Five hospitals are now officially part of WVU Medicine.
The former Independence Health System facilities are making the switch as WVU Medicine promises $800 million in investments.
Three Westmoreland County hospitals will now be run by WVU Medicine. Physicians say being closely tied to a university will bring more specialized care to the area.
“When we talk about being connected to a university center, that gives us access to state-of-the-art research, to the cutting-edge work that is out there in health care,” Chief Medical Officer and Director of Neuroscience Dr. Mary Elizabeth Kovacik said.
WVU Health System says it will invest $800 million into five hospitals over the next five years.
Those include: Frick, Westmoreland, Latrobe, Butler Memorial and Clarion. Together, the hospitals have more than 7,000 employees, most of whom will be retained. Officials say patients should expect more modern technology and more specialized treatment options.
“Some of our hospitals will become trauma centers now. We will start to introduce some pediatric programs into these hospitals, and then the big one is the cancer institute. So we will start to do things in their communities that they have not had before,” President of WVU Health System Albert Wright.
WVU also comes with the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and what Westmoreland officials are calling a pipeline to an academic system of young physicians and nurses.
“When those folks come here while they are training and they come to our beautiful hospitals and our beautiful communities, they will stay and help enhance our programs,” Westmoreland Hospital President Brian Fritz said.
With this expansion, WVU Medicine will have 30 hospitals across West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland.
WVU Medicine says the goal of the partnership is to stabilize the hospitals financially while also giving patients a wider scope of care.
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