March 19, 2020
TYRONE/DUBOIS, PA – The Boards of Directors of both Tyrone Hospital and Penn Highlands Healthcare have signed a Letter of Intent to negotiate an affiliation agreement between the two entities that would integrate Tyrone Hospital into Penn Highlands Healthcare system.
The Tyrone Hospital Board of Directors led an extensive Request for Proposal process and determined that Penn Highlands Healthcare would be a perfect long-term partner to meet the healthcare needs of the area.
The mission of Penn Highlands Healthcare is to provide exceptional care through its community-based health system while maintaining a reverence for life. “The Penn Highlands mission resonated with our organization,” said Kelly Wike, Board President of Tyrone Hospital Board of Directors. “Tyrone Hospital has always been committed to serving our patients with the highest quality of care, and we believe that affiliating with Penn Highlands will continue to honor that longtime commitment.”
The affiliation with Penn Highlands Healthcare, anticipated to take effect in late 2020, is designed to strengthen the delivery of healthcare services by the Blair County-based health care provider. The board’s key objectives that guided the search for a new partner included:
- Continue the spirit of the mission, vision and values of Tyrone Hospital
- Maintain and expand key programs and services
- Attract and retain high-quality physicians and advanced practice providers in a wide range of specialties
- Preserve jobs in Blair County and provide competitive wages, benefits and retirement plans
- Provide the necessary capital investment to support quality and growth
- Maintain a meaningful role in local governance of the hospital
“Penn Highlands Healthcare is expanding our footprint across the region with the launch of our Master Facility Plan project in 2018,” according to Dick Pfingstler, Chairman of Penn Highlands Healthcare Board of Directors, “The affiliation with Tyrone Hospital broadens our reach while also supporting their history of offering quality health care.”
Anna Marie Anna, Acting CEO agreed. “Penn Highlands Healthcare is an ideal partner for our hospital and our community given that they operate other like-sized hospitals in the area. Penn Highlands understands the needs of communities like ours, and is committed to building on our past success.”
“We are thrilled with this opportunity to partner with Tyrone Hospital,” said Steve Fontaine, CEO of Penn Highlands Healthcare. “We believe that Tyrone Hospital shares our vision to be the integrated health system of choice and will enable us to serve more patients with the highest quality care.”
The signing of the letter of intent means that Tyrone Hospital and Penn Highlands Healthcare have agreed to general terms and conditions of a prospective affiliation. Throughout the next several months, both parties will engage in additional due diligence, research and discussions to work toward a definitive agreement. This process is subject to customary regulatory review.
About Tyrone Regional Health Network
Tyrone Hospital was founded by the community in 1954. In June 2014, Tyrone Regional Health Network (TRHN) was announced to better reflect the entities and variety of services that are part of Tyrone Hospital.
TRHN consists of Tyrone Hospital, a twenty-five bed community hospital that provides general medical and surgical care, three primary care physician offices which include Tyrone Rural Health Center, Pinecroft Medical Center and Houtzdale Rural Health Center. Its services include the Breast Cancer & Women’s Health Institute, an orthopedic clinic, a cardiology clinic, Company Healthcare and the Tyrone Fitness & Wellness Center. The Tyrone Regional Health Network Foundation and the Tyrone Hospital Auxiliary conduct fund raising activities to support Tyrone Hospital and other entities within the network. For more information visit www.tyroneregionalhealthnetwork.org.
About Penn Highlands Healthcare
Penn Highlands Healthcare was officially formed on September 30, 2011, and is comprised of five hospitals – Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk and Penn Highlands Huntingdon that have served area communities for the past 100 years. Its business continuum also includes a home care agency, Penn Highlands Community Nurses; two long-term care facilities, Pinecrest Manor and Penn Highlands Jefferson Manor; and a senior residential living facility, Elco Glen.
Through this partnership, Penn Highlands Healthcare has evolved into an organization with approximately 4,400 workers in 120+ locations throughout 13 counties in North Central/Western Pennsylvania that include community medical buildings, outpatient facilities, surgery centers and physician practices.
Providing exceptional quality care to the region, it has 499 physicians and 273 advanced practice providers on staff. The facilities have a total of 705 inpatient and skilled nursing beds. The system offers a wide range of care and treatments with specialty units that care for cancer, cardiovascular/thoracic, neurosurgery, pulmonology, neonatal and high-risk pregnancy patients.
Being focused on what is important – patients and families – makes Penn Highlands Healthcare the best choice in the region. For more information, visit www.phhealthcare.org.