9/16/2025
PITTSBURGH – UPMC’s commitment to understand and improve the health of its communities is reflected in its recently published 2025 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA) and Implementation Plans.
Across all the regions UPMC serves, four significant health needs were identified and confirmed:
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Chronic disease management
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Behavioral health
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Access to care and navigating resources
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Prevention and community-wide healthy living
“Improving the health and well-being of every community we serve is the core of our mission,” said Joel Yuhas, executive vice president, UPMC, and president, UPMC Hospitals. “Community Health Needs Assessments are a vital tool in helping us understand and respond to the evolving health priorities of our communities. By leveraging these insights, we can strategically align our programs and services to address the most pressing health needs — ensuring that our efforts are meaningful, impactful and equitable.”
UPMC partnered with experts from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health to conduct the CHNAs, which consisted of a combination of public health data analyses, an examination of socioeconomic factors and a structured community input survey process that solicited feedback from more than 3,600 community stakeholders, such as leaders and organizations that represent patient constituencies — including medically underserved and low-income populations. The survey incorporated emerging areas of exploration within the public health field, including health disparities, rural health, access and telemedicine.
"Engaging with community leaders, public health experts and stakeholders throughout the needs assessment process helps us positively impact the health of the people in the communities we serve," said Donald M. Yealy, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president of the Health Services Division at UPMC. "The insights gained from this process guide how we fulfill our commitment to improving community health.”
Through its rigorous assessment process, UPMC identified significant health needs, prioritized them, established action plans and identified resources to address those needs. The 2025 reports build on assessments and implementation plans developed in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022.
With 29 licensed hospitals across Pennsylvania, western New York and western Maryland, UPMC used a regional hub approach to develop the 2025 CHNAs — allowing local communities to set priorities while supporting a coordinated community health strategy across the UPMC network. The UPMC CHNA regions are:
Southwest Pennsylvania: Allegheny, Greene, Lawrence, Mercer and Washington counties
Central Pennsylvania: Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster and York counties
North Central Pennsylvania: Clinton, Lycoming, Potter and Tioga counties
Northwest Pennsylvania and western New York: Erie, McKean and Venango counties in Pennsylvania and Chautauqua County in New York
West Central Pennsylvania and western Maryland: Bedford, Blair and Somerset counties in Pennsylvania and Allegany County in Maryland
Each hospital established specific local priorities unique to its communities, and all UPMC hospitals are focusing efforts on these priorities.
Other key findings from this cycle of the CHNA include:
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Access to care is the key issue UPMC can address to have impact
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Disparities in community health due to socioeconomic status and other non-medical factors are recognized by many as another opportunity for improvement.
To remain compliant with IRS 501(r) guidelines, all licensed non-profit hospitals in the country must conduct and publish a CHNA every three years. As part of this, the board of directors at each UPMC hospital adopted plans to address identified needs and track associated improvements. The 2025 reports include progress updates from the previous CHNA cycle and outline hospital-specific implementation plans that will address the identified needs for the 2025-2028 cycle.
