UPMC zoning changes approved

The Monroeville (PA) council has voted to approve a rezoning request, a consolidation plan, and three conditional use requests for the proposed University of Pittsburgh Medical Center East hospital site. The approvals came in spite of citizens who spoke vehemently against building the hospital and urged council to deny UPMC's requests. Tami Merryman, chief quality officer for UPMC's Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation, noted that UPMC serves 80 Monroeville residents on an average day, and the intent was to serve those patients better. She also said that the facility was not meant to operate as a full-service hospital and would not feature obstetrics, open heart surgery, and other advanced services.