Pittsburgh-based UPMC revealed plans Jan. 8 to build a second, 250-bed hospital facility in Palermo, Italy.
The new hospital is part of a renewed 10-year agreement between ISMETT — the UPMC-operated transplant hospital in Palermo — and the region of Sicily, Italy.
Under the deal, the Sicily will provide ISMETT with funding to increase the number of beds at its existing facility from 78 to 114 and ensure that at least 3 percent of the allotted funding from the region is used toward the training for staff at other Sicilian clinical facilities.
The second planned hospital will be next to the Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center and will feature 250 beds. Both facilities will be operated by UPMC. Officials expect to break ground on the facility later this year and begin construction in 2020.
"This agreement is a significant vote of confidence in what we have delivered for patients in Sicily for more than two decades. Our planned expansion underscores our commitment to provide the best possible care to patients close to home in all of the communities that we serve," Charles Bogosta, executive vice president of UPMC and president of UPMC International, said in a statement.