As UPMC grows through construction and acquisition, the leading health system is committed to finding and implementing supply chain best practices throughout its hospitals and alternate care sites.
October 2024 – The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Like a lot of health systems, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is working its way to financial health after several years of marketplace disruptions. At the same time, the health system has declared some big, bold goals for itself – including the construction of a new flagship tower.
The $1.5 billion, 17-story UPMC Presbyterian, to be completed in 2026, will be home to 636 private patient rooms and premier people-focused clinical facilities where UPMC clinical teams and physician-scientists will deliver nationally renowned specialty care that includes transplant, cardiology and cardiac surgery, and neurology and neurosurgery. The existing UPMC Presbyterian was built more than a century ago.
“We want our patients to have the best experience [possible], and we want our clinicians and our staff to have the best experience possible,” said Tim Nedley, vice president, Supply Chain Management Operations at UPMC.
Along with the flagship tower construction, UPMC is integrating Washington Health System (WHS) and its two hospitals into the organization. UPMC has committed to invest over 10 years to enhance clinical services and upgrade facilities at UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene. Clinical collaborations between WHS and UPMC for oncology (UPMC Hillman Cancer Center joint venture), pediatric specialties (UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh), women’s health (UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital) and heart and vascular care (UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute), have been in place for more than a decade, providing care for more than 10,000 patients annually. UPMC will continue to invest in and advance key services locally, including inpatient and emergency care, women’s health, cardiology, surgical services, diagnostics, primary care and specialty and outpatient services.
Nedley said with UPMC’s recent additions, the supply chain team wants to look at the best ways to standardize products across its 42 hospitals. “The longer we go at this, the more synergies we find, and the more best practices we find,” he said. “Sometimes we find those best practices in a facility that we are integrating, and sometimes we bring the best practices to them. We’re not too proud to take a step back and look at what we do versus what some of our other facilities that we are integrating do. We pull whatever the best practice is, and that’s what we try to roll out across our organization.”