Allegheny Health Network acquires Grove City Medical Center

Allegheny Health Network will acquire Grove City Medical Center, the network announced Monday.

The Mercer County facility will be AHN’s ninth owned hospital and will extend the network’s reach to the north of Pittsburgh.

Pending government approval, AHN plans to seal the deal in the next few months. The amount of the transaction has not been announced.

GCMC is a 67-bed hospital with six outpatient clinics and lab sites.

It opened in 1981 following the merger of Grove City Hospital and Bashline Memorial Hospital, both of which were founded in the early 1900s.

As part of the agreement, AHN and GCMC will create a new Grove City Health Care Foundation with an initial endowment of $30 million, to be spent in Grove City on health and wellness initiatives.

AHN plans to invest an additional $40 million over the next 10 years to improve facilities and services at GCMC, the network announced.

“Today is a great day for Grove City and Mercer County, and an important milestone for Grove City Medical Center as we embark upon the next chapter in our organization’s long history of service to this community,” Timothy R. Bonner, chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, said in a statement.

About 135,000 people in the counties served by GCMC are insured by Highmark Health, AHN’s parent company, according to the network.

“Establishing strong partnerships with outstanding health care institutions is a key component of our strategy for building a world-class health and wellness company that provides an unsurpassed experience and the best possible outcomes for our patients and members,” Highmark Health President and CEO David Holmberg said in a statement.

AHN and Highmark have been rapidly expanding, spending more than $1.5 billion in the past five years to build neighborhood hospitals, cancer treatment centers and other facilities in the Pittsburgh area.