an appointment at Boone Memorial. We are happy to help and furthermore provide a location, close to home,” concluded Carte.
