UPMC Passavant: Renowned Expertise Right Next Door

UPMC Passavant is not your typical hospital. Like most community hospitals, it feels warm and welcoming, but few have the level of technology and clinical expertise found on UPMC Passavant’s two campuses. And while many large tertiary care centers are renowned for their cutting-edge treatments, they may lack the personal touch that UPMC Passavant offers when it comes to patient-centered care.

UPMC Passavant Staff

“Looking at the broader picture of what makes UPMC Passavant so special, it’s 100 percent its people, coupled with a tremendously collaborative culture,” said President Elizabeth Piccione, MD. “You feel it as soon as you walk in the doors. From the smiling front desk volunteers to the people who answer the phones to the aides transporting patients, everyone is here to help.”

“Every single layer of this organization understands the mission of taking care of people at a very difficult time in their lives,” she added. “They show kindness, compassion, and empathy every single day. And while taking care of the community is native to smaller hospitals, never in my imagination did I think that a hospital with the capabilities of UPMC Passavant would have the same culture.”

Dr. Piccione, who joined the hospital two years ago, notes that this collaborative culture extends to UPMC Passavant’s physicians who work together to solve the hardest cases.

“Our physicians do not work in silos; for example, during a complicated surgery, one of our oncologists might be working on the prostate while another oncologist works on the colon—doctor to doctor, shoulder to shoulder, to provide the highest level of care,” she said.

Many of the hospital’s physicians actually live in the community, as does much of its staff, according to Zachary Lenhart, vice-president, operations. “We have an extremely engaged workforce who want to be here to take care of their neighbors, friends, family members, and colleagues,” he explained. “This sort of engagement leads to an incredibly high quality of care.”

The fact that UPMC Passavant has a 32-bed ICU staffed 24/7 with 14 critical care physicians also makes surgeons comfortable with bringing acute care patients to UPMC Passavant.

“We have created one of the more advanced hospitals in the UPMC system right here in the North Hills,” said Lenhart. “In reality, it’s a tertiary center. We essentially do everything outside of trauma and transplant.”

A Destination for Specialized Care

UPMC Passavant Staff

UPMC Passavant also boasts a number of nationally renowned physicians , providing a level of talent not often seen at a community hospital. Among them are David Medich, MD, chief of the UPMC Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery; David Geller, MD, chief of the UPMC Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery and director of the UPMC Liver Cancer Center; Ryan Levy, MD, chief of the UPMC Division of Thoracic and Foregut Surgery; Matt El-Kadi, MD, PhD,  chief of neurological surgery and spine surgery; Georges Al-Khoury, chief of UPMC Vascular Surgery; Justin Beckett, MD, hospitalist medical lead; David Rice, MD, medical staff lead physician, Pulmonary Partners-UPMC; Tom Rice, MD, of Pulmonary Partners-UPMC; Sam Buffer, MD, vice-chairman of the cardiovascular department at UPMC Passavant, and many more. Dr. Piccione notes that a “tremendous” northern gastrointestinal team also works out of UPMC Passavant.

The hospital also treats the second highest concentration of cancer patients in southwestern Pennsylvania, outside of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Shadyside, and has world-renowned experts in that category of care. These include  Melanie Ongchin MD, chief of surgical oncology; Kiran Metha, MD, medical director at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at UPMC Passavant; and Paula Marie Novelli, MD, a specialist in diagnostic radiology and vascular interventional radiology.

“If you can think of a specialty, we probably have it,” said Dr. Piccione. “And these doctors are all attracted by our culture and united in our mission.”

UPMC Passavant

Investing in Technology

UPMC Passavant has made a major investment in robotic surgical capabilities, including the da Vinci Surgical System® for minimally invasive surgeries and Stryker’s Mako SmartRobotics™ for robotic arm-assisted knee operations.

“Robotic surgery causes less tissue trauma, less blood loss, and is less invasive for the patient,” explained Dr. Piccione, adding that the hospital has also invested heavily in imaging technology, such as that used in CT-guided biopsy procedures.

She notes that the UPMC system has been very generous in terms of helping UPMC Passavant with funds to purchase imaging and robotics technology, and that the Passavant Hospital Foundation has also been instrumental in supporting the hospital’s mission.

