June 28, 2011: Highmark and West Penn Allegheny Health System jointly announce plans to affiliate, with Highmark promising to invest $475 million in the financially ailing health system over four years, including a $50 million upfront payment. Nov. 1, 2011: Highmark and WPAHS sign an affiliation agreement that immediately infuses an additional $100 million into the health system. The agreement calls for reopening the West Penn Hospital emergency department in Bloomfield, closed a year earlier as part of restructuring, and upgrading Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville.
