Armstrong County Memorial Hospital said Wednesday it is considering a possible affiliation with the hospitals in Indiana and Punxsutawney, in another sign of Western Pennsylvania’s hospitals banding together in a difficult time for community health care systems.
The Kittanning-based hospital said Wednesday it signed a nonbinding letter of intent “to explore affiliation opportunities” with the Pennsylvania Mountains Health Care Network, which is the parent company of Indiana Regional Medical Center and Punxsutawney Area Hospital.
Pennsylvania Mountains Health Care Network officials and those from ACMH will study the potential merger through the remainder of the year to determine whether to proceed with the affiliation, the statement said.
The affiliation seeks to preserve and enhance health care for patients in each of the rural areas in what they characterized as “an increasingly challenging health care marketplace,” ACMH said in its statement.
Under the affiliation, each hospital would retain its local identity. Each would operate as separate nonprofit organizations and as separately licensed community hospitals.
“Importantly, the collaboration between hospitals in this network will benefit from clinical, technological and administrative resources with a common mission to combine shared values and resources under one larger organization,” the statement said.
The Pennsylvania Mountains Health Care Network was formed in 2015 as Indiana Regional, Punxsutawney Area and Clarion hospitals looked to join forces with an integrated top management team representing each of the communities.
Clarion has since joined the Butler Health System, which has merged with Greensburg-based Excela Health to form the Independence Health System. That potential merger was announced in June 2022 and finalized in January.
Washington Hospital, operated by Washington Health Care Services, signed a definitive agreement this month to merge with the region’s largest health care system, UPMC. That affiliation was announced in June.
