By KRISTIE LINDEN
[email protected]
Monongahela Valley Hospital plans to merge with the Penn Highlands Healthcare system in Clearfield County, a move that will likely go into effect this fall.
The hospital will be renamed Penn Highlands Mon Valley when the regulatory approval for the integration is final.
“Penn Highlands Healthcare understands what communities need in a health system, which is why Penn Highlands is an ideal partner for our hospital,” said Louis J. Panza Jr., Monongahela Valley Hospital president and CEO. “Penn Highlands successfully operates other like-sized hospitals, and we are looking forward to partnering with them.”
The boards of directors for both MVH and Penn Highlands have signed a definitive agreement to integrate the hospital into the health system.
“When we started to have conversations with Penn Highlands Healthcare, we quickly realized how much our vision and values aligned with theirs,” said R. Carlyn Belczyk, Chairman of the Monongahela Valley Hospital Board of Trustees.
Corinne Laboon, MVH’s vice president of marketing and community relations, said the hospital will continue to have its own board of directors and will soon have some seats on the Penn Highlands board of directors.
Until the details are worked out, which will be done throughout the next few months, it’s unclear whether the board of directors’ role will remain the same in the new structure of the hospital.
Patients who use MVH will not have to worry about any changes to health insurance carriers or losing access to doctors.
“Patients who have come to Mon Valley Hospital will be able to continue to come to Mon Valley Hospital,” Laboon said. “We anticipate a seamless transition. They should not notice anything different. (Penn Highlands) shares our views on high-quality patient care. They will receive the same level of high-quality care they always receive at Mon Valley Hospital.”
Steven M. Fontaine, CEO of Penn Highlands Healthcare, said his organization is excited to partner with MVH because the hospital has strong values and a modern facility.
“We believe that Monongahela Valley Hospital not only shares our core values as a company, but has a strong vision that makes the choice to integrate our health systems easy,” Fontaine said. “This will enable us to serve more communities and more patients.”
According to a joint release from MVH and Penn Highlands, the affiliation with Penn Highlands Healthcare is designed to strengthen the delivery of healthcare services in the community.
“During the last 119 years, Monongahela Valley Hospital has been a vital part of our community,” said Belczyk. “We needed to examine how we could transform our health system through clinical, technical and strategic innovation to deliver tomorrow’s healthcare today. The new affiliation with Penn Highlands Healthcare will help us to continue to provide the high-quality care that our patients expect while expanding our services at the same time.”
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