The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center seeks to raise about $1.6 billion to fund improvements to its facilities, according to financial documents made public this week.
The Pennsylvania nonprofit system will use most of the proceeds for “continuing investments in its facilities and communities,” a spokesperson said. Approximately $350 million of the sum will refund prior debt.
This marks UPMC’s largest bond issuance to date, followed by roughly $920 million issued a year ago.
Some proceeds will go toward the new UPMC Presbyterian, a 17-story, 900,000-square-foot inpatient tower under construction in Oakland that will house 636 beds. The project, valued at about $1.5 billion and located at the current UPMC Presbyterian hospital site, is expected to open in 2026.
The new tower was one of three pending construction projects announced in late 2017. Another project, Mercy Pavilion, is a nine-story, 410,000-square-foot facility for rehabilitation and patients with impaired vision. It is scheduled to start seeing patients May 1, the spokesperson said. The third project, a cancer facility in Shadyside, is still in the planning stages, the spokesperson said.
UPMC spent $994 million on capital projects in 2022.
UPMC, which operates 40 hospitals, 800 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, and a 4.5 million-member insurance division, reported operating income of $162 million in 2022, compared with $843 million in the prior year. Revenue rose 4.8% to $25.5 billion, and expenses increased 7.5% to $25.3 billion.