Save Local Healthcare and Jobs
Could our hospital close?
UPMC’s expansion has left a trail of closed hospitals in communities like Washington.
Over the last 15 years, UPMC has closed hospitals in Braddock, Sunbury, and Lancaster, while forcing patients in McKeesport, Lock Haven, and Bedford to travel out of town to get care they used to receive at home.
Locations where UPMC has closed hospitals or cut major services
| Hospital & year acquired by UPMC | Status |
| Braddock 1996 | CLOSED hospital in 2010. |
| South Side 1996 | Converted 149-bed community hospital to outpatient only. CLOSED Emergency Department in 2009. |
| McKeesport 1996 | CLOSED Maternity, CCU, ICU, and Med-Surg services. |
| Bedford 1998 | CLOSED Maternity and Dialysis services in 2017. |
| Lancaster Regional 2017 | CLOSED hospital in 2019. |
| Sunbury 2017 | CLOSED hospital in 2020. |
| Lock Haven 2017 | CLOSED hospital in 2023. Downsized from 25 to 12 beds then converted community hospital into an “outpatient emergency department.” |
Source: SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and Strategic Organizing Center Complaint Against University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Regarding Potential Attempted and Actual Monopolization and Monopsonization In Violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, filed to the Department of Justice on May 18, 2023.
According to research done by the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, hospital mergers frequently foreshadow a hospital closure.
For PA hospitals involved in a merger:
1 in 3 will close
- More than 90% of hospital closures are preceded by a merger
- The pace of hospital closures has seriously sped up in the last 5 years
- New owners are taking less time than before to close hospitals
Source: Pennsylvania Health Access Network
Would we have to switch insurance or doctors?
UPMC has a history of trying to shut out patients who carry non-UPMC insurance.
In 2011, UPMC announced that they would no longer accept patients with Highmark insurance and it took the intervention of the state attorney general and PA Supreme Court to secure a 10-year agreement from UPMC to keep accepting Highmark insurance. That agreement expires in 2029.
The Pennsylvania Health Access Network found in a statewide survey that mergers impacted access to preferred providers, wait times, and financial burdens.
2023 Statewide Survey
Conducted by Altarum Healthcare Value Hub
1 in 8
report that they or a family member were unable to access their preferred healthcare because of a merger
1 in 3
reported added wait times in finding or getting care
1 in 4
reported added financial burdens
Source: Pennsylvania Health Access Network
Will care cost more if UPMC takes over?
Compared to Washington Health System and other local hospitals, UPMC often charges patients more for the same healthcare services.
Patients who require a CT Scan would pay around $400 or less locally, but would have to pay 7 times as much at UPMC Mercy or more than 9 times as much as UPMC Shadyside:
| Hospital | Cash Price for CT Scan | % of Washington Price |
| Washington | $362 | —- |
| St. Clair | $402 | 111% |
| UPMC Mercy | $2732 | 754% |
| UPMC Shadyside | $2732 | 947% |
Source: Pennsylvania Health Access Network, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania analysis of Machine Readable File of Items and Services “CMS Price Transparency Files” for respective hospitals.
UPMC can charge more for care for a many conditions:
| Diagnosis-related group among Medicare patients: | How much more UPMC can charge Medicare patients than Washington: |
| Septicemia or Severe Sepsis with MCC | 245% |
| Heart Failure and Shock | 179% |
| Respiratory Infections and Inflammations | 159% |
| Psychoses | 158% |
| Simple Pneumonia | 198% |
| Pulmonary Edema and Respiratory Failure | 247% |
| Septicemia or Severe Sepsis without MCC | 248% |
| Infectious and Parasitic Diseases with OR Procedure | 290% |
| Renal Failure | 201% |
| Acute Myocardial Infarction | 181% |
Source: SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania analysis of Machine Readable File of Items and Services “CMS Price Transparency Files” for Washington Hospital and UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside.
UPMC also charges more – and every year increases the cost to patients – for room rates compared to local hospitals:
Would WHS workers lose pay and benefits?
UPMC uses its size to lower hospital employee wages and staffing.
2,000 people rely on Washington Health System for good jobs and our community deserves a fully staffed hospital, but a recent study shows that as UPMC controls more of the healthcare market in a region, healthcare worker wages and staffing decline.
