Two major health systems, Pittsburgh-based UPMC and Cleveland Clinic, announced or advanced plans to expand outside the U.S. in 2021.
Here is a breakdown of the projects:
1. UPMC. The health system won approval in January to acquire its third hospital in Ireland. The 105-year-old hospital in Kilkenny, Ireland, was renamed UPMC Aut Even Hospital. It has 71 inpatient beds and an 18-bed outpatient surgery unit and offers surgical, diagnostic and medical services across more than 20 specialties.
The health system also said its expansion into China is on track. In October 2019, months before the pandemic, UPMC announced plans to build a network of hospitals in partnership with Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group. The two organizations broke ground on the first of the five planned hospitals in late October 2019. Despite the pandemic, the first hospital in Chengdu, China, is still on track to open in June of 2022, according to the report. The Chengdu Wanda-UPMC International Hospital is expected to cost about $870 million.
2. Cleveland Clinic. The health system expects to open its 184-bed London hospital in early 2022. The project faced some delays caused by COVID-19 and social-distancing restrictions in the U.K. Renovations are being made to a building in Central London to construct the eight-story, 324,000-square-foot healthcare facility.