Despite headwinds caused by the pandemic, St. Clair Health’s ‘AA’- bond ratings were recently affirmed by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings. The bonds carry a stable outlook, according to both rating agencies.

In its April 9 news release, S&P said St. Clair’s ‘AA’- rating “reflects our view of St. Clair’s stable market share with a niche position as one of the largest independent providers in the greater Pittsburgh region with excellent quality metrics, successful physician recruitment and a focused strategy of continuing to build market share with outpatient growth and remain the low cost and high quality provider for its service area.”

In its April 19 news release, Fitch Ratings said: “The affirmation of the ‘AA’- revenue bond rating are driven by St. Clair’s very strong financial profile assessment, solid market position in the competitive greater Pittsburgh area healthcare market and robust operating performance … Further revenue growth is expected, supported by continued service line expansion and the new (Dunlap Family) outpatient center that is opening in May.”

St. Clair’s total operating revenue for the most recent year ended June 30, 2020 was $357 million.  St. Clair’s total long-term debt at December 31, 2021 equals $115 million, is largely fixed rate, and includes Mount Lebanon Hospital Authority, Pa.’s series 2012 and series 2018 revenue bonds, issued for St. Clair.

“We are pleased with the rating action, especially with S&P’s negative outlook for the healthcare industry, and with the rating changes for downgrades outpacing upgrades by more than five to one for CY2020-2021YTD,” said St. Clair Health Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Richard C. Chesnos.

MT. LEBANON, Pa. – St. Clair Hospital has been honored as part of the inaugural class of The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania’s (HAP) Excellence in Patient Safety Recognition program.

HAP launched the Excellence in Patient Safety program in 2018 to recognize Pennsylvania’s top-performing hospitals that have demonstrated low rates of health care-associated infections.

The program utilizes data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network. The program identifies and recognizes those member hospitals that perform better than the mean standardized infection ratio in three key measures: central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections. This year, 21 hospitals were recognized for this achievement.

The recognition is open to all Pennsylvania hospitals. A full list of winners can be found at haponline.org.

Earlier this month, The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, awarded St. Clair an “A” for its commitment to keeping patients safe and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S. St. Clair’s A grade is the Hospital’s 17^th consecutive A, placing St. Clair amongst the top hospitals in the country and the leader in the region for patient safety.

Also this year, St. Clair was ranked as a 100 Top Hospital by IBM Watson Health in its 28^th annual empirical evaluation of America’s hospitals. IBM Watson Health evaluates all acute care hospitals in the U.S., assessing their patient safety, patient satisfaction, quality of care and efficiency of operations.

Giving patients enhanced access to an integrated model of expert urologic care

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Two of the region’s top urologic practices will come together when the four urologists with Center for Urologic Care join St. Clair Medical Services, effective January 1, 2021. This union offers patients more advanced urologic services and greater access to board-certified urologists.

St. Clair Medical Services is the employed physician organization of St. Clair Health Corporation and serves the primary, specialty, and hospital-based needs of patients throughout the communities served by St. Clair Hospital.

The new relationship between the urologists from Center for Urologic Care and St. Clair Medical Services offers a more integrated model of care that directly benefits patients with sophisticated information technology, plus enhanced coordination of care between the urologists, St. Clair’s outpatient centers, and the Hospital. Moreover, patients will have access to an interdisciplinary team of clinicians – five exceptionally well-qualified and experienced urologic surgeons.

In addition to the four urologists of Center for Urologic Care – Jay A. Lutins, M.D.; Arthur D. Thomas, M.D.; David O. Hepps, M.D.; and Shailen S. Sehgal, M.D. – patients will also have access to board-certified urologist Kevin P. Bordeau, M.D., of St. Clair Medical Services.

Patients may call 412.572.6194 for appointments or with questions.

MT. LEBANON, Pa. – St. Clair Hospital has appointed noted neurologist Maxim D. Hammer, M.D., MBA, as its new Chief of Neurology.

Dr. Hammer joins St. Clair from UPMC, where he held numerous titles, including Vice Chairman, Clinical Affairs, Department of Neurology; Clinical Director of Neurology; and Director of Stroke Services at UPMC Mercy Hospital, where he helped develop the Stroke Clinic. Dr. Hammer founded and directed the Neurosonology lab, which provides outpatient and inpatient services, using carotid duplex and transcranial ultrasonography.

Dr. Hammer earned his medical degree at Albany Medical College, Albany, N.Y., and completed his neurology residency at Cleveland Clinic, where he was elected chief resident. He also completed a Vascular Neurology Fellowship at UPMC. Dr. Hammer holds an executive healthcare master’s degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business. He is an associate professor, Department of Neurology, at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Hammer is board-certified in neurology, as well as in vascular neurology.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Hammer to St. Clair,” says John T. Sullivan, M.D., MBA, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at St. Clair. “He brings substantial clinical and programmatic expertise in the management of stroke patients. In terms of the impact on health and quality of life, stroke outcomes are arguably one of the most important for our region and  Dr. Hammer brings cutting-edge practices to our team.”

