Former Allegheny Valley Hospital CEO John R. England dies

When patients, employees and visitors walked the hallways of Allegheny Valley Hospital in the 1980s and ’90s, it wasn’t rare for them to run into Jack England, the hospital’s gregarious administrator.

The bespectacled tall man in a suit that everyone knew as Mr. England routinely left his office in the administration building to make appearances at nurses’ stations and other clinical areas.

He seemed to be everywhere.

“Everyone knew him. He knew all the employees by name, and he had great relationships with them,” said England’s son, Andy England, 58, of Columbia, Md.

John R. “Jack” England, 88, of Bishop, Calif., and formerly of Lower Burrell, died July 12, 2024, after a car accident, his son said.

England arrived at Allegheny Valley Hospital in 1978, after gaining experience running hospitals for the Air Force and in the Washington, D.C., area. He served 20 years as Allegheny Valley’s president and CEO before retiring in July 1998.

England was largely responsible for bringing to the Alle-Kiski Valley medical services that included the region’s only inpatient psychiatric unit, a cardiac catheterization unit as well as other medical and surgical treatments. Under his leadership, the hospital installed its first MRI and a linear accelerator to treat cancer patients with radiation.

“It was his greatest pride working at AVH and trying to ensure that they were providing quality health care to everybody who came through the door,” said England’s oldest son, Bill England, of Elkins Park in Montgomery County.

England was particularly proud of expansions at the hospital, which included a large parking garage at the corner of Carlisle Street and Pleasantville Road, Bill England said. He fondly recalled how his father got him a summer job working at the garage construction site and how the elder England never tired of talking about the hospital and giving people tours of renovated areas.

“Expanding services and being able to provide more space was important to him,” he said.

Lorraine Azzarone, who retired from AVH in 2015 after 41 years in nursing management, said England spent a lot of time getting to know the community and learned about the importance of being accessible to employees.

“Through the years, I found him to be very approachable,” said Azzarone. “You could make an appointment at any time to see him.”

Along with other top leaders at the hospital, England masterminded a 1997 merger with the then parent company of Allegheny General Hospital, Allegheny Health Education and Research Foundation. They pursued the merger not because the hospital was financially unstable but because they feared cutbacks from government payors and insufficient payments from private insurers ultimately would decimate the hospital.

AVH leaders later uncovered that AHERF was in the midst of a financial crisis that prompted it to declare bankruptcy in 1998. The foundation’s hospitals in Western Pennsylvania, including Allegheny Valley, were rescued by West Penn Allegheny Health System, which later became today’s Allegheny Health Network.

In a 1998 interview with the Trib just before retiring, England said the merger with AHERF haunted him. He said the deal was an attempt to weather a storm of cutbacks that were coming faster and heavier than anticipated. Projections showed significant losses for the hospital, and it would not have been able to operate independently, he said in the interview.

“I worked hard to try to understand the needs of the people and try to shape programs that would address those needs,” he said at the time. “The last big effort was the question of financial survival. I was involved in the decision to merge with AHERF and, at the time, I thought it was a good decision. It turns out that life was much more complicated than I expected.”

After losing his wife of 46 years, Carol, to cancer in 2008, England moved to Bishop, Calif. Ever the community leader, he volunteered at the local hospital and became active in the Rotary, his sons said.

“Volunteerism and community were at the core of who my father was,” Bill England said. “He always believed in volunteering, and he always believed in trying to help the community.”

England is survived by Susie Goss of Bishop, Calif.; his four sons, William L. (Lorie Slass) England of Elkins Park, John W. England of Freeport, Andrew J. England of Columbia, Md., and Thomas H. England of Springdale; a granddaughter, Sarah E. England of New York City; and Susie’s son, Larry Goss (Kathy) of Minden, Nev.

A service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the chapel at St. Margaret Mary Church in St. Mary Cemetery, Lower Burrell. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to a local charity or the Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 2052, Lower Burrell, PA 15068.