Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health officials recently broke ground on a new 345,000-square-foot, full-service hospital in Pine Township, Pennsylvania, that will bring a wide spectrum of advanced, patient-centered healthcare services to the residents of Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs.
Expected to open in 2021, AHN Wexford Hospital will offer comprehensive women and infant care, including labor and delivery services; advanced cardiac, neurosurgical, orthopaedic and cancer care; a 24-room emergency department and short-stay observation unit featuring pediatric rooms; an adult intensive care unit; operating rooms that provide minimally invasive robotic surgical capabilities; 160 all-private inpatient rooms and a host of other patient- and family friendly clinical programs, amenities and services.
AHN made its first significant footprint in the region’s northern suburbs with the October 2014 opening of its 174,000-square-foot Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion, which offers a range of primary care, specialty and outpatient services. The pavilion will remain open throughout the construction of the new hospital and, once it opens, the two facilities will be fully integrated to form a medical campus that provides the full continuum of care – emergency, inpatient, outpatient and rehabilitation.
“We are incorporating an intuitive, patient-centered design at AHN Wexford that fosters a highly positive and comforting experience from the moment patients arrive to the time of their discharge,” explained Allan Klapper, M.D., president of AHN Wexford Hospital and chair of the AHN Women and Children Institute. “Every aspect of their visit will make it feel like the hospital was built for them, including the convenience of free self-parking and complimentary valet parking, the hotel-like, concierge services throughout the facility and a full range of programs and resources to improve their health and well-being.”
For those entering through the emergency department, a fast-track, bedside registration process will allow patients to bypass the ED waiting area for expedited care. For expectant women and their families, the hospital will be a destination of choice for high-quality obstetrical care, in addition to the many other services a woman may need throughout her lifetime.
AHN Wexford Hospital’s spacious labor and delivery suites will feature up-to-date technology, modern cesarean section suites and fast access to advanced neonatal and high-risk pregnancy services when needed. Premature and special needs babies will receive high-quality, compassionate care in a specialized, Level II nursery offering in-room sleeping accommodations for families. And a soothing outdoor terrace garden will provide a relaxing pre- and post-delivery atmosphere for expectant mothers and new families.
The patient- and family centered model at AHN Wexford also will extend to the hospital’s patient rooms, which are designed to put a variety of controls right at the patient’s fingertips. That includes the room’s temperature and lighting, a full room-service menu with physician-approved dining options specific to the patient, bedside access to the patient’s electronic health record, as well as telemedicine and remote monitoring, the ability to reach out directly to the clinical team via text message instead of a traditional call button and a TV that also serves as an interactive video board to keep the patient and family updated on the patient’s daily care schedule and care team.
AHN Wexford also will feature an outdoor courtyard connecting it to the Health + Wellness Pavilion, as well as a conference facility available for community use.
HKS is the architect on the project, with the joint venture of Gilbane/Massaro as the lead construction partner.
View video rendering: https://youtu.be/LH1GrZI0WkY.
