Any guesses on when the first abortion is committed?

Pittsburgh's first hospital (and last Catholic hospital) goes under.

Pittsburgh Tribune Review: UPMC deal rescues Mercy

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's top executive said today its takeover of Mercy Hospital was done to rescue the city's last Catholic hospital, not to make UPMC bigger.

"UPMC is big enough," Jeffrey Romoff, UPMC's president and chief executive, said at a press conference to announce the merger's approval by the Federal Trade Commission. "The Mercy merger is something we stepped forward in response to the needs of Mercy Hospital. Mercy was not a grand idea that I had or anyone at UPMC had to expand UPMC and make it bigger."

The heart of the $120 miilion deal, he said, was to preserve Catholic health care in Pittsburgh.

"This is not something that we would define as making us bigger but in fact enhacing our sense of responsibility to the community," Romoff said.

Romoff was one of several speakers at a news conference Tuesday at Mercy Hospital. He was joined by Pittsburgh Catholic Bishop David Zubik, who praised the preservation of Pittsburgh's first hospital.

Within the next five years, UPMC will invest between $60 million and $100 million in capital improvements, Romoff said.

Romoff sought to allay fears about service cuts, instead underscoring the need for more beds within the UPMC network.

"UPMC's other facilities are very full," he said. "So there's now an opportunity for us to consider moving things to Mercy rather than taking anything away from Mercy."

Officials expect the transaction to close by year's end. The name of the new hospital will be UPMC Mercy.