UPMC’s Investment in Ireland Ensures Expanded Health Care Options for Irish Patients
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 26 – The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), an $8 billion global health enterprise and one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, today announced completion of an agreement that will provide more treatment options and better access to care for patients in Ireland. As a result, UPMC has acquired majority ownership of Dublin’s independent Beacon Hospital, which has been renamed UPMC Beacon, part of UPMC’s 20-hospital network.
“This commitment to the health of Irish patients will ensure continued access to UPMC’s excellent clinical care and technological expertise,” said UPMC Beacon Hospital Chief Executive Officer Joel Yuhas. “Our plans for significant expansion of UPMC Beacon will free up resources and increase capacity in the public health system for the benefit of patients.”
A full-service hospital which opened in 2006, UPMC Beacon has seen rapid growth in patient admissions and surgical procedures since UPMC began managing the hospital more than a year ago. With UPMC’s academic mission and its focus on cutting-edge medicine, the hospital’s employees―in partnership with consultant physicians―are uniquely positioned to provide some of the most technologically advanced acute care, including cardiac surgery, specialized cancer treatment and orthopaedic and neurological surgery. “With the continuing support of our excellent physicians, UPMC Beacon Hospital remains uniquely positioned to serve the needs of our patients,” said Mark Redmond, M.D., medical director of UPMC Beacon Hospital and director of Beacon Medical Group.
The UPMC Beacon Cancer Centre, one of more than 40 cancer centers operated by UPMC worldwide, offers patients advanced treatment options, including surgical intervention, chemotherapy and radiation oncology, in one convenient location from one of the most trusted and recognized providers of cancer care.
UPMC became the operator of the Beacon Hospital Cancer Centre in 2007, followed by its management of the entire hospital starting in February 2008. Under the agreement signed today, UPMC has acquired majority ownership of the hospital management company and the entity that owns the hospital property. UPMC is committing 68 million euros (or about $96 million) in investment and loan guarantees.
UPMC Beacon Hospital and Cancer Centre are part of UPMC’s International and Commercial Services Division, whose portfolio includes the UPMC Whitfield Cancer Centre in Waterford and one of Europe’s leading transplant centers, the Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione, or ISMETT, in Palermo, Italy. UPMC also provides emergency medical services and training in Qatar and is deploying electronic medical record technology at two hospitals in the United Kingdom. UPMC recently announced an agreement to manage a planned health center in Cyprus and a partnership with GE Healthcare to develop cancer centers throughout Europe and the Middle East. By sharing its medical, technological and management expertise worldwide, UPMC aims to generate funds to reinvest in its health care and research mission for the benefit of its patients.
About UPMC
UPMC is an $8 billion integrated global health enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh and one of the leading nonprofit health systems in the United States. As western Pennsylvania’s largest employer, with 50,000 employees, UPMC is transforming the economy of the region into one based on medicine, research and technology. By integrating 20 hospitals, 400 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, long-term care facilities and a major health insurance services division, and in collaboration with its academic partner, the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC has advanced the quality and efficiency of health care and developed internationally renowned programs in transplantation, cancer, neurosurgery, psychiatry, orthopaedics and sports medicine, among others. UPMC is commercializing its medical and technological expertise by nurturing new companies, developing strategic business relationships with some of the world’s leading multinational corporations and expanding into international markets, including Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Cyprus and Qatar. For more information about UPMC, visit our Web site at www.upmc.com.