The hospital's CEO reportedly told staff the process has been 'emotionally draining and financially devastating.'
Three months after ending its clinical affiliation with Pittsburgh-based UPMC, Uniontown Hospital in Pennsylvania has delayed a $32 million upgrade, as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
"Going through a divorce is emotionally draining and financially devastating," the hospital's CEO, Steve Handy, reportedly told staff in a memo earlier this month. The delay, which is expected to last 18-24 months, is needed so the hospital can put the cash it has toward filling needs left by UPMC's departure.
"This has left us with very little time now to figure out how to stabilize our physician related services without destabilizing the hospital," Handy wrote in the memo, as the Post-Gazette reported.
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When the 160-bed hospital said in January that its six-year UPMC affiliation would end, it also said that it is thinking about partnering with West Virginia University Health System, which is based about 30 miles away in Morgantown, West Virginia, as the Post-Gazette reported at the time.
In the past two years, WVU Health System has added four hospitals to its organization, with a fifth acquisition planned, as Charleston-based MetroNews reported Monday. Uniontown Hospital would be a sixth potential addition.
Steven Porter is an associate content manager and Strategy editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.