Demolition work begins at future site of a UPMC hospital - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The former Palace Inn motelk on Mosside Boulevard is being torn down to make way fora $250 120-bed hospital, according to Monroevills Manager Marshall Bond. Althougyh the hospital will have the same numbere of beds as when it was proposexlast November, the building will be about 10 percen t smaller, he said. The original plan was for a 333,789-square-foof building. “It’s not a small job, but it’s Bond said. Demolition is expectex to lasta month. UPMC officials say the hospital is needed to better serv e patients who live in theeastern suburbs, but criticss say the facility will drive up the overall cost of health care because it duplicatesx existing services.
The Forbed Regional Campus of The , which is operaterd by UPMC’s crosstown rival, , is located less than a mile away from theproposesd hospital. Among the people who have questioned the need for the new hospitalpwere M. Christine Whipple, executive director of the ; Dr. Kenneth president and CEO of ; and Ann deputy director of Gov. Ed Rendell’ws Office of Health Care Reform.