5 Big Ways Highmark & AHN Are Making Pittsburgh a World-Class Place to Live
With a focus on community support and providing local access to world-class heath care, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and Allegheny Health Network (AHN) are investing more than $1 billion in hospitals, cancer centers, and care program expansions across Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania.
The health system and insurance provider joined forces to transform health care across the region, with the goal of bringing affordable, high-quality care right to people’s neighborhoods. These new investments are centered on convenience, building new, nearby facilities that offer helpful services like same-day appointments, and closer emergency care. And coupled with simpler coverage that’s coordinated with their care, they’ll provide a streamlined process for patients along with expanded access to the latest medical techniques and technology.
To find out more about the community benefits of this integrated approach, visit togetherforhealth.com
Here are five big ways Highmark BCBS and AHN are making Pittsburgh—and the rest of western Pennsylvania—a world-class place to live.
- AHN Wexford, a full-service, state-of-the-art, $280 million hospital, will open in 2021 to serve Pittsburgh’s North Hills. The 160-bed facility will provide convenient, best-in-class emergency, specialty, and primary care, including inpatient, surgical, and full labor and delivery services. It will serve as a complement to the outpatient care offered at the adjacent Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion. AHN Wexford represents the single-largest capital investment made by AHN since the network formed in 2013.
- AHN and Highmark plunge a generous $300 million into enhancing cancer care throughout western Pennsylvania by providing locals with innovative, personalized treatment close to home. The $80 million, 90,000-square-foot Academic Cancer Center at Allegheny General Hospital, which is set to open in January, will provide leading-edge cancer therapies and serve as a nucleus for the cancer research, clinical trials and medical education carried out throughout the AHN Cancer Institutes. By the end of the year, residents will also benefit from an impressive five new cancer treatment centers in Monroeville (AHN Cancer and Imaging Center at Forbes Hospital), Erie (AHN Cancer Institute – Saint Vincent), Butler (AHN Cancer Institute – Butler), Beaver (AHN Cancer Institute – Beaver) and Hempfield (AHN Cancer Institute – Hempfield). The new AHN Cancer Institutes will provide an array of clinical and support services, including radiation oncology capabilities, medical oncology, and infusion therapy. They’ll also offer treatment by world-class specialists and, of course, the latest technology.
- To enhance emergency, outpatient and critical care access in southwestern Pennsylvania Highmark and AHN invest in four new neighborhood hospitals and expand access leading-edge, conveniently located outpatient facilities. The brand-new hospitals include the $31 million Brentwood Neighborhood Hospital, the AHN Harmar Neighborhood Hospital, the AHN Hempfield Neighborhood Hospital located near Greensburg, and the AHN McCandless Neighborhood Hospital. The outpatient projects comprise Health + Wellness Pavilion Eastside, a 30,000-square-foot facility offering everything from urgent care to podiatry; AHN Outpatient Center – Waterworks, an $8 million, 13,400-square-foot multispecialty facility; and AHN Outpatient Center – Hempfield, a 23,000-square-foot multispecialty facility just east of Westmoreland Mall.
- As part of a $1 billion commitment to build world-class facilities, Highmark and AHN invest in existing hospitals, including major improvements to women’s programs, emergency departments and operating suites from Erie to Allegheny County. The improvements include the new 104,000-square-foot emergency department/operating facility and the $9.5 million Women and Infants Center renovation at Saint Vincent Hospital; the $21 million emergency department expansion/renovation at Jefferson Hospital; the new $16 million, 50,000-square-foot perioperative center at Forbes Hospital; and at West Penn hospital both the Alexis Joy D’Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health — a 7,300-square-foot, $2.5 million addition and a $23 million expansion of the NICU.
- AHN and Highmark Health invest $115 million into Saint Vincent Hospital and the Erie region to enhance emergency access, cancer medicine, outpatient and surgical capabilities, and care for women and infants. In addition to the emergency facility and Women and Infants project described above, the $26 million, 36,474-square-foot AHN Cancer Institutes will stand across the street from Saint Vincent.
AHN and Highmark offer an integrated financing and care delivery system, which provides exceptional care at convenient locations and times, a coordinated and simplified health insurance approach, and the latest medical techniques and technology. They share a strong commitment to the health of Pittsburgh and communities beyond, as evidenced by this $1 billion investment in building world-class facilities across the region. To find out more, visit togetherforhealth.com.