By: Ed DiOrio
GREENSBURG, Pa. —A Western Pennsylvania-based hospital group will join the West Virginia University Health System.
The deal announced Wednesday would bring Frick, Latrobe and Westmoreland hospitals in Westmoreland County; Butler Memorial Hospital; and Clarion Hospital under the WVU Medicine brand beginning next fall.
“We see this as a chance to expand our brand and opportunities,” West Virginia University President Michael Benson said. “I think people are going to see, in a relatively short amount of time, some great improvements. If you take patients to one of our hospitals or clinics, they’re going to see the quality of care improve dramatically. It was good before, but now it’ll be better.”
The hospitals are currently part of Independence Health System, which was formed by the merger of Excela Health and Butler Health System in January 2023.
“This is a partnership that’s been in the works for years and years,” WVU Health System President and CEO Albert Wright said. “We realized that putting the two health care systems together actually results in a better product. We want to grow the capabilities of the hospitals and outpatient centers in these communities.”
Leaders from Independence and WVU Medicine promised $800 million worth of investment over the next five years.
“Very specifically in the letter of intent, WVU Medicine assured us that there will be significant investments to all five campuses,” Independence Health System President and CEO Ken DeFurio said. “Especially where we are right now at Westmoreland Hospital and this campus.”
Some of those investments include:
- $200+ million renovations, including outpatient facilities and a new patient tower at Westmoreland Hospital
- $40 million new emergency department at Butler Memorial Hospital
- $80 million investment to replace electronic health records
“You’re going to see significant investments in the physical plans to make sure we have state-of-the-art operating rooms and private patient rooms in these facilities,” Wright said. “This is an investment in themselves as caregivers and in their facilities and communities.”
Around 7,000 people work for Independence Health System. It’s a company that serves close to 750,000 people. No one who helps those patients is expected to lose their jobs.
“We expect all jobs will be maintained,” DeFurio said. “There will be job growth. As we talked about during the conference, I expect executives to be on board as well. WVU has a track record of growing and adding jobs with any organization they’ve brought it. At the local level, in terms of direct bedside care and taking care of patients, I don’t anticipate a lot of changes. You need caregivers to do that.”
“We have 25 hospitals in WVU Medicine today,” Wright said. “A lot of those have joined over the last decade. I’m very proud that in every one of those, we’ve significantly increased the number of clinical services they offer and jobs in those communities.”
On top of that, adding the WVU logo means more opportunities for young adults to be introduced to a professional environment.
“I think the exposure of our brand, coming this far north, is very significant,” Benson said. “To give chances and opportunities to high school kids, and even younger, they can shadow a doctor, they can come to a clinic and hospital, and see what it means to be in academic medicine.”
However, some workers are skeptical about the announcement. The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals released a statement that reads:
“(PASNAP), representing more than 750 nurses and technical professionals at Butler Memorial Hospital and more than 11,000 frontline nurses and allied health professionals across the Commonwealth, calls for full transparency, improved staffing, and meaningful investments in bedside care following today’s announcement that Butler Memorial/Independence Health System will merge with West Virginia University Health System (WVU Medicine).
“PASNAP members at Butler Memorial Hospital have weathered years of uncertainty — from leadership changes and financial instability to chronic understaffing, deep cuts to benefits and resources, and alarmingly high turnover – since their hospital merged with Excela Health in January 2023 to form Independence Health System.
“With the news of this latest merger, PASNAP nurses and allied professionals at Butler Memorial are optimistic that the leadership at WVU Medicine will demonstrate a renewed commitment to the patients and community we serve.
“We need investment in hospital employees, stabilization of the workforce, and stabilization of the hospital and health system as a whole. We call on WVU Medicine and Independence together to:
- “Retain Current Staff: No layoffs, pay cuts, or reduction of benefits for nurses, techs, and other frontline professionals as a result of the merger.
- “Invest in Patient Care: Dedicated funds for equipment, training, and maintaining essential services in the Butler community.
- “Collaborate with frontline caregivers. Our hospital and its patient community cannot afford another merger that leaves caregivers shouldering a patient care crisis of the system’s own making.”
“We’re all a little concerned about what this is actually going to mean for us,” said Maura Williams, a surgical technician at Butler Memorial Hospital. “When we merged with Excela Health to form Independence Health System, we felt like the communication was lacking. We all had high hopes that it would raise the bar for the hospitals and improve the staff’s working conditions. We really didn’t see that.”
Workers with PASNAP say they’re concerned about how the merger will change certain aspects of their jobs.
“We experienced a lot of changes with our policies, benefits, and working conditions,” Williams said. “Promising job growth is great, but we already have trouble filling our current positions. It’s great that they plan on investing in us. We just see them as empty promises right now because all we’ve been fed is empty promises over the years.”
“This is something big,” said Don Geibel, a nuclear medicine technician at Butler Memorial Hospital. “This is not just your everyday announcement. I think it’s one of those things where we’ll believe it when we see it. Actions speak louder than words. What we’re fighting for in our negotiations right now is fair pay, better benefits, retirement, things like that. Those are things that, since we joined Excela, have gone down.”
Leaders from both systems said these promises will be met over the next five years.
“This just deepens our commitment to community care,” DeFurio said. “I’m very proud of that. We will do some planning along the way so that way we’re able to put a shovel in the ground as soon as we’re able to complete the transaction on these projects.”
“This is a big day for us and an even bigger day for this community,” Benson said. “[Westmoreland] is an old hospital. It’s been here for a long time in the community. That’s not going away. The names aren’t going to change. They will remain on those buildings. They’ll just be flying the WVU logo.”
