Hospital System Sells Johnstown Unit

Aug. 9–In a move that shrinks the region’s largest hospital system just slightly — to 18 medical centers and about 39,000 employees — the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has sold its hospital in Johnstown to Conemaugh Health System.

The Aug. 1 acquisition of UPMC Lee Regional was cleared late last month by state Attorney General Tom Corbett, who negotiated an agreement to address antitrust concerns. Conemaugh’s Memorial Medical Center and UPMC Lee are located in Johnstown.

UPMC will receive about $48 million for the hospital, said spokeswoman Jane Duffield. The health system agreed in February to give $9.5 million to a community foundation in Johnstown to settle a lawsuit challenging the sale.

UPMC wanted out of Johnstown because the health system believed that the community could not support two hospitals, Duffield said. About 850 people worked at UPMC Lee, which will be known as the Downtown Campus of Memorial Medical Center.

In a related development, UPMC is closing three health centers that it operated in the eastern part of Westmoreland County.

About 25 physicians are affected by the closures, with some doctors moving to private practice, Duffield said. She said othe r physicians in the practices were either retiring or would work for Conemaugh.

UPMC will continue to play a role in cancer and diabetes care in the community, Duffield said.

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