GROVE CITY, Pa. (PRWEB)
January 10, 2020

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and Grove City Medical Center (GCMC) have finalized an affiliation agreement that officially brings GCMC into the family of hospitals affiliated with and operated by the Pittsburgh-based health system. The newly-branded AHN Grove City provides the network and its patients with a vital new access point for high-quality acute care services between Pittsburgh and Erie, with plans to further expand and enhance those services for residents of Mercer County and the surrounding region.

“Today we celebrate the beginning of an exciting new era of health care excellence in Mercer County as an affiliate of Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health,” said Timothy R. Bonner, chairman of GCMC’s Board of Directors. “As we expressed last summer when reaching our affiliation agreement with AHN, we could not have found a partner more closely aligned with and committed to the charitable mission, vision and values that have defined our hospital and its dedicated caregivers for more than four decades.”    

AHN plans to invest more than $40 million over the next decade to strengthen AHN Grove City’s clinical programs, technological capabilities and physical infrastructure. The network will add or enhance a host of clinical services at the hospital, including primary care, neurology, oncology, cardiology, behavioral health, orthopedics, pediatrics, and general surgery, while also expanding onsite telehealth capabilities to include tele-dermatology, tele-stroke and autoimmune consultations, among other specialties.

One of the first big investments being made at AHN Grove City is an upgrade of the hospital’s information technology infrastructure, including installation of the Epic electronic health record system at both the main campus and affiliated satellite facilities throughout the community. AHN is the largest health care network in western Pennsylvania with a singular integrated electronic health record across its many sites of care.

Through the affiliation, a new independent Grove City Health Care Foundation has also been established with an initial endowment of approximately $30 million that will be spent on local health and wellness initiatives.

“Rural hospitals are critically important to the health and well-being of the populations they serve, and there is no better example than the outstanding services provided to this community by the employees, volunteers and affiliated clinicians of AHN Grove City,” said Cynthia Hundorfean, President and CEO of Allegheny Health Network. “Our organization grows stronger today as we welcome these many exceptional caregivers into the AHN family, and we cannot wait to start working together to provide the residents of Grove City and the surrounding region with more of the high-quality, close-to-home health services they need and deserve.”

AHN Grove City is the network’s eighth acute care facility located in western Pennsylvania and ninth hospital overall. The network is also currently in the process of building five additional hospitals in the greater Pittsburgh area, including a 160-bed full service hospital in Wexford, PA and four smaller scale neighborhood hospitals in suburban communities north, south and east of the city.    

Together with Highmark Health, AHN has invested more than $1.5 billion over the past five years to improve access to the network’s services, including construction of the new hospitals, multiple community cancer centers and other outpatient facilities, and the expansion and enhancement of facilities and programs at its existing hospitals.

Residents of the Grove City region have received their medical care from AHN physicians for many years, both through affiliated services and practice locations in the community and transitions to Allegheny General Hospital for higher level care when needed.

About AHN Grove City

AHN Grove City is a 67-bed acute care hospital in Mercer County. The hospital, which employees approximately 400 health care professionals, also operates six outpatient clinics and lab sites throughout its service footprint, offering cancer care, cardiac care, lab services, home health, and imaging services. AHN Grove City opened in November 1981, created through the merger of Grove City Hospital and Bashline Memorial Hospital, both of which were founded in the early 1900s. For more information, visit http://www.gcmcpa.org.

About Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network (http://www.AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. Among the network’s 250 clinical locations are nine hospitals — Allegheny General Hospital, its flagship academic medical center in Pittsburgh; Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Pa.; Canonsburg Hospital in Canonsburg, Pa.; Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Pa.; Grove City Hospital in Grove City, Pa, Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Pa.; Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa.; West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh; and Westfield Memorial Hospital in Westfield, NY. AHN also is home to a comprehensive research institute; Health + Wellness Pavilions; home- and community-based health services; and a group purchasing organization. The network employs approximately 21,000 people and has more than 2,400 doctors on its medical staff. Established in 2013, AHN’s member hospitals share legacies of charitable care that date back more than 160 years.

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