Susan Hoolahan speaks about UPMC Passavant on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. Submitted Photo

McCANDLESS TWP, Allegheny County — UPMC Passavant patients can expect more preventive medicine and robotic surgery in the near future.

That was the message Susan Hoolahan, UPMC Passavant president, told the board of directors at its annual meeting Thursday evening, Dec. 7, in the assembly hall of the UPMC Passavant McCandless campus, 9100 Babcock Blvd.

The board oversees the McCandless campus and UPMC Passavant Cranberry, 1 St. Francis Way, Cranberry Township.

“There are many robotic programs we’ve started at Passavant,” said Hoolahan, reporting there were 1,500 robot-assisted surgeries in 60 different procedures performed by 20 doctors so far in 2023.

“We are looking forward to continuing to advance that program,” said Hoolahan.

She said she also hopes to increase preventive medicine measures such as the current UPMC Magee Womens Hospital heart program which is working with Passavant’s cancer center patients to have their hearts evaluated to assess cardiac issues that may occur during future cancer treatments.

Hoolahan also covered UPMC Passavant’s partnership with UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to place a pediatric emergency room physician in the ER of its Cranberry Township facility.

“There are a lot of children coming into that emergency room,” she said. “That’s a growing area with a lot of young families.” The pediatric physician will be able to put a plan of care together with the ER doctor. The family will be able to access specialty medical care, if needed, through remote telemedicine services.

“That was a huge win for us to offer that to the community,” said Hoolahan.

UPMC Passavant’s cardiovascular services have seen expanded outreach with the opening of clinics in Moon Township and Sewickley which, she said, have done very well.

UPMC Passavant’s hiring of nurses in 2023 was also expanded.

Hoolahan said 162 nurses were hired in 2023, three times the number in 2022. One hundred of the new hires were recent graduates from nursing schools.

“What’s key is we have the nurses, and they are staying with us. We have a decrease in our turnover rate,” she said, which she attributed to a great working environment.

UPMC Passavant also won accolades this year for the quality and safety of its services from U.S. News and World Report, which rated it the No. 2 hospital in the region behind UPMC Shadyside Hospital.

It also received an A rating, Hoolahan said, from the Leapfrog group, a national group which benchmarks the quality and safety of health care organizations.

Hoolahan also cited the $24 million “First Impression” project at UMPC McCandless, which so far has renovated the facility’s lobby and adjoining hallway, expanded the cardiovascular waiting room, added a retail pharmacy patronized by cancer center and physicians’ office patients, and a coffee shop. The costs of the project were split between UPMC Passavant and the Passavant Hospital Foundation.

Anthony R. Savannah, president and CEO of the Passavant Hospital Foundation, told board members that for the fiscal quarter running July 1 through Sept. 30, the foundation helped pay the costs of 12 patients totaling $2,031. Savannah said in that same period the foundation has used its cancer care fund to help 19 patients with aid totaling $7,550.

He said the cancer care fund received $5,600 raised by runners in the Pittsburgh Marathon. The foundation was also the recipient of $138,000 raised by the 36th Annual Golf Outing at the Treesdale Golf and Country Club. The Aug. 20 Family Wellness Run/Walk at the UPMC Sportsplex at Graham Park in Cranberry Township raised $16,000.