THE CURRENT AHN CANONSBURG HOSPITAL IN NORTH STRABANE, WHICH IS SLATED TO BE REPLACED BY A NEW FACILITY BY 2027. | COURTESY ALLEGHENY HEALTH NETWORK

A new, full-service hospital may be coming to Washington County.

To better serve the growing community, Allegheny Health Network has rolled out plans to replace Canonsburg Hospital with an all-private-room hospital that would offer many more services than the current 104-bed facility. It’s part of a $232 million plan that also would add a medical office building and possible cancer center, all on the campus that actually is in North Strabane.

Construction on the new hospital is expected to begin in 2024 and would open in 2027, pending building approvals by local municipal officials and agencies. Canonsburg Hospital was established in 1904 and has operated at its current location on Medical Boulevard since 1983.

The new hospital — which likely would open with 50 beds that could be expanded to 100 — would provide advanced clinical services, including primary, emergency, and critical care; state-of-the-art surgical capabilities; advanced cardiac, orthopedic, and neurosurgical care; and various multi-disciplinary programs including women’s health.

Canonsburg’s existing emergency department would be integrated into the new hospital, but the rest of the current hospital would be closed and razed when the new hospital opens. The medical center and potential cancer center would occupy some of the space where the current hospital stands.

“The population served by our Canonsburg Hospital has grown over the years and we are excited to create a beautiful, modern facility and clinical campus that will enable us to better meet the diverse health care needs of the community and advance our living health model,” Jim Benedict, president of Allegheny Health Network, said in a press release. “Our goal is to provide enhanced access to a much broader array of integrated, high-quality, comprehensive clinical programs that will enable more patients to stay close to home for the services they need.”

 In the release, AHN officials noted that communities around the Canonsburg area have grown rapidly over the past decade: Cecil Township, 12%; Chartiers Township, 10%; North Strabane, 8%; and Peters, 4%. 

AHN has been searching several years in the South Hills for a location for this new hospital. In addition, over the past five years, AHN and Highmark Health have moved forward with five other new hospitals, six new cancer centers, five large-scale Health + Wellness Pavilions and other outpatient facilities, major emergency department expansions at three hospitals, significant expansion of women’s health services and facilities, and many other technological and infrastructure upgrades, AHN officials said.

In addition to Canonsburg, there are two other hospitals in Washington County — Washington Hospital in Washington and Penn Highlands Mon Valley in Monongahela.