Allegheny Health Network Plans $1 Billion Expansion, New North Hills Hospital

PITTSBURGH PA - Highmark Health and the Allegheny Health Network will invest more than $1 billion in new facilities and capital projects in southwestern Pennsylvania, including a new 160-bed hospital, full-service hospital in Pine Township.

The network also plans to further expand and renovate facilities at a number of its existing hospitals, including Forbes, Jefferson, West Penn and Allegheny General, and will continue to invest in its leading clinical programs in cardiovascular care, women’s health, the neurosciences and orthopedics, among others.

The network also is partnering with Emerus, the nation’s leading developer and operator of neighborhood hospitals, to build additional facilities across the region to provide local access to emergency, primary and specialty care.

The projects should result in 800 new health care jobs across the region, medical system officials said Tuesday.

“Through our partnership with Emerus and the other significant capital investments planned for AHN, we are building a uniquely patient-centric health care system and taking every step necessary to ensure the network’s exceptional care is more readily available to patients and our members in settings close to where they live and work,” said David Holmberg, Highmark president and CEO.

The network’s planned hospital in Pine be built next to its adjacent Wexford Health and Wellness Pavilion, Pediatric Orthopaedic Institute, which opened in 2014. Network officials hope to break ground on the facility in 2018 and have it open by 2021.

Network and Emerus officials hope to finalize the locations of the first four neighborhood hospitals and have them open in early 2019. The facilities range from 15,000 to 60,000 square feet and may offer an assortment of onsite clinical services, including an emergency department, as many as a dozen inpatient beds for observation and short-stay use, diagnostic care, primary and specialty care, and other complementary services.

Unlike standalone emergency departments or urgent care centers, the facilities are fully licensed hospitals that are open around the clock and able to accommodate some patients who require hospital-based services.

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