Penn Highlands Healthcare highlights growth, expanded access to care in region

Penn Highlands was named among America’s 250 Best Hospitals for Clinical Excellence by Healthgrades in 2026.

For the MVI

Penn Highlands Healthcare highlighted a year of growth, expanded services and clinical excellence in its Southwest region during its annual public meeting held recently at Penn Highlands Connellsville.

The meeting, which featured 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.

From increasing emergency and inpatient care volumes to launching new programs and strengthening specialty services, the health system continues to expand the care available to communities throughout the region.

By the numbers

Throughout fiscal year 2025-2026, the Southwest region experienced heavy demand for medical and surgical services and specialized inpatient care:

• Emergency department visits: 26,322 total emergency visits, with 18,406 at Penn Highlands Mon Valley and 7,916 at Penn Highlands Connellsville.

• Admissions: 4,809 total patient admissions, including 3,687 at Penn Highlands Mon Valley and 1,122 at Penn Highlands Connellsville.

• Surgeries and procedures: 4,378 total surgical and endoscopic procedures were performed, including 3,300 outpatient surgeries, 574 endoscopy procedures and 504 inpatient surgeries.

• Specialized inpatient care: 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, MBA, 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.”

Expanded care teams

The Southwest region welcomed nearly 60 new physicians and specialists to the medical staff roster in 20252026, strengthening its commitment to boost recruitment and growth across important service lines.

This influx of talent spans critical fields including emergency medicine, neurology, radiology, interventional cardiology, infectious diseases and psychiatry, among others.

New programs, services and national awards

The past year has featured several healthcare service expansions and national recognitions: • Service and facility expansions: 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 for improved patient convenience.

• Penn Highlands Community Pharmacy: Located on the Penn Highlands Mon Valley campus, the pharmacy provides an automatic refill program, pharmacist consultations, comprehensive medication reviews, free delivery and mail services, and coordinated medication management through a shared electronic medical record (EMR) system.

• Community impact: Increased community engagement activities, including health screenings, outreach events and prevention programs.

• America’s 250 Best Hospitals: Penn Highlands was named among America’s 250 Best Hospitals for Clinical Excellence by Healthgrades in 2026.

• Cardiovascular and stroke excellence: 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. These honors included the Stroke Gold Plus, Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite, STEMI Receiving Center Silver Plus and NSTEMI Gold awards.

• Imaging accreditation: Penn Highlands Connellsville achieved prestigious CT Virtual Accreditation Validation.

A future-forward vision

Looking ahead, 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.”