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In August 2024, cardiologist Elizabeth Piccione, MD, became president of UPMC Passavant. She previously served as president of UPMC Horizon in Mercer County and UPMC Jameson in her hometown of New Castle. She recently shared these thoughts on her new role and her vision for the hospital’s future.
Congratulations on your new role! How have your first six months been at UPMC Passavant?
“The time has flown by. I’m so grateful for the warm welcome I’ve been given, which has helped make it a smooth transition,” says Dr. Piccione. “There’s such a positive and proud culture here, and you can feel the ingrained ‘patient-first’ attitude. Everyone brings a real dedication to providing outstanding patient care, including those individuals who have very complex or chronic medical problems. I feel very fortunate to be here.
“UPMC Passavant is now a destination hospital for people seeking world-class specialty care. But just as importantly, it has maintained the warmth and caring of a community hospital. I know how important a sense of community is when seeking care,” she adds. “I grew up in New Castle and my husband and I raised our family there. We lived across the street from my parents and a block away from my husband’s parents. Now that we’re empty nesters, we’re excited to spread our wings and take on new challenges — like my new role at UPMC Passavant.”
What national health care challenges are affecting our community?
“Health care providers everywhere are struggling to manage the dramatic increase in the numbers of patients needing care. In the aftermath of COVID, people who put off health care — or whose needs were neglected — are now seeking care,” explains Dr. Piccione. “We also know that the areas surrounding our two UPMC Passavant campuses continue to expand, including a large and growing senior population with complex medical problems that often come with age. Our challenge in the coming years will be meeting the continued growth and changing needs of our patient community — all while making our care as accessible as possible.”
How does UPMC Passavant’s location support its growing service area?
“I look at our northern communities as places where ‘UPMC Passavant points north.’ What I mean by that is our hospital serves a broad geographic area. It spreads out 2 hours in any direction and includes patients from Lawrence, Mercer, Beaver, Butler, and Allegheny counties,” says Dr. Piccione. “Our two strong and distinct hospital campuses are easy to reach by the Pennsylvania Turnpike and major highways. For some people, traveling into a big city like Pittsburgh can be challenging, and it prevents them from getting the care they need. Those patients may not mind driving to a community-based location like Cranberry or McCandless for care. That’s where we can make a difference,” she adds.
Why is access to health care resources close to home so important?
“From a patient’s perspective, even when health care is exceptional and state of the art, if it’s not easy to get to, it’s of no value to them. People want and need care close to home. For example, UPMC Passavant serves one of the largest populations of cancer patients outside of UPMC Shadyside. These patients often require regular treatment, such as radiation or chemotherapy. Traveling a long distance for that care only adds to their medical challenges. That’s why we try to provide as much complex care as we can locally to help patients who may already be coming from an hour or more away,” says Dr. Piccione.
“For residents of more rural communities, our focus is on strengthening their primary care and critical local services. Rural family doctors will play a growing role in coordinating the care of their patients with the specialty care they need. We’ll also be expanding our use of telemedicine and traveling specialists to enhance community-based care, even for our most at-risk patients. When we can connect people to resources closer to home, we know that leads to better health and better outcomes down the road.”
What are some ways UPMC Passavant will grow to meet changing health care needs?
“Most of us can remember when almost any surgery meant spending days in the hospital. But new technologies and minimally invasive techniques now make it possible to offer many elective surgeries like hip and knee replacements on an outpatient basis,” says Dr. Piccione. “Over the next decade, the trend is for these and other elective surgeries to grow significantly. To meet that increased demand, we’ll be developing more outpatient surgery locations outside of the hospital — reducing costs and bringing safe patient care even closer to home.
“We also plan to continue UPMC Passavant’s leadership role in delivering complex, inpatient surgeries like thoracic (which is often for lung cancer), colorectal, liver, and heart and vascular surgeries. These surgeries require exceptional infrastructure, medical expertise, and support — all things we already provide with the highest level of quality and patient safety,” she says.
What are your goals for the future of UPMC Passavant?
“Every opportunity we have to connect with a patient is an opportunity to change somebody’s life and their health trajectory. Whether that’s stopping a heart attack, helping somebody who is dealing with cancer, performing a knee replacement to ensure mobility, or saving a life with a complex procedure like lung surgery, UPMC Passavant is a life-changing place,” notes Dr. Piccione.
“Like most doctors, I love to solve problems. We consider all the information and try to come up with the best possible treatment plan. I want to bring that same skill set to my work here at UPMC Passavant. Ultimately, my goal is to positively affect the health of all our patients,” she adds. “At the end of the day, I want to be able to say that I helped us take better care of sick people. That’s what drives me 24/7. Honestly, it’s as simple as that.”
Grade A Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade
UPMC Passavant–McCandless and UPMC Passavant–Cranberry recently received “Leapfrog Grade A” ratings, earning that distinction 13 times over the last six and a half years (ratings come out twice a year). “Grade A is evidence of our continued excellence in quality and patient safety,” says Dr. Piccione. “This rating is extremely difficult to accomplish so consistently. It’s proof of the dedication of our excellent nursing and support staff.”
Editor’s Note: The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital rating focused exclusively on a hospital’s patient safety record. Its A, B, C, D, or F letter grades are a quick way for consumers to choose the safest hospital to seek care.
Strength Through Collaboration With UPMC Flagship Programs
“At UPMC Passavant, we also are connected to UPMC’s broader health care resources,” says Dr. Piccione. “Patients in our care benefit from the knowledge and expertise of these world-class UPMC specialty programs.”
These programs include care by leading specialists and treatment from:
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital
UPMC Western Behavioral Health and UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
For more information about services and care available at UPMC Passavant, visit UPMCPassavant.com.