UPMC Officials Deny Rumors of Buyout by Geisinger Health System

UPMC officials told the Herald that they were not aware of any plans to merge with or have local UPMC facilities purchased by Geisinger Health System.

Rumors have circulated in the Cove that UPMC plans to sell the UPMC Altoona hospital to Geisinger.

“There have been no discussions at the local level,” said Jan Fisher, president of UPMC Altoona and UPMC Bedford.

Doug Heusey, vice president of administration at UPMC Bedford, said, “Bedford is not going to close. There have been lots of rumors, but we have been recruiting to Bedford, including for a new wound care center. Bedford hospital is growing in the community, plus the collaboration with Pittsburgh and Altoona – that is a story in itself. We have invested in personnel and infrastructure into Bedford over past several years.”

Geisinger Health System is a regional health care provider to central, south-central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Headquartered in Danville, Pa. (Montour County), Geisinger states that it services more than 3 million patients in 45 counties.

UPMC is a $23 billion nonprofit health enterprise with 92,000 employees and 40 hospitals, including UPMC Altoona and UPMC Bedford. It includes 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and doctors’ offices and a 3.8 million-member health insurance division. It is closely affiliated with its academic partner, the University of Pittsburgh (wikipedia.org).