A consent decree allowing Highmark health plan beneficiaries to use Pittsburgh-based UPMC facilities will end June 30. Now, two rival hospitals based in Erie, Pa., are preparing for the end of the agreement by undertaking large expansion projects, according to Go Erie.
Erie-based UPMC Hamot and Allegheny Health Network St. Vincent Hospital, are both planning major upgrades.
UPMC Hamot plans to build a $111 million, seven-story patient tower. The tower will house 64 intensive care unit beds and will expand the hospital's imaging project.
St. Vincent is expanding its facility with a $115 million project that will include a new emergency department and operating rooms.
Highmark established Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network in 2013 as an integrated delivery network, and the two announced plans to invest more than $1 billion to build facilities and renovate medical buildings over the next four to five years.
At the same time, UPMC established its own health plan and has been looking to separate from Highmark for several years. The state pushed the parties to sign a five-year consent decrees spelling out how the provider heavyweight and insurance giant would break up without affecting patient care.
"Quite frankly, I expect more patients will choose to see us and we are working to improve that patient experience" Christopher Clark, D.O., St. Vincent president, told Go Erie.
UPMC Hamot President David Gibbons said he expects his hospital to maintain patient census after the split because about 15 percent of patients have Highmark insurance.
"Any drop we might see from Highmark patients, we expect will be picked up with increases in patients with UPMC Health Plan and Aetna," Mr. Gibbons said. "We have really seen an increase in people choosing UPMC Health Plan."
In addition to the hospital expansions, both hospitals will build independent cancer centers after agreeing earlier this year to demolish the Regional Cancer Center that they jointly created in 1987.