University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a leading American healthcare provider and institution for medical research. It consistently ranks in U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the approximately 15 best hospitals in America. On that annual list, it has appeared eight consecutive times from 1999 through 2007. As of 2007, UPMC ranks 13th among the best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

Based in Pittsburgh, it is best known as the home to Jonas Salk while he developed the polio vaccine, where Thomas Starzl perfected transplant surgeries, and for the breakthroughs of isolating and identifying the benefits of Vitamin C in the 1930s.

The medical center has also served as the primary care facility for Pennsylvania two-term governor and 1996 Presidential candidate Robert P. Casey when he battled cancer, 10,000 Maniacs guitarist and founder Robert Buck from liver disease and Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor from lymphoma.

UPMC is affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences.

Operations
UPMC has its roots in the establishment in of Presbyterian Hospital in 1893. In 1939, the University of Pittsburgh helped create the University Medical Center with Falk Clinic, Children's, Eye and Ear, Libby Steele Magee, Presbyterian General, and Women's Hospitals. Since then, UPMC has become an entity unto itself and grown, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "to a 29-county system with 40,000 employees, $5.1 billion in revenue, a for-profit health insurance subsidiary with half a million members and a network of 19 hospitals; 17 nursing, retirement and long-term care homes; and more than 4,000 affiliated physicians." It is western Pennsylvania's largest employer, and second in the state only to Wal-Mart.

Hospitals


The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center currently operates 19 hospitals in the western Pennsylvania area, all of varying sizes and specialties.

UPMC Presbyterian
UPMC Presbyterian is UPMC's primary hospital. The hospital has 1,594 beds, and is located in Oakland, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA. The emergency department has a Level I Trauma Center. Specialties include organ transplantation, cardiology, trauma, and neurosurgery. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine uses UPMC Presbyterian for research and graduate programs.

UPMC Shadyside
UPMC Shadyside is one of UPMC's main hospitals, located in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood, with 486 beds and over 600 primary care physicians.

Magee-Women's Hospital of UPMC
Magee-Women's Hospital of UPMC is a UPMC specialty hospital, mainly for women; however some services at the hospital are now available for men. The hospital is equipped with 287 beds. 10,000 births are performed at Magee each year, which accounts for 45 percent of all births in Allegheny County.

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
Children's Hospital is another specialty hospital of UPMC, specializing in pediatrics. Of only two in the state, the emergency department is a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, the other in the state being Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Over 400,000 infants, children, and adolescents make trips to the hospital every year.

A new Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh campus is currently being built. Opening in mid-2009, the 1.5 million square foot hospital will have 302 beds, with a 41 bed emergency department and a 36 bed pediatric intensive care unit. A ten-story research center is also being constructed, with seven out of the ten floors will be dedicated for pediatric medical research. The complex will be environmentally friendly and "quiet".

ISMETT
UPMC also operates a transplant center outside of the United States. It is named the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies (ISMETT). The 70 bed facility specializes in multi organ transplantation.

Other hospitals

 * UPMC Braddock
 * UPMC McKeesport
 * UPMC Passavant
 * UPMC Passavant Cranberry
 * UPMC South Side
 * UPMC St. Margaret
 * UPMC Bedford Memorial
 * UPMC Horizon
 * UPMC Northwest
 * UPMC Montefiore
 * UPMC Mercy (future merger with Mercy Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania))

Center for Biosecurity
The Center for is an independent, nonprofit organization of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

UPMC Health Plan
UPMC Health Plan, owned by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is one of the largest health plans in western Pennsylvania. UPMC Health Plan offers a variety of services to its 900,000 members. Its plan provides members to over 80 hospitals and 7,000 physician's offices over a 28 county region. Its main competitor is Highmark.