Volume 29 No. 5
May 2013
Highmark acquires WPAHS and ensures future of AGH By Kelsey Shea
Photo by Kelsey Shea
Spring finally arrived last month on the Northside after a long winter,. By late April, Riverview Park was already blooming.
Casino will not renew funding agreement with the NSLC By Kelsey Shea A three-year financial agreement between the Northside Leadership Conference and Rivers Casino has ended with no signs of an extension or renewal. In bidding for the sole Pittsburgh casino license, Rivers Casino promised the NLSC $1 million per year to invest in Northside communities for the first three years of its residency on the Northside. 2012 marked Rivers three-year anniversary on the Northside, and representatives from the casino have stated that they have no intention of renewing or extending a financial commitment to the NSLC. Casino representatives told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the financial obligations to Northside neighborhoods had become a drag on
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the property’s worth. “The comments from the casino are disappointing, but they’re not surprising,” said Mark Fatla, executive director of the NSLC. The NSLC invested $2.7 million in housing developments in Manchester and Fineview, the revitalization of Brightwood’s Woodland Avenue, commercial development on East Ohio Street and gateway projects in Fineview and East Deutschtown. The additional $300,000 went toward operational support of the NSLC. The projects chosen to receive funding were chosen by the leadership conference’s board, made up of representatives of grassroots organizations. “The conference board has done well in choosing the projects that they funded. It’s been very produc-
See Casino, page 16
Allegheny General Hospital employees, lower Northside businesses and Deutschtown residents breathed a sigh of relief at the end of last month, when an agreement ensured the once uncertain future of AGH’s presence on the Northside. On April 29, an agreement between the West Penn Allegheny Health System and Highmark was approved by the state and placed all WPAHS hospitals and facilities under the ownership of Highmark. The new system will be renamed the Allegheny Health Network and will be an integrated health care delivery system that both WPAHS and Highmark hope will act as a competitor to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the region. AGH, one of WPAHS’s largest hospitals, is a critical component to the growth and success of the lower Northside. The hospital is the largest employer in the neighborhood and brings 4,100 employees to Historic Deutschtown each day in addition to nearly 30,000 patients who visit the Northside for care every year. Twenty percent of AGH employees are also Northside residents. “It’s all good,” said Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference. “This agreement ensures the longevity and health of a large employer and good community partner.”
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In addition to the financially struggling WPAHS, which includes five other hospitals in the region, Highmark also acquired ownership of several other health care providers in Western Pennsylvania to create a large health network, comparable to UPMC. “The Allegheny Health Network will allow the long standing tradition of high quality patient care to continue on the Northside,” said Debra Caplan, vice president of AGH. “It also means that healthcare choice for consumers and patients in our region is preserved. As the largest employer on the Northside, our organization is secure with our Highmark affiliation. Our future looks bright and there is much excitement about our new relationship,” she said Dan Onorato, Highmark’s Chief External Affairs and Communications officer, spoke to a group of Northside business owners the day after the state approved the merger at the North Side North Shore Chamber of Commerce luncheon. He focused on the positive impact the merger will have on the Northside and promised that Highmark would work to be a good community partner. “The Northside can rest calmly now that they know the hospital is going to survive,” said Onorato, who noted that AGH is not only
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See AGH page 15