New signage seen for WVU Medicine at Westmoreland Hospital on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026 in Greensburg. (Shane Dunlap | TribLive)
West Virginia University Health System must keep each of its newly acquired hospitals in Western Pennsylvania open for at least five years — among other conditions — as part of a settlement that advances its acquisition of Independence Health System
The settlement, filed Monday, was announced Wednesday morning by Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday
The university health system, branded as WVU Medicine, signed a deal to purchase five-hospital Independence in June. Independence signs were replaced with WVU Medicine insignia last week
Independence — itself the product of a 2023 merger of Excela Health and Butler Health System — previously said it expected the deal to close in October
WVU Medicine declined to comment on the settlement but said it still planned to finalize the deal next month
In his announcement, Sunday said the agreement “maintains access to high-quality health care services for the communities served by the hospitals.”
In addition to agreeing to keep Independence’s five hospitals open for at least five years, WVU Medicine agreed to “implement and maintain a policy that prohibits the sharing of competitively sensitive information between its insurance and provider subsidiaries” and “negotiate in good faith with health insurance plans with a last best offer binding arbitration backstop if needed.”
The agreement also says WVU Medicine cannot terminate any existing Independence contracts, and that funds earmarked for Independence “will be used according to the respective restrictions or similar purposes as applicable.”
WVU Medicine already owns Uniontown Hospital and the deal will expand the system into Westmoreland, Butler and Clarion counties, including Westmoreland, Latrobe and Frick (Mt. Pleasant) hospitals as well as Butler Memorial and Clarion hospitals. The sites include outpatient facilities and 1,000 physicians and advanced-practice providers
WVU Medicine must submit a formal change in ownership application to the state Department of Health 30 days before it can assume control of the Pennsylvania-based system, Neil Ruhland, a health department spokesman, told TribLive in June
The health department will decide whether to approve an operating license under the standards in the Health Care Facilities Act and applicable regulations, though Ruhland also mentioned the attorney general could have a role in reviewing the deal
It was not immediately clear where the deal stood with the health department as of Wednesday. The department did not immediately respond to requests for a status update
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