Competition ramps up with Allegheny General Hospital's proposed $1B expansion

Western Pennsylvania’s two health care giants are racing to spend billions on new facilities, renovations and construction.

But rivals UPMC and Allegheny Health Network say their expansion is not a contest but rather a responsibility to meet patient needs.

AHN’s move to embark on a $1 billion renovation and expansion at flagship Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh’s North Side is in line with the health system’s mission and vision and is not a response to competitive pressure, spokesman Dan Laurent said Thursday after the expansion’s announcement.

“We’ve been very active in new construction and facility renovations out in the community,” Laurent said. “This is consistent with that strategy to focus on modernizing facilities and investing in this whole idea of living health, improving access to care and improving the experience of care. Now we’re focusing a little more on our flagship of our network.”

A spokesperson for UPMC did not respond to a question about its competitive standing with AHN. The health care giant has several ongoing big-ticket construction initiatives, including its $1.5 billion, 17-story hospital tower in Oakland that will house 636 patient rooms.

The UPMC Presbyterian project, located at Fifth Avenue and De Soto Street adjacent to the existing Presby building, is set to be completed at the end of 2026 and open for patients in early 2027, UPMC spokesperson Gloria Kreps said.

A 50,000-square foot, three-story Heart Institute addition is also in the works at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. The center will include clinical space with cardiac catheterization labs, an interoperative MRI, and inpatient and outpatient procedural, diagnostic and consultation spaces. It is expected to open in early 2026, Kreps said.

“The new institute will support our growth and expanded services while also helping to attract the top clinicians and researchers in pediatric cardiology,” Dr. Victor Morell, chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and co-director of the Heart and Vascular Institute at UPMC, said in November about the Heart Institute project.

“We are here to find solutions and give these children a second chance at life.”

Expanding care

The newly announced expansion to the Allegheny General Hospital campus will produce a cardiovascular tower and renovated emergency department, among other upgrades.

The tower, which will house the AHN Cardiovascular Institute, will be built at the corner of Sandusky Street and East North Avenue near the AGH Academic Cancer Center. The ground floor of the tower will be home to the expanded and upgraded emergency department.

Construction of the new tower is expected to begin early next year, with an opening slated for 2030. The announcement follows last fall’s approval of the AGH Institutional Master Plan (IMP) by the City of Pittsburgh.

AHN already is working on its Neuroscience Institute, a five-story former cancer center at the corner of Hemlock and James streets that is being renovated to house a center for neurological disease care.

AHN President Jim Benedict said the development plan for the hospital is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs. He emphasized the system’s focus on the idea of “Living Health.”

“Creating high-quality patient experiences and outcomes and equitable access through personalized care models designed to promote wellness and address health needs is our goal at AHN,” Benedict said. “Our system and its facilities and programs are the essence of Living Health and the commitment we have made to improving health care quality and affordability in the communities we serve.”

Highlighting services

Allegheny General Hospital President Dr. Imran Qadeer emphasized Allegheny Health Network’s renowned cardiac services as a major reason for the expansion. The tower will consolidate Allegheny General’s heart health care in one place, as opposed to the current spread of multiple offices around the campus.

“AGH is the leading edge of medicine already,” he said. “By modernizing and transforming the campus, it will ensure AGH continues to be a viable community asset and a nationally recognized medical center for years to come.”

The cardiovascular tower facility is expected to have more than 100 private inpatient beds. It will house cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, cardiac surgery, stress echocardiography, wound care, nuclear medicine and other procedural spaces.

There also will be a dedicated cardiovascular intensive care unit, multidisciplinary cardiovascular clinics, physician offices and an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program.

The construction process for the tower will be phased, AHN’s announcement said. It will begin with an expansion of the hospital’s emergency and trauma services and will reroute patient and ambulance traffic to the tower.

The emergency room renovation, Qadeer said, does not mean abandoning the current emergency department, which sees about 50,000 patients annually.

“What we are doing is renovating the current emergency department,” he said. “Part and portion of the current emergency department may be housed on the ground floor of the cardiac tower.”

Laurent said the emergency department will be fully operational throughout the construction process.

Plans for the campus

Other planned updates include renovation and modernization of the hospital’s operating rooms, transitioning to all-private inpatient rooms elsewhere on the campus, lobby and common space renovations, and a new medical office building.

Moving the cardiovascular care to the new tower is what makes many of these upgrades possible, Qadeer said.

“It would allow us to enhance and renovate other areas in the hospital setting,” he said. “It’s more moving and consolidating all of the cardiac services into the tower, which allows that space to be utilized for other services.”

Specific details on the design and plans for the tower, such as how many floors it will contain, are not yet set in stone. The Allegheny Health Network expects to release more details in the coming months, Laurent said.

“We are looking at what programs we need to build,” Qadeer said. “This tower and the AGH modernization will exist for the next 100 years. We are taking a look at that, and seeing what we need.”