Pittsburgh-based UPMC and its partner in building a network of hospitals in China, have paused travel between the U.S. and China amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Pittsburgh Business Journal.
Although the travel advisory is changing the way UPMC and the Wanda Group conduct business, UPMC said that the coronavirus outbreak and recent travel advisory isn't affecting long-term plans to build a series of hospitals in China.
Last October, UPMC and Wanda Group announced they would partner to build several 500-bed hospitals in China. The first hospital, expected to open in three years, will be in Chengdu, about 750 miles from Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak.
"We continue to communicate with our partners via videoconference and other technology as we advance our hospital project in Chengdu," a UPMC spokesperson told the Business Journal.
The outbreak has paused travel between the two countries, but it hasn't made any changes to the plans for the new hospitals.
"This outbreak highlights how our healthcare collaboration can help to combat these types of global health crises in the future," UPMC told the publication.