Penn Highlands Healthcare highlights strong year of growth, expanded access to care in southwestern Pennsylvania
Penn Highlands Healthcare highlighted a year of growth, expanded services and clinical excellence in southwestern Pennsylvania at its annual public meeting, held at Penn Highlands Connellsville earlier this month.
The meeting, which focused on accomplishments at Penn Highlands Mon Valley and Penn Highlands Connellsville, “reflected on a year of significant growth, strategic investment and an ongoing commitment to providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare close to home,” the health system said in a news release.
The health system is continuing to expand the care available to communities throughout the region in several ways, from increasing emergency and inpatient care volumes to launching new programs and strengthening specialty services.
Throughout fiscal year 2025-2026, there was heavy demand for medical and surgical services and specialized inpatient care in the southwestern region, including 26,322 total emergency department visits, with 18,406 at Penn Highlands Mon Valley and 7,916 at Penn Highlands Connellsville.
Additionally, Penn Highlands Mon Valley saw 3,687 patient admissions and Penn Highlands Connellsville saw 1,122.
Other numbers included:
*4,378 total surgical and endoscopic procedures including 3,300 outpatient surgeries, 574 endoscopy procedures and 504 inpatient surgeries.
*1,138 total behavioral health admissions (855 at Penn Highlands Connellsville and 283 at Penn Highlands Mon Valley), 144 rehabilitation admissions at Penn Highlands Mon Valley, and 172 substance recovery admissions at Penn Highlands Mon Valley.
“These numbers reflect more than just clinical milestones, they represent our neighbors, family members and friends placing their trust in us during their most vulnerable moments,” said Josh LaFleur, Regional Market President – Southwest Region for Penn Highlands Healthcare. “By keeping pace with this volume of care, our team has proven that high-quality, specialized medicine belongs right here in our communities.”
The Southwest region welcomed nearly 60 new physicians and specialists to the medical staff roster in 2025-2026, strengthening its commitment to boost recruitment and growth across important service lines.
Those additions spanned critical fields including emergency medicine, neurology, radiology, interventional cardiology, infectious diseases, and psychiatry, among others.
The Southwest region saw the expansion of interventional cardiology services, as well as enhanced oncology and hematology and orthopedic and sports medicine services in Penn Highlands Connellsville.
Additionally, a number of specialty clinics and outpatient rehabilitation services were relocated onto hospital campuses to increase convenience for patients.
The Penn Highlands Community Pharmacy, located on the Penn Highlands Mon Valley campus, offers an automatic refill program, pharmacist consultations, comprehensive medication reviews, free delivery and mail services, and coordinated medication management through a shared electronic medical record system.
The health system has increased its community engagement activities, including health screenings, outreach events and prevention programs.
Penn Highlands was named among America’s 250 Best Hospitals for Clinical Excellence by Healthgrades in 2026.
The American Heart Association (AHA) honored the Penn Highlands Southwest region with a number of “Get With The Guidelines” recognitions that honor hospitals for consistently adhering to the latest research-backed treatment guidelines to improve patient recovery and survival rates. Those honors included the Stroke Gold Plus, Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite, STEMI Receiving Center Silver Plus and NSTEMI Gold awards.
Also, Penn Highlands Connellsville achieved prestigious CT Virtual Accreditation Validation.
Penn Highlands Healthcare Southwest region will continue focusing on improving local health through prevention, education and access.
Upcoming initiatives include the opening of new QCare clinics — walk-in medical clinics designed to quickly treat minor injuries and illnesses — expanding inpatient and outpatient behavioral health capacities and further building out specialty care access across communities.
“We established a strong foundation of growth, alignment and clinical excellence for our Southwest region,” said LaFleur. “Going forward, our focus remains on expanding access to specialized care and sustaining the quality of healthcare our communities expect and deserve.”
Penn Highlands Healthcare was officially formed in 2011 and is comprised of nine hospitals: Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands Connellsville, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, Penn Highlands Mon Valley and Penn Highlands Tyrone, and Penn Highlands State College. The state-of-the-art State College hospital opened in 2024.
The health system also includes a home care agency, long-term care facilities and residential senior living communities, and durable medical equipment companies and retail pharmacies.
Penn Highlands Healthcare employs 5,995 people in more than 150 locations throughout 26 counties in Pennsylvania that include community medical buildings, outpatient facilities, surgery centers and physician practices. The facilities have a total of 1,406 inpatient, skilled nursing and personal care beds.