“Joining St. Clair,” says Dr. Hammer, “is an excellent opportunity for me to be part of a health system that is so supportive of neurology. I look forward to working with my colleagues at St. Clair to make an excellent program even better.”

Dr. Hammer practices with Southwestern PA Associates in Neurology, part of St. Clair Medical Services, and is seeing patients at St. Clair Hospital Outpatient Center – Peters Township. To contact Dr. Hammer, please call 412.942.6300.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – St. Clair Hospital has been named a Level 9 Most Wired hospital in the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives’ (CHIME) 2020 Digital Health Most Wired Survey. A Level 9 designation highlights hospitals that have deployed technologies and strategies (e.g., population health/cost-of-care analytics, HIEs/integration engines, and patient portals) to help them analyze their data and are achieving meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes.

The mission of the CHIME Digital Health Most Wired program is to elevate the health and care of communities around the world by encouraging the optimal use of information technology (IT). The program does this by conducting an annual survey to identify, recognize, and certify the adoption, implementation, and use of information technology by health care provider organizations. The results are intended to improve patient safety and outcomes by driving change in the health care IT industry.

“We are once again honored to receive CHIME’s Digital Health Most Wired award,” said Richard Schaeffer, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at St. Clair. “At St. Clair, we’ve had a long-standing strategic commitment to the use of systems and technology to not only deliver safe, high quality care, but to additionally promote wellness through the use of patient engagement tools.”

Louis Civitarese, D.O., M.M.I., Chief Medical Information Officer at St. Clair, added: “St. Clair’s ability to consistently deliver high quality care is due in large part to the collegial environment among physicians, nurses, and staff to work together to continually improve systems and processes through the refinement of the best technologies available.”

A total of 30,135 organizations were represented in the 2020 Digital Health Most Wired program, which this year included four separate surveys. The surveys assessed the adoption, integration and impact of technologies in health care organizations at all stages of development, from early development to industry leading.

Health care organizations earning Levels 8-10 are being honored with awards. St. Clair’s Level 9 earned it a Performance Excellence Award. CHIME says organizations in Level 9 are leaders in health care technology who actively push the industry forward. These organizations, according to CHIME, are realizing meaningful outcomes, including improved quality of care, improved patient experience, reduced costs, and broader patient access to health care services. Some of the advanced technologies used to achieve these outcomes include telemedicine solutions, price-transparency and cost-analysis tools, access to data at the point of care, and tools to engage patients and their families throughout the care process.

Mt. LEBANON, Pa. – St. Clair Hospital this week resumed elective testing and diagnostic procedures for patients at its main campus and its Village Square Outpatient Center. Elective surgeries will resume on Monday, May 11.

The resumption of all medically necessary care follows guidance, issued by the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health on Monday, April 27, that hospitals across the state may resume the performance of elective care while considering a ‘roadmap’ issued by the American Hospital Association in conjunction with several medical and nursing professional associations.

In a communication sent on Wednesday, May 6, St. Clair recommended to its patients that essential medical care not be further delayed, and outlined numerous actions the Hospital is taking to keep its patients safe.  Key among these actions is the use of screening and testing protocols developed by its clinical experts with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as St. Clair’s clinical partner, Mayo Clinic.  Other key actions address steps to maintain a clean and safe environment: continued restrictions on visitors; promotion of social distancing; and the use of masks and other personal protection equipment (PPE) to safeguard patients and staff.

Also, as of Monday, May 4, St. Clair’s affiliated multispecialty group, St. Clair Medical Services, resumed providing routine in-office care, along with its continued use of telemedicine. St. Clair Medical Services has more than 130 physicians in the group, practicing at more than 35 sites across the South Hills. The offices will likewise have enhanced protections for returning patients.

In its communication to patients, St. Clair stressed the danger of ‘late presentation’ of serious illness, while recognizing that patients need to feel safe in coming to its facilities for care.  On Thursday, April 30, the Leapfrog Group, the nation’s leading watchdog for patient safety, again gave St. Clair a hospital safety grade of ‘A’, marking eight consecutive years of receiving the highest grade possible.  The grade reflects a composite score of how well hospitals protect patients from harm, including avoiding hospital-acquired infections.  St. Clair is the region’s only hospital, and among just the best 2 percent in the country, to receive a hospital safety grade of ‘A’ for eight consecutive years from the Leapfrog Group.

MT. LEBANON, Pa. – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, has released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades for Spring 2020, awarding St. Clair Hospital an “A” for its commitment to keeping patients safe and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S.  St. Clair Hospital’s A grade is the Hospital’s 16th consecutive A, placing St. Clair amongst the top hospitals in the country and the leader in the region for patient safety.  The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A, B, C, D and F to hospitals nationwide based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms.

Developed under the guidance of a Blue Ribbon National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

MT. LEBANON, Pa. – Effective Sunday, March 22, St. Clair Hospital is closing the Hospital to visitors. This measure is essential to ensure the health and safety of patients and staff.

Permitted circumstances will require exceptions to be made. Those rare exceptions will be determined by a patient’s clinical care team on a case by case basis.

A more complete description of the new visitation policy can be found on the Hospital’s website, www.stclair.org/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/

All permitted visitors will be screened for cough, fever, difficulty breathing or contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.