UPMC’s multibillion-dollar hospital expansion and renovation project appears to be on schedule, with the opening of its centerpiece Presbyterian hospital tower expected in 2027.
Work on the $1.5 billion, 17-story tower near the existing Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood began in June 2022. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2026, with operations expected to begin the following year.
The project is on schedule in terms of time and cost, said Kelly Noel, vice president of construction, real estate and facilities at UPMC. It’s UPMC’s largest construction project ever and the largest ongoing health care construction project in Pennsylvania.
When completed, the 636-bed facility at Fifth Avenue and De Soto Street will focus on transplants, cardiology and neurology. An old building will become administrative space. An attached parking garage will accommodate 450 vehicles.
“We’ve got a facility that didn’t meet the standards of the care we were providing,” UPMC project manager Mike Schesler said. “What we’re doing now is providing a state-of-the-art building, all private rooms, cutting-edge technology and incredible space, not only for patients but our staff as well.”
The tower’s first four floors will include a so-called lifestyle village — a mix of restaurants, coffee shops, bookable meeting areas and more.
“You can come here even when you’re healthy, especially for the residents in Oakland,” Schesler said.
The project is part of a larger, overall expansion for Allegheny County’s largest employer.
UPMC is pouring billions into new, specialty care facilities on three otherwise aging campuses in Pittsburgh. The current Presbyterian hospital, for example, was built more than a century ago.
“At UPMC, we know if we’re not building our future, we’re slipping into the past,” said Sandy Rader, president of UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside.
Elsewhere in the city, UPMC recently opened UPMC Mercy Pavilion in Uptown, which houses institutes for ophthalmology and rehabilitation. That cost $510 million to build.
Another major project, at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Hospital at UPMC Shadyside, hasn’t moved past the design phase. That site will include an eight-story inpatient tower and a four-story outpatient center, meant to accommodate patients who make frequent visits for cancer care.
At UPMC Presbyterian, it’s been mostly smooth sailing.
The most notable hiccup happened in June, when a Pittsburgh inspector found the project lacked requisite electric and mechanical permits during what a city spokesperson called a “somewhat routine inspection.” Work was partly halted for a few weeks.
At the time, some elected officials decried the shutdown as retaliation from Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration, which has a frosty relationship with UPMC.
His administration has challenged the tax-exempt status of more than 100 properties, including many owned by UPMC, through the county property assessment office with mixed results.
Gainey did not attend a UPMC event Tuesday to mark progress on the Presbyterian building. Neither did Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, who has been critical of UPMC’s dominance in Pittsburgh’s health care labor market.
Paul Wood, chief communications officer for UPMC, said “all local elected officials were invited.”
Gainey and Innamorato instead spent the morning at an event for the Homeless Children’s Education Fund at the City-County Building portico.
Jack Troy is a TribLive reporter covering the Freeport Area and Kiski Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on Penn Hills municipal affairs. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in January 2024 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh. He can be reached at jtroy@triblive.com.