Mon Valley Hospital joins Penn Highlands Healthcare
October 13, 2021
Paul Paterra
Observer-Reporter
Monongahela Valley Hospital has officially joined Penn Highlands Healthcare.
The move became effective Oct. 1 following recent regulatory reviews and proposals. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 200-bed nonprofit community hospital will now be called Penn Highlands Mon Valley. It becomes the seventh hospital in the Penn Highlands Healthcare system and the first in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The new partnership will preserve local jobs and allow Mon Valley to attract and retain physicians.
“It’s a new era for health care in Washington County and the surrounding region,” said R. Caryln Belczyk, chairman of the Mon Valley Hospital Board of Trustees. “We are extremely pleased that our health system is partnering with Penn Highlands Healthcare to maintain and expand our programs and services. I am confident that this new affiliation will also enable our health system to attract and retain high-quality physicians and staff.”
Penn Highlands Healthcare, which was established Sept. 30, 2011, is based in Dubois. Its other hospitals are: Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk, Penn Highlands Huntingdon and Penn Highlands Tyrone.
The health care system also runs a home care agency, two long-term care facilities and a senior residential living facility. Penn Highlands Healthcare employs about 4,700 people at 120 locations in 13 counties in North Central/Western Pennsylvania.
A definitive agreement was signed in June by the boards of directors of the health care organization and the hospital.
“We are excited to expand our services into Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Steven M. Fontaine, chief executive officer of Penn Highlands Healthcare. “Monongahela Valley Hospital has a reputation for providing high quality health care. This partnership will enable the people in the region to continue receiving the care they depend on and provide them with access to more physicians in additional specialties through Penn Highlands Healthcare.”
Mon Valley Hospital has a 225-member staff representing more than 40 specialties. The hospital, which resulted from the consolidation of Charleroi-Monessen Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Monongahela, was dedicated in September 1978.
In addition to the hospital, the heath system includes a skilled nursing home, assisted living facility, outpatient rehabilitation and medical imaging services, a durable medical equipment provider, ambulatory surgery centers, a physician hospital organization and physician practice management services.
“Monongahela Valley Hospital’s affiliation with Penn Highlands Healthcare will allow us to enhance services, leverage PHH’s innovation and clinical expertise, advance quality initiatives and continue our long-standing commitment to provide superior compassionate care to patients throughout the region,” said Louis J. Panza Jr., president and CEO of Mon Valley Hospital. “Monongahela Valley Hospital is proud to now be Penn Highlands Mon Valley.”