$25M project under way at Monongahela Valley Hospital

Monongahela Valley Hospital in Carroll has embarked on an expansion program.

"Health care today is more complex than ever," said Louis J. Panza Jr., president and chief executive officer of the hospital. "Patients demand -- and deserve -- cutting edge technology as well as skilled physicians, nurses and other staff to meet their needs."

Panza spoke to some 150 persons at a reception preceding traditional groundbreaking ceremonies and said the $25 million project will include construction to increase the size of the hospital and the Charles L. and Rose Sweeney Pavilion and Regional Cancer Center.

Others taking part in the groundbreaking on the roadway between the hospital and the cancer center were: U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair; Washington County Commissioners J. Bracken Burns, Larry Maggi and Dianna Irey Vaughan; R. Carlyn Belczyk, vice chairman, and Jeff Kotula, secretary, of the hospital's Board of Trustees; R.G. Krishnan, M.D., president of the MVH Medical Staff, and Carroll Township Supervisors Tom Rapp, Jim Harrison and Gary Lenzi.

"This project emphasizes an investment in the future of our health system and, more importantly, the well-being of the nearly 100,000 people we serve in the mid-Monongahela Valley and beyond," Panza said.

"People want, and should have, their health care needs met in a convenient and modern setting. The onus is on our health system to continue fulfilling our responsibilities to them in all ways possible and be ever mindful of fiscal responsibility. That mandate is always present in responding to our stakeholders - our patients, our community and ourselves. "

Panza said the hospital's attention to fiscal responsibility was emphasized late last year when Moody's Investors Service reaffirmed the A3 long-term bond rating for the health system's $15.3 million debt. The money was initially borrowed in the 1970s to construct the new hospital, which opened in September 1978. Monongahela Valley Hospital was formed on July 1, 1972 as the result of a full consolidation of Charleroi-Monessen Hospital in North Charleroi and Memorial Hospital of Mononghela in New Eagle.

Murphy lauded the hospital for its "continuing initiative to provide advanced quality health care to the people of its community and the region."

"There is always talk about Washington finding solutions to health care in our nation," Murphy said. "We are mindful of our responsibilities and are always willing to work in that direction. But the answers are not always in Washington. Local health systems also have an obligation to solve those problems by providing quality medical care. Mon Valley Hospital is a shining example of how this can be done with a longstanding commitment to responding to the absolute necessity to move forward. Our hats are off to everyone here. Today is an exciting day for the hospital and for western Pennsylvania."

The expansion program is set to run over the next 3 1/2 years and will include:

Surgical suites

Expansion will take place at the back of the hospital for construction of four new operating rooms of 600 square feet each.

Each of the new operating suites will have boom systems for technology and anesthesiology needs, a nursing integration system, recessed cabinetry and multiple definition monitors.

The recovery area will reconfigured and expanded for more efficiency.

The existing surgical suites will remain operational as construction takes place.

The new operating suites will more than double the space for surgical procedures and provide a more convenient and efficient setting for patients. The additional space will ease the current crunch and accommodate future needs and technology.

The hospital conducted 7,956 surgeries in 2010.

Radiation therapy

New Image Guided Radiation Therapy equipment requires larger concrete walls measuring up to eight feet thick.

Radiation therapy is a specialty based on technology and the IGRT process will afford the oncology physicians and staff methods of determining treatments for cancer patients.

Treatment of cancer is a multidisciplinary process that synthesizes surgical methods, be it chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy. Offering advanced radiation therapy with the IMRT technology will mean enhanced care of the patients and increased value of the oncology department.

More than 12,000 patients have been treated at the cancer center since it opened.

Panza said the new equipment along with the expanded structural facility support will allow the oncology team of physicians, nurses and ancillary staff to provide "an even higher level of care."

Wound management

The Center for Wound Management will be expanded to address a growing need for patients and accommodate new technology.

MVH introduced a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy program last year to complement existing services.

The Center for Wound Management was developed as an outpatient service, one that is conveniently located within the hospital and allows patients to be treated and return home the same day.

Expansion allows physicians and staff to better serve those patients by coordinating sophisticated techniques, technologies and methodologies.

Infrastructure work

As a matter of improving energy savings and efficiency, there will be upgrading of heating, air and ventilation systems in such areas as the surgical suites; intensive care, critical care and other patient care units; replacing lighting and ballast systems in the hospital, Sweeney Melenyzer Pavilion, and education conference center as well as in the parking garage and on the hospital campus.

Work also will be focus on:

• Improving natural gas utilization by replacing the steam generation system burner.

• Enlarging the heating and cooling system for independent patient control in each room.

• Renovation of the employee dining area, which also is available to the public during regular hours of operation.

Panza said implementation of the master facility expansion program is the result of the "dedicated time and efforts" of members of the plant, building and grounds committee formed as part of the strategic planning process two years ago.

"We appreciate the work of those men and women involved in the Strategic Planning," Panza said. "Their insight and experience have been, and continue to be, a valuable part of our commitment to serving our patients and our community."

He also expressed "deep and sincere gratitude to the continued support of the community in "placing their confidence in us for their health care needs and the benevolence of all "anyone and everyone" who respond to fund-raising efforts by the health system.

With some 1,300 employees throughout the health system, the hospital has a "distinct impact on the economic well being of the communities we serve as well as the health of their residents," Panza said.

"These are difficult economic times for the entire nation, and health care has felt the brunt in a severe way," Panza said. "Unlike other areas where hospitals have been forced to close or curtail services, MVH has been fortunate to remain an independent community hospital. Because of fiscal responsibility in all that we do and again, because of continued support from our community, we are able to remain in line with advanced technology and offer a medical staff of more than 220 physicians in a variety of specialties."