Elk Regional Health Center in St. Marys is now an affiliate of Penn Highlands Healthcare, a parent corporation that includes Brookville Hospital, Clearfield Hospital and DuBois Regional Medical Center.
The affiliation, effective July 1, brings together the region’s largest health care providers and creates an organization that will enhance the expansion of services, the acquisition of resources and opportunities for operational efficiencies for each member hospital, officials said.
Additionally, the communities served by each of the member hospitals will enjoy increased local access to physician specialists, improved quality and coordination of care, as well as enhanced physician recruitment and retention efforts, according to a press release issued by Elk Regional.
“I am pleased to welcome the addition of Elk Regional to Penn Highlands Healthcare,” said Penn Highlands board of directors chairman Dennis L. Merrey. “The combined strength of our organizations will provide many benefits to the communities we serve. We look forward to working together.”
For his part, Elk Regional board of directors chairman Robert W. O’Leary said the partnership represents a important milestone for both organizations.
“There is little doubt that the benefits of a partnership between Elk Regional and Penn Highlands are numerous,” O’Leary said. “We believe that this affiliation will elevate patient care and will be a win-win situation for the residents of this region.”
O’Leary would not comment on specific changes that might occur at the hospital as a result of the partnership, saying they were “pretty operational at this point,” and maintained that things would only improve.
“It has been Elk Regional’s belief that we could provide better and more comprehensive health care to our community by affiliating with a larger group,” said O’Leary. “We’ve been using the acronym SEE — secure, enhance and expand — to describe our goals with the hospital.
“Our expectation is that we will be able to secure health care for the long term in Elk County, enhance the specialties available to our patients as well as quality of care and also to expand into areas that we don’t have current services available,” he explained.
A strategic planning committee, composed primarily of physicians from the member hospitals, is working to develop effective approaches for long-range planning.
Elk Regional joins DuBois Regional Medical Center and Clearfield Hospital as top-level affiliates of Penn Highlands Healthcare. Brookville Hospital is a subsidiary of DuBois Regional Medical Center.
All of Elk Regional’s affiliate organizations will remain in place, including Community Nurses Inc.; the Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center; Elk Regional Professional Group; ELCO Housing; the Elk Regional Health Center Auxiliary; and Elk Regional Health Center Foundation. Pinecrest Manor, the 138-bed long-term care facility, will remain a division of Elk Regional Health Center.
The Penn Highlands board of directors is made up of representatives, including physicians, from each of the member hospitals.
Serving with Merrey on the Penn Highlands board of directors are Brookville Hospital representative Ron King; Clearfield Hospital representatives William Wood, Dr. Thomas Carnevale and Dr. Richard Bedger; DuBois Regional Medical Center representatives Edward Nasuti, Thomas Gasbarre, Richard Pfingstler, Scott Foradora, Dr. Hazem El-Kassas, Dr. Gregory Roscoe and Dr. Carmine Marchioli; and Elk Regional Health Center representatives O’Leary, Robert Ordiway and James Ryan. Raymond A. Graeca, the chief executive officer of Penn Highlands Healthcare, also serves on the board of directors.
Each member hospital of Penn Highlands Healthcare retains its community base, medical staff and board of directors, officials said. Past and future community donations designated for each hospital remain in the control of that organization and are used according to the donor’s wishes.
