PARKERSBURG — A U.S. Senator from West Virginia was in Parkersburg on Monday touring a health facility and a farming operation.

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., visited Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital and the West Virginia University at Parkersburg Riverhawk Farm to see how both operations work and what support she could provide in Washington, D.C.

Encompass Health Rehabilitation helps patients recover from serious brain injuries and other complex neurological orthopedic conditions.

The facility treats patients who are post stroke or post knee/hip replacement where they are getting rehabilitation services to help in their recovery. Many patients are there 10-14 days, on average.

“This is an important way to get them out of the hospital and into a facility that can help them through physical therapy or occupational therapy or speech therapy,” Capito said. “I am the lead Republican on the Health and Human Subcommittee (in the US Senate).

“A lot of what we learned there really plays into funding issues, reimbursement issues and really how to get better access in healthcare.”

She is looking at the best ways to be able to deliver quality healthcare to more rural areas.

At the Riverhawk Farm, Capito met with representatives from Mister Bee Potato Chips who have a partnership with the university to grow potatoes locally for the business.

“I think there is nothing better than seeing and doing for the students here at (WVU-P) to actually put into production the things they are learning in the classroom,” she said. “They are growing potatoes out here in conjunction with Mister Bee Potato Chips.

“What a great thing to know that you are growing a West Virginia product for a West Virginia company.”

Capito highlighted students being able to see the business side and the agricultural side as they learn about the agribusiness field.

The representatives from Mister Bee said they would like to see more farms in West Virginia be able to grow the potatoes they need in their business as most of their supply comes from other states.

“There is a real focus on American agriculture and on safe American food production and safe food production” Capito said. “I’m glad we are focusing on this in West Virginia.”

There are challenges with food being imported and making sure food meets nutritional needs as there are a lot of children who do not have access to nutritional food and who are still going hungry, Capito said.

“We basically feed the world, but we really need to make sure we are taking care of our own,” she said. “That is really important and West Virginia can play a part.

“People don’t think of West Virginia as a big agriculture state because we don’t have the massive (commercial) farms, but if you put all the farms we do have together, we can have a great impact. People can create business around it.”

WVU-P has over 2,000 students concentrating on fields like nursing, cybersecurity, business, education and more as the school is focused on workforce development with the companies in the state and those who are coming to the state with specific workforce needs.

“It is about careers and jobs and having an educated workforce,” Capito said.

Part of the Capito’s visit was to see where $570,000 in federal funding the senator helped secure was going, said WVU-P Interim President Torie Jackson.

The money will be used to construct a building at the farm to be used for classrooms, labs, cold storage for the potato crops and more for the university’s planned Agribusiness Development Accelerator for Sustainable Agriculture and Education.

“I wanted to see that,” Capito said. “It is important that I know where federal dollars can impact in this agricultural business program at the school.”

John Riggs, WVU-P Director of Agriculture, said there is no time frame on when the building will be built as officials will have to design the building and see how much funding will be needed to do the whole facility. They are planning for a 4,500-square-foot building.

Jackson said with costs as they are, the university may have to put additional money into the project to be able to complete it.

“We are waiting to see exactly what that price comes back as,” she said.