AHN Canonsburg Hospital is marking its 120th anniversary. Construction of a new, state-of-the-art hospital that will open in 2027 is underway.
Allegheny Health Network Canonsburg Hospital is marking its 120th anniversary of providing care to residents in Washington County and Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The anniversary comes at a time when the health system is planning to build a new, state-of-the-art hospital and campus in Canonsburg that will open in 2027.
Opened in 1904, AHN Canonsburg owes its beginnings to the perseverance of 29 women who were members of Canonsburg’s Shakespeare Literary Club.
According to an AHN biography, in 1923 the women fundraised and purchased a downtown Canonsburg home on Barr Street for $2,000, and then chartered the Canonsburg General Hospital Association. The following year, that Barr Street home became the first Canonsburg General Hospital.
The Daily Notes, a Canonsburg newspaper that operated from 1903 to 1980, reported on the hospital’s grand opening reception on Oct. 17, 1904.
“It was a grand success … the future Canonsburg General Hospital will be an institution of which the towns in the upper valley and the country region on either side will be proud.”
The hospital’s first patient was a woman who was thrown from her horse and carriage. She was treated for injuries and recovered – “and at least, figuratively speaking, got back on the horse,” said an AHN spokesperson.
Within the decade, the hospital outgrew the Barr Street house and moved to a red-brick hospital that was constructed on the same street.
“This incredible group of bold women turned a community service project into a 54-bed health-care facility, which would welcome more than 900 babies into the world and heal more than 9,000 sick and wounded by 1930,” said Dr. Chong Park, President of AHN Canonsburg Hospital. “It’s a privilege to celebrate this hospital’s 120th anniversary and pay homage to its legacy of being an integral part of the health and well-being of this amazing, tight-knit community for so many years.”
In 1979, Canonsburg General applied for state permission to build a new, $15.8 million medical facility. That hospital opened in 1983 at 100 Medical Blvd., where it remains today.
Canonsburg Hospital became part of the former West Penn Allegheny Health System in 2000, and 13 years later, WPAHS became Allegheny Health Network, the provider arm of Highmark Health.
Today, the hospital employs more than 400 people and provides a comprehensive portfolio of health-care services to patients including complex cardiovascular care, cardiac rehabilitation, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, critical care and medicine, inpatient rehabilitation and emergency care.
According to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Washington County’s population, now approximately 210,000, has experienced moderate growth over the past decade; however, the communities around Canonsburg – including Cecil, Chartiers, North Strabane and Peters townships – have experienced considerably more growth, with continued population gains projected for the coming decade.
In November 2023, AHN announced plans to build a new full-service, all-private-room hospital in Washington County to replace the existing Canonsburg Hospital.
The approximate 300,000-square-foot facility will be built on AHN Canonsburg’s existing Medical Boulevard campus in North Strabane. The network will also develop a new clinical campus to accommodate additional facilities, including a medical office building and a potential future cancer center.
“We’re extremely pleased to embark on this exciting project alongside our partners at Highmark Health and in close collaboration with our trusted caregivers, patients and the entire Canonsburg community,” said Kelly Kassab, chief operating officer at AHN Canonsburg. “The new Canonsburg hospital will be a beautiful facility equipped with leading clinicians from a wide range of specialties and subspecialties. We’re confident it will not only meet the area’s growing demand, but also pay tribute to the hospital’s long standing legacy of compassionate, exceptional care and resilience.”
AHN Canonsburg hospital has been recognized with several industry awards and accolades over the years. It was the first hospital in Western Pennsylvania to achieve Pathway to Excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which recognizes health-care organizations for their commitment to creating a healthy and positive work environment.
Most recently, the hospital earned the highest level of achievement from the American Heart Association for its excellence in heart failure care.