Uniontown (Penn.) Hospital will ends its six-year clinical affiliation with Pittsburgh-based UPMC and instead look to forge a partnership with Morgantown, W. Va.-based WVU Medicine, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The affiliation provided Uniontown Hospital with UPMC physicians and specialty care, but recently UPMC has had trouble recruiting physicians for the hospital, where 25 percent to 30 percent of patients are covered by Medicaid.
"It’s not for a lack of them trying. The model didn’t work," said Steve Handy, CEO of Uniontown Hospital.
WVU Medicine recently bought land near Uniontown Hospital for an outpatient clinic and plans to open another clinic in neighboring Greene County in the fall. Uniontown and WVU Medicine have agreed to discuss potential partnership opportunities, with UPMC executives also sitting in on the negotiations.
"There’s still a lot of work to be done, but three different organizations worked together to meet the needs of the community; you don’t see that enough," said Albert Wright, CEO of WVU Medicine.