AHN making progress toward planned opening this fall for new 160-bed hospital in Pine

Work on the gleaming glass exterior of Allegheny Health Network’s new 160-bed hospital in Pine Township is nearly done, with workers focusing on completing the interior in time for a planned opening this fall.

AHN and its parent company, Highmark Health, broke ground on the hospital in 2018 as part of its nearly $1 billion expansion plan that includes an additional four neighborhood hospitals and renovation of its existing facilities throughout Western Pennsylvania.

AHN Wexford is being built adjacent to the health network’s Wexford Health and Wellness Pavilion on Perry Highway, which opened in 2014 and was the health system’s first major medical facility in the northern suburbs.

The new hospital is expected to employ 750 people.

In March, AHN appointed Dr. Katie Farah to serve as chief medical officer for the new facility.

Farah is a practicing gastroenterologist and therapeutic endoscopist with AHN’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and serves as the department’s chief quality officer.

The new hospital will serve an area with a combined population of more than 215,000 people living in communities from West View north to Zelienople in Butler County, according to hospital officials.

The hospital will offer a full range of medical care including cardiology, cancer treatments, surgery, an emergency department, behavioral health and women’s health services.

The mini-hospitals built by AHN are in McCandless, Brentwood, Harmar and Hempfield.

The McCandless mini-hospital, which opened early last year, has a 24-hour emergency department, a 10-bed inpatient unit and offers a range of diagnostic imaging, laboratory and other medical services.