“When you talk about what makes UPMC Passavant different, you have to include the Passavant Hospital Foundation,” agreed Lenhart. “Their support plays a vital role in our ability to achieve our mission. They provide a robust array of funding, including funding clinical campaigns and employee educational initiatives. They even provide a benevolence fund for UPMC employees and cover transportation costs for patients. You can’t talk about one without the other.”

Bringing Care Close to Home

One of the biggest concerns in health care is providing access—making sure that people can get to the treatment they need.

“Unfortunately, if people don’t feel comfortable driving to an appointment, or feel overwhelmed going into the city, they just don’t go,” said Dr. Piccione. “We’re very proud of our programs with academic institutions downtown, but sometimes it’s difficult to get people there.”

Both UPMC Passavant campuses, located in McCandless and Cranberry townships, are easily accessible to people north of the city via I-70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, also in Cranberry, provides after-hours care at its Orthopaedic Injury Walk-In Clinic and its Children’s Express Clinic. All locations offer free parking.

“People from Pittsburgh’s suburbs get a little skittish when it comes to crossing bridges and rivers, which is why it’s so great to have the same level of services right in their neighborhoods,” said Lenhart. “They can get a high level of clinically complex care in their own communities without having to worry about driving into the city, dealing with traffic and construction and figuring out where to park. That’s a huge advantage.”

As part of the greater UPMC system, UPMC Passavant can also help patients who may need services that the hospital doesn’t provide. A person who requires brain surgery, for example, can receive care at UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, and UPMC Passavant will coordinate that visit for the patient.

“We never want care to be defined by geography, so there are many access points into our system,” said Dr. Piccione. “We understand that we are dealing with people’s lives and that this is not a transactional relationship. We want to do whatever we can to make the patient’s experience easier.”

She laughs when she shares a story of her first day on the job at UPMC Passavant when she got onto an elevator without her identification badge. “A woman there, completely unprovoked, said that she just wanted to say how wonderful and nice everyone was in the hospital. She had been there for five days with her husband and just wanted the folks on the elevator to know. She had no idea that she was sharing that with its president. But that’s just the kind of thing that happens here.”

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Growing a Career at UPMC Passavant

Nurse Administrator on Duty  (AOD) Deni Mealey, RN, BSN, joined UPMC Passavant in 2021 after  graduating from the Butler County Community College nursing program. Her friend who worked at the hospital suggested that she apply — and she’s very happy she did.

“I love the really welcoming environment,” she said. “I also like that the staff are great educators; they are always happy to help.”

Mealey began working in the neurosurgical unit and took the AOD position three years later. There, the Chicora native is responsible for staffing components and bed flow, including admissions, transfers, and the movement of patients.

“I feel blessed and thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given here, and especially appreciate the help of my supervisor, Nicole Santucci, and chief nursing officer, Lisa Bryan,” she said. “They have such passion for what they do, and they are always present and supportive.”

Mealey also appreciates the feedback she receives from patients. Sometimes they even come back with cookies and treats to show how much they appreciate the work that the nurses do.

“I love the small hospital feel of UPMC Passavant, though the hospital is not very small in the services that it can provide,” she added. “I hope to be here for a long time.”

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Compassion When It Mattered Most

Brittany Maker’s mother, Tricia, spent a lot of time at UPMC Passavant over the past three years dealing with COPD and stage 4 cancer. Maker was by her side for the journey along with Tricia’s husband, George, and son, Jesse, as was the staff at UPMC Passavant.

“The staff, including her nurses Hannah, Jess, and Alexa, were absolutely amazing throughout the entire process,” said Maker. “They not only attended to my mom but also helped our family, who had a lot of questions. It wasn’t an easy task.”

“All of them showed such grace and compassion,” she added, “and they made it so much easier. They brought in baskets of food and drinks, and while that seems like such a silly thing, it made us much more comfortable.”

Maker especially appreciates the personal care that her mother received at every visit and the compassion that was shown at her last.

“She had a respiratory therapist who knew that she wanted to be called Tricia, instead of her full name Patricia and also knew she hated to be called ‘Patty,’” she said, remembering the personal relationship that grew between caregiver and patient.

“The staff showed the same love and respect that a family member would,” she added. “While it wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, they made us feel comfortable with mom’s passing. While anyone with the right medical qualifications could have been there, it takes a special kind of person to make us feel the way they did.”