Protect
our healthcare our jobs our community from the UPMC takeover of Washington Health System.
A UPMC takeover of Washington Health System is not the right choice for patients or workers.
Quality, hometown healthcare is essential to everyone in our community, regardless of what we look like, how much money we have, or what insurance card is in our wallet. A UPMC takeover of Washington Health System could put that care and the jobs of 2,000 employees at risk.
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
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.
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.
