Penn Highlands Healthcare expands footprint
Acquires EMS agency and sixth pharmacy
Penn Highlands Healthcare has agreed to acquire an EMS agency and its sixth pharmacy, extending the health system’s drug store footprint to five Central Pennsylvania counties.
The acquisitions add more fuel to the explosive growth of the Clearfield County health system, which was formed in 2011; two drug stores, the EMS agency and a senior living provider were picked up just since January.
Clearfield Emergency Medical Services, which operates five advanced life support ambulances and employs 30 people, announced a pending affiliation with Penn Highlands this week on the same day the health system announced the acquisition of Means Lauf Super Drug in Brookville, Clearfield County. The drug store deal expands the health system’s retail pharmacy footprint into Clarion, DuBois, Kane, Punxsutawney, Reynoldsville, Ridgway, St. Marys and Bennetts Valley.
Means Lauf was founded in 1932 in Brookville.
“The addition of this pharmacy enables Penn Highlands to deliver an even higher level of service to the Brookville community,” Penn Highlands Healthcare CEO Steven M. Fontaine said in a prepared statement. “Clearfield EMS marks our first affiliation with a major medical transport service.”
In January, Dubois- based Penn Highlands purchased St. Marys Pharmacy/Bennetts Valley Pharmacy, adding four retail locations and five home medical locations serving 11 Western and Central Pennsylvania counties. Also in January, Penn Highlands acquired WRC Senior Services, which operates senior living complexes in four counties.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Penn Highlands employs 6,150 people and operates eight hospitals, including Penn Highlands Monongahela, a 200-bed facility in Washington County, and Penn Highlands Connellsville, a 64-bed facility in Fayette County. The former Monongahela Valley Hospital became part of the Penn Highlands system in October and the former Highlands Hospital joined in April.
The health system also owns three home care agencies and three outpatient surgery centers, including Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center, a four-operating room facility in Pleasant Hills, and Spartan Health Surgicenter, which has three operating rooms, in Washington County. Both were affiliated with the former Mon Valley Hospital.
With a 39-county service area and annual net revenue of about $825 million, Penn Highlands also operates a variety of senior living centers, including nursing homes and independent living units. The health system’s operations include two durable medical equipment companies, including Monongahela Medical Supply Co., another affiliate of the former Mon Valley Hospital.