DuBois, PA – April 1, 2022 – Highlands Hospital officially joined Penn Highlands Healthcare, effective April 1, following recent regulatory reviews and approvals.
Now Penn Highlands Connellsville, this 64-bed non-profit community hospital becomes the eighth hospital in the Penn Highlands Healthcare system and the second in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“It is a privilege to now include Highlands Hospital as part of our health system,” said Steven M. Fontaine, Chief Executive Officer of Penn Highlands Healthcare. “For more than 130 years, the people in the Connellsville area have received quality healthcare in their community, and this partnership will ensure that they have access to more services and physicians in additional specialties.”
After rigorous due diligence, research and discussion, the boards of directors of both Penn Highlands Healthcare and Highlands Hospital signed a Definitive Agreement in December 2021 that paved the way for the regulatory review and approval and ultimately this integration.
“When we looked at strategic partners, Penn Highlands Healthcare was a natural fit for Highlands Hospital because our missions align very closely together,” said Michael A. Jordan Jr., Chairman of Highlands Hospital Board of Directors. “As part of the Penn Highlands Healthcare system, Highlands Hospital will remain a viable source of healthcare for the people in this community.”
John Andursky, President and CEO of Highlands Hospital, views the new affiliation as a major boost to the region. “This affiliation will be great for our community. By partnering with Penn Highlands Healthcare, it will strengthen our ability to recruit new providers and expand services that will ultimately enable the people in the Connellsville area to remain in our region to receive care.”
According to Robert Ordiway, Chairman of the Penn Highlands Healthcare Board, the affiliation with Highlands Hospital will enable Penn Highlands Healthcare to continue the expansion of its footprint in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“We are excited to continue expanding in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Ordiway. “The Connellsville area is very competitive in terms of healthcare and we are confident that we will deliver the highest level of care to the people in the area.”
Highlands Hospital began as Cottage State Hospital. Today, 130 years later, Highlands Hospital provides patient-centered quality care. As a non-profit general acute-care hospital located in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Highlands Hospital offers emergent, inpatient, behavioral and ambulatory care to the region and beyond. Residents are given tools for life-long health at the John P. Murtha Wellness Center. Highlands Hospital, in affiliation with Cleveland Clinic Children’s Center for Autism, helps to provide families with innovative educational and behavioral treatment. Highlands Hospital has proudly served the Behavioral Health needs of the community for more than 35 years and has adopted a holistic approach to healing for the mind, body and spirit of all patients.
Penn Highlands Healthcare was officially formed on September 30, 2011, and is comprised of eight hospitals – Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands Connellsville, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, Penn Highlands Mon Valley and Penn Highlands Tyrone that have served area communities for the past 100+ years. Its business continuum also includes home care agencies, long-term care facilities and residential senior living communities, as well as durable medical equipment companies and retail pharmacies. Penn Highlands Healthcare has evolved into an organization with approximately 6,097 workers in 150+ locations throughout 39 counties in Northwestern/Central and Southwestern Pennsylvania that include community medical buildings, outpatient facilities, surgery centers and physician practices. Providing exceptional quality care to the region, it has 827 physicians and 405 advanced practice providers on staff. The facilities have a total of 1,513 inpatient, skilled nursing and personal care 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.
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