West Virginia Academic Mentoring Partnership
WV AMP is a free telementoring partnership designed for primary and addiction care providers to link with disease experts for training. WV AMP is designed to build a mentorship platform that is accessible to primary and addiction care providers caring for high-risk individuals throughout West Virginia, so that individuals with diseases can be cared for and cured in their own community.
These numbers demonstrate that with guidance and support, PCPs who have never previously treated HCV can achieve the same rate of cure as a specialist (95-99%).
Wetzel County
Tyler County
Monongalia County
Berkeley County
Jefferson County
Taylor County
Harrison County
Ritchie County
Wood County
These numbers demonstrate that with guidance and support, PCPs who have never previously treated HCV can achieve the same rate of cure as a specialist (95-99%).
I am Dr. Melissa Welch DNP, FNP-BC, and have served as a primary care provider at Shenandoah Community Health Center in Martinsburg, WV for the last 17 years. I have lived in West Virginia for the past 32 years and have been in healthcare since 1994. I am also an active Maryland National Guard member at the 175th Medical Group in Baltimore, Maryland. I received my undergraduate degree at Mountain State University and my doctorate from Shepherd University in West Virginia. I have had extensive public health experience throughout my career. I served as the Director of Congregate Care Service for Maryland Department of Health under Governor Larry Hogan during the COVID-19 State of Emergency pandemic. I currently care for an array of special populations in the Eastern Panhandle and with the National Guard. My most recent endeavor to help the local community has been starting a Hepatitis C Treatment Program and providing a Suboxone Bridge Program in conjunction with the behavioral health unit here at the Community Health Center. I am proud to be a part of a team who has worked hard to bring hepatitis C care to this special population in the great state of West Virginia.
I accepted a
position at Cabin Creek Health Systems in January 2018. I work in a small
clinic inside the Kanawha Charleston Health Department. The clinic was started
in an attempt to see folks who came through the Harm Reduction/Syringe Exchange
Program. There was a need for primary care services including care for chronic
diseases, birth control, treatment for abscesses, sexually transmitted
diseases, and other infectious diseases including HIV, Hep B and Hep C. I was
shocked at the number of patients who tested positive for hepatitis C.
I had the
opportunity to participate in the first WVHAMP training in March 2020. Since
then, I have 29 patients that have finished treatment and have been cured, 7 in
current treatment, and have at least 5 that are in the process of getting started
with treatment. It is so gratifying to see the patients and tell them they no
longer have hepatitis C because they have been cured.
Most of the
patients I see have contracted hepatitis C through injection drug use.
Addiction, a chronic medical disease, is cunning, baffling, and powerful. It is
often accompanied with other physical, mental, and social problems. While there
are currently so many programs and efforts to treat patients with substance use
disorder, there is still so much work to be done.
In addition
to working, I have served on the board of Hospice of Southern WV since 2005. I
live near Beckley, am married, have two grown sons, three grandchildren, and a
rescue dog named Ladybug. I enjoy reading, gardening and have recently been
taking painting classes.
In addition to our hepatitis trainings, we are now offering PCPs the knowledge and guidance to diagnose and treat HIV as well.