Monongahela Valley Hospital Joins Penn Highlands Healthcare

Monongahela Valley Hospital officially joined Penn Highlands Healthcare, effective Oct. 1, following recent regulatory reviews and approvals.

Now Penn Highlands Mon Valley, this 200-bed non-profit community hospital becomes the seventh hospital in the Penn Highlands Healthcare system and the first in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

"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."

After rigorous due diligence, research and discussion, the boards of directors of both Penn Highlands Healthcare and Monongahela Valley Hospital signed a Definitive Agreement in June that paved the way for the regulatory review and approval and ultimately this integration.

"It is a new era for health care in Washington County and the surrounding region," said R. Carlyn Belzcyk, chairman of the Monongahela 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."

"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 this region," said Louis J. Panza Jr., president and CEO of MVH. "Monongahela Valley Hospital is proud to now be Penn Highlands Mon Valley."

According to Robert Ordiway, Chairman of the Penn Highlands Healthcare Board, the affiliation with Monongahela Valley Hospital will expand the geographic footprint of Penn Highlands Healthcare while strengthening the health system's ability to recruit providers and further grow many of its specialty services.

"We are thrilled to strengthen our organization through the addition of Penn Highlands Mon Valley," Ordiway said. "This affiliation will promote further growth of our brand beyond central Pennsylvania. In addition, we look forward to demonstrating to the southwestern counties served by the health system the quality of the Penn Highlands brand."


About Monongahela Valley Hospital
Monongahela Valley Hospital is a 200-bed health facility with a 225-member medical staff representing more than 40 specialties. MVH has a reputation for continually introducing the latest technology in cancer care diagnosis and treatment, orthopedics, wound care and diagnostic radiology. In addition to the hospital, the health 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.

The health systems' commitment to delivering high-quality, compassionate care is evident by the distinctions it continues to earn such as earning Healthgrades' Outstanding Patient Experience Award; being recognized as a Best Hospital in COPD and Congestive Heart Failure by U.S. News & World Report; receiving the Women's Choice Award as One of America's Best Hospitals for Patient Safety; and receiving the Get With the Guidelines Gold Plus Stroke Award and the Target: Stroke Honor Role Elite and Target Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll from the American Heart Association. Monongahela Valley Hospital is the largest employer in the mid-Monongahela Valley with more than 1,200 employees, which makes this healthcare system a vital piece of the area by strengthening the economy.

About Penn Highlands Healthcare
Penn Highlands Healthcare was officially formed on September 30, 2011, and is comprised of six hospitals - Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, and Penn Highlands Tyrone that have served area communities for the past 100 years. Its business continuum also includes a home care agency, Penn Highlands Community Nurses; two long-term care facilities, Pinecrest Manor and Penn Highlands Jefferson Manor; and a senior residential living facility, Elco Glen.

Through this partnership, Penn Highlands Healthcare has evolved into an organization with approximately 4,700 workers in 120+ locations throughout 13 counties in North Central/Western Pennsylvania that include community medical buildings, outpatient facilities, surgery centers and physician practices.

Providing exceptional quality care to the region, it has 525 physicians and 281 advanced practice providers on staff. The facilities have a total of 815 inpatient and skilled nursing beds. The system offers a wide range of care and treatments with specialty units that care for cancer, cardiovascular/thoracic, neurosurgery, pulmonology, neonatal and high-risk pregnancy patients.

Being focused on what is important - patients and families - makes Penn Highlands Healthcare the best choice in the region. For more information, visit www.phhealthcare.org.