After formal approval by state and federal regulators, Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and Heritage Valley Health System have finalized an affiliation agreement that will add two Heritage Valley hospitals, dozens of clinical locations, and hundreds of physicians to AHN’s western Pennsylvania-based network.
The organizations are now focused on integration of “operations and clinical programmatic synergies that will drive the affiliation’s success and further enhance the services provided by Heritage Valley to the residents of Beaver County, Allegheny County and surrounding communities.”
“This affiliation secures the future of Heritage Valley, by not only preserving, but significantly strengthening the tradition of caring and clinical excellence that has defined our health system, and its people, for more than a century,” stated Heritage Valley President and CEO Norm Mitry.
Heritage Valley Beaver and Heritage Valley Sewickley will be rebranded AHN Beaver Hospital – Heritage Valley and AHN Sewickley Hospital – Heritage Valley. As a result, AHN will now operate 16 full-service, acute-care inpatient facilities across greater western Pennsylvania. AHN will also add 36 Heritage Valley physician offices and seven multispecialty outpatient “neighborhood” facilities in Beaver County and western Allegheny County to its network.
Heritage Valley’s 3,000 employees, including approximately 500 employed and affiliated physicians, will now become AHN “team members.” AHN will now employ approximately 27,000 people.
AHN is part of Highmark Health, which also includes multi-state Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance licensee Highmark, dental insurance company United Concordia, healthcare IT solutions company enGen, and “stop-loss solutions” provider HM Insurance Group.
The merging companies state that they have committed approximately $285 million over the next 10 years to “bolster Heritage Valley’s clinical services and invest in facility and IT infrastructure improvements,” starting with the installation of the Epic electronic health record system across all Heritage Valley inpatient and outpatient sites, “allowing for a seamless integration of all patient touchpoints via digital charts and records.”
Highmark-insured members are now assured continued access to Heritage Valley care teams and facilities “indefinitely.”
