User:Dustmurray7/Highlands Hospital (Connellsville, Pennsylvania)

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Highlands Hospital was created in 1985 as a result from divestiture from the Pennsylvania State General Hospital system. The hospital was partnered with several partnerships until the formation of the single entity in the year 2000 The hospital operates a fifty bed acute care unit, two psychiatric care units totaling 31 beds, a specialized center for children and adolescents with autism, a Wellness Center, and several outpatient facilities as well as a community based emergency department.

Partnership History
Immediately following the divestiture until 1995, Highlands partnered with Forbes Health System, now part of the larger West Penn Allegheny Health System. From 1995 to 1997, the hospital was part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center health system. Following the end of this partnership until 2000, Frick Hospital partnered with Highlands, creating the Fay-West Health System. Finally in 2000, after Frick joined the now Excela Health network, Highlands became independent.

Hospital Services
The majority of the hospital's services are located within the hospital, except for the three outpatient HealthStops, a diabetes center, and the recently-opened Autism Center, which is located in nearby Connellsville Township.

Medical/Surgical Care
Highlands has two medical/surgical units, Third Central and Third West, totaling 50 beds. Third Central underwent a $1 Million renovation in 1997, upgrading rooms that previously had a four bed capacity to single and double room capacity, making the unit more modern and private.

Psychiatric Care
Presently, there are two psychiatric care units at Highlands. Tranquility, a 19-bed unit housing adolescents and adults, in 2012, received a $2.3 Million USDA Community Loan to upgrade the unit to modernized standards. The other unit, Reflections, is a 12-bed unit, opened in 2009, providing a more holistic approach for the geriatric population.

John P. Murtha Wellness Center
A state-of-the-art health club, located in a previously-unused space of the hospital campus opened in December 2003 and cost $700,000  to renovate, with equipment donated by the Windber Research Institute, with the stipulation that research studies be completed on area residents over several years.The center was named in then-honor of the late congressman John P. Murtha for all of his abilities to seek funding for this project. The facility was constructed with the purpose of community members getting healthier, due to the severity of the population suffering from several health problems ranging from diabetes to cardiovascular issues.

Emergency Department
Highlands Hospital has a eight-bed emergency department, wh