PITTSBURGH — Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network announced Wednesday plans to invest $700 million in new facility construction and existing facility expansion and renovation in western Pennsylvania.
The investment, which will take place over the next four to five years, includes construction of a hospital with more than 160 beds in Pine Township, adjacent to the Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion. Expansion and renovation is planned for Forbes, Allegheny General, Jefferson and West Penn hospitals, as well as other AHN sites.
Work on existing hospitals is expected to begin in January and will be completed over the next 12 months.
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Meanwhile, AHN and Emerus plan to initially open four neighborhood hospitals in the region over the next 18-24 months. The locations have not yet been finalized, but targeted opening dates are set in early 2019.
Those hospitals would provide emergency room services, primary care, and clinical care based on the specific needs of that neighborhood.
In addition, multiple facilities will be built across the region to provide local access to emergency, primary and specialty care. This part of the investment will be a joint venture with Emerus, which develops and operates neighborhood hospitals nationwide.
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"We are introducing a new concept in health care to the Pittsburgh market: innovative, small-scale, neighborhood hospitals that will increase access close to home," said David Holmberg, Highmark's chief executive officer, after he announced the plans for five new hospitals in the area.
More than 800 new health care jobs are expected to come out of the investment.
AHN plans to break ground on the new hospital in Pine Township in mid-2018, pending regulatory approvals. Construction is expected to be completed in or before 2021.
"The whole purpose is to keep care in the community," Cindy Hundorfean, with Allegheny Health Network, said. "Our patients are absolutely gonna love this."
It's a big need for Highmark patients in the North Hills. Right now, many of them have to go downtown for care.