AHN Canonsburg Celebrates 120 Years of Caring for the Community as Excitement Grows for New Hospital Plans

Friday, November 15, 2024

Press Releases Canonsburg Hospital

Canonsburg, Pa - Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Canonsburg Hospital is celebrating 120 years of providing exceptional care and comfort to patients throughout Washington County and southern Allegheny County.

The anniversary comes at a special time for AHN Canonsburg with the recent announcement about the organization's plans to transform the current facility into a new, state-of-the-art hospital and campus that will open in 2027.

Originally opened in 1904, AHN Canonsburg can trace its origin to the will and perseverance of 29 local women, all of whom were a part of Canonsburg's Shakespeare Literary Club.

In 1903, the women fulfilled the state's community service requirement by fundraising and purchasing a downtown Canonsburg home along Barr Street for $2,000, then chartering the Canonsburg General Hospital Association. The following year, the Barr Street home would become the first Canonsburg General Hospital.

The Canonsburg Daily Notes reported on the hospital's grand opening reception on Oct. 17, 1904.

"It was a grand success…the future Canonsburg General Hospital will be an institution of which the towns in the upper valley and the country region on either side will be proud."

A woman who was thrown from her horse and carriage was the hospital's first patient; she was successfully cared for and at least figurately speaking, got back on the horse.

Within a decade, the hospital outgrew its Barr Street house and moved to a newly built, red-brick hospital, also located on Barr Street.

"This incredible group of bold women turned a community service project into a 54-bed healthcare facility, which would welcome more than 900 babies into the world and heal more than 9,000 sick and wounded by 1930," said Chong Park, MD, president of AHN Canonsburg Hospital. "It's a privilege to celebrate this hospital's 120^th anniversary and pay homage to its legacy of being an integral part of the health and well-being of this amazing, tight-knit community for so many years."

In 1979 Canonsburg General applied for state permission to build a new, $15.8 million medical facility. That hospital opened in 1983 at 100 Medical Blvd., where it remains today.

Canonsburg Hospital became part of the former West Penn Allegheny Health System in 2000, and 13 years later, WPAHS became Allegheny Health Network, the provider arm of Highmark Health.

Today, the hospital employs more than 400 people and provides a comprehensive portfolio of health care services to patients including, complex cardiovascular care, cardiac rehabilitation, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, critical care and medicine, inpatient rehabilitation and emergency care.

According to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Washington County's population, now approximately 210,000, has experienced moderate growth over the past decade; however, the communities around Canonsburg - including Cecil Township, Chartiers Township, North Strabane Township and Peters Township - have experienced considerably more growth, with continued population gains expected in the coming decade.

In November 2023, AHN announced plans to build a new full-service, all-private-room hospital in Washington County to replace the existing Canonsburg Hospital.

The new, approximately 300,000-square-foot facility will be built on AHN Canonsburg's existing Medical Boulevard campus in North Strabane Twp. The network will also develop a new clinical campus to accommodate additional planned facilities, including a medical office building and a potential future cancer center.

"We're extremely pleased to embark on this exciting project alongside our partners at Highmark Health and in close collaboration with our trusted caregivers, patients and the entire Canonsburg community," said Kelly Kassab, chief operating officer at AHN Canonsburg. "The new Canonsburg hospital will be a beautiful facility equipped with leading clinicians from a wide range of specialties and sub-specialties. We're confident it will not only meet the area's growing demand, but also pay tribute to the hospital's longstanding legacy of compassionate, exceptional care and resilience."

AHN Canonsburg hospital has been recognized with numerous industry awards and accolades over the years. It was the first hospital in western Pennsylvania to achieve Pathway to Excellence® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center which recognizes health care organizations for their commitment to creating a healthy and positive work environment.

Most recently, the hospital also earned the highest level of achievement from the American Heart Association for its excellence in heart failure care.

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