Datapoint: UPMC, Washington Health System to Affiliate
Pittsburgh-based UPMC (the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to affiliate Washington Health System, a two-hospital system based in Washington, Pa., into the UPMC system, according to a June 20 press release. “Our primary focus is to ensure the residents of Washington and Greene Counties have local access to high-quality health care that is sustainable into the future,” Brook Ward, President and CEO of Washington Health System, said in a statement. “After careful consideration and analysis, we believe the best path forward is to affiliate with UPMC to achieve that goal.” The UPMC system currently consists of more than 35 hospitals, with a network of more than 8,000 providers. Its insurance unit, UPMC Health Plan, is the third-largest insurer in Pennsylvania, with 1,512,846 members.
Source: AIS’s Directory of Health Plans