State system faculty also faces losing UPMC network in Pittsburgh, Erie

Turns out, professors and coaches in the state-owned universities such as California University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Edinboro University in Erie could be caught up in the split between UPMC and Highmark, too.

The current union contract covering 5,000 Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties members statewide currently offers only Highmark insurance in Western Pennsylvania.

That means those professors and coaches with chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart failure who use UPMC hospitals in Pittsburgh and Erie — which will be out-ofnetwork after June 30 — may have to find new hospitals and possibly new doctors when the Highmark-UPMC contract dissolves next summer.

Nancy J. Koutris, director of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties’ membership services, said recently that “several hundred” of the group’s members fall into that category — and she has been hearing from them.

“Their main question is. ‘Is UPMC going back to the table with Highmark?’ I think that’s what everyone was really hoping,” she said.

“They’re concerned because people don’t want to give up somebody they’ve been

seeing for years because of this fight. And most of them are angry that UPMC won’t come to the table and negotiate. It’s just frustrating people.”

One of those affected is Robert Mutchnick, professor and chairman of IUP’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

A Squirrel Hill resident who commutes to the Indiana County campus, Mr. Mutchnick is currently on medical leave due to a heart condition.

He said in recent months he’s had four overnight stays at Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side and at West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield, both part of Highmark Health’s Allegheny Health Network. “From a personal standpoint, the care I received at both hospitals has been outstanding.”

But his wife is due to have cataract surgery, he said, and she initially had trouble scheduling an appointment with her longtime UPMC doctor because she has Highmark insurance.

“Once you start a working relationship over time with a physician who knows you, it becomes a problem when you have to start over.”

It’s a refrain Ms. Koutris is now hearing from members on a regular basis.

“To me, it’s just a sad situation,” she said. “It shouldn’t be about market share. It should be about serving the community.”