Medium-sized hospitals around West Virginia will be able to perform more heart surgeries under a new rule approved by Gov. Joe Manchin.

Manchin signed off Thursday on a rule allowing elective angioplasties at smaller hospitals, even if they're within a certain distance of facilities with heart surgery facilities.

The rule revises a plan that would have banned such procedures if patients lived within an hour of the larger hospitals, requiring them to go to those facilities instead.

Now, the one-hour time limit measures the length of time a medical transport will take, rather than drive time alone.

Earlier this year, the Health Care Authority allowed primary angioplasty at a greater number of hospitals, and allow elective angioplasty under a more restrictive review process.