When Linda Pezzino’s husband, Joe, was treated for lung cancer at the VA Pittsburgh Health Care System in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, she found comfort in staying at a “home-away-from-home” on the shared hospital campus.
The Fisher House, a short-term accommodation for military families, provided Pezzino with a quiet environment, a stocked fridge and the ability to be within walking distance of her husband, all for free.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without them,” said Pezzino of Erie. “You don’t have to get stuck in a stale hotel room. It feels like home.
“It meant so much that I requested donations to the Fisher House in my husband’s obituary.”
This month, ground was broken on a second 16-suite facility on the campus of the H.J. Heinz III VA Medical Center in O’Hara.
The $11 million project is expected to open in 2027 to provide free lodging for families while their loved one receives medical care.
The facilities are the only two in Pennsylvania.
A partnership between the Fisher House Foundation and the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 100 similar facilities across the country.
“Not many cities have more than one,” said Joe Milharcic, executive director of the advocacy group Friends of the Pittsburgh Fisher House.
The nonprofit raised $3 million toward construction through private and public fundraising.
“We’re pretty lucky,” Milharcic said. “Since opening the first one in 2012, we’ve had pretty high occupancy rates. It makes sense to open another one.”
The existing facility is situated on the VA’s University Drive campus, adjacent to the University of Pittsburgh.
From 2012 to 2024, it provided 33,500 days of free lodging to more than 9,240 guests.
Accommodations saved veterans and their families about $3.9 million, according to a VA news release.
Officials said expansion will increase lodging capacity by 160% for families and caregivers who travel with veterans for their hospital stay.
Friends board member Bori Minetti Smith said the project is significant for the region.
“Pittsburgh has the only Fisher House in the entire commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and we will soon have two,” Smith said.
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System is one of the largest in the nation, providing care for nearly 100,000 veterans a year. Services range from complex transplant medicine to routine primary care.
The Heinz campus is a major long-term care and specialized rehabilitation facility, offering transitional care, residential villas, dementia and hospice care beds and outpatient services.
Fisher House’s expansion is not solely about square footage, Milharcic said. It’s about proximity and stress relief for families.
The second facility means fewer families will be turned away and more time can be spent together, he said.
Pezzino, whose husband served in the Army from 1971-88, said she plans to advocate for the Fisher House from afar.
“I already reached out to my congressman, Mike Kelly, to see if he can find some grants,” she said. “I think a lot of people don’t know all (the Fisher House) does for families.”
She said on her most recent stay in December, the building was decorated and a holiday dinner was provided.
“Even the smallest details, like fruit and coffee creamer in the fridge, it was just there,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about that kind of thing.”
Joe Pezzino died Feb. 15.
With Pittsburgh as a regional medical hub for veterans across Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Northern West Virginia, families can travel hours to be near someone receiving specialized or extended care.
Suites include private bedrooms and bathrooms. Families share a kitchen, a stocked refrigerator, laundry facilities, a dining room and living spaces.
The Friends group, run by a 10-person board, supplements the brick-and-mortar space with furnishings and day-to-day items that benefit families staying at the house. Donations include food, gift cards, transportation vouchers, seasonal décor and holiday meals, along with a fully appointed modern library, outdoor patio and deck.
The O’Hara site will resemble the one in Oakland, Milharcic said.
“It will be calm and beautiful, making sure guests have as much comfort as they can,” he said.
“With veterans, families bear some of the cost of serving. This is a great way for the families to get something back.”