ACMH Hospital strikes partnership with IUP
KITTANNING, Armstrong County — ACMH Hospital and Indiana University of Pennsylvania played a role Wednesday, Jan. 29, in solving a rural health crisis.
The Kittanning hospital will provide clinical training for the university’s planned college of osteopathic medicine via an affiliation agreement, the organizations announced at a news event Wednesday.
“Together, we are laying the foundation to improve access, innovate care delivery, and prepare future medical leaders to meet the specific needs of rural populations,” Rachel Verdi, executive director of risk and quality management for ACMH, said. “Our shared vision is to ensure that no matter where someone lives, they have access to the quality care that they deserve.”
As part of the agreement, medical students at IUP’s medical college will be able to perform clinical rotations at ACMH as part of their studies.
“We’ll be a part of their education,” Nichole Geraci, president and CEO of the hospital, said. “We’ll have the opportunity to show what community hospitals have to offer, showcase the great things we do, and also the unique challenges that come with rural health care delivery.”
Officials from IUP and the hospital alike expressed hope that the agreement will bring a much-needed boost to the number of primary care physicians in rural Pennsylvania.
According to a chart provided by IUP, nearly every county in Pennsylvania — including Butler and Armstrong counties — is suffering from a shortage of primary care physicians, some severely.
As of 2022, the state has only 102.2 primary care physicians per 100,000 residents, about half the national average for rural areas. By 2030, the data provided by IUP indicated a shortage of more than 1,000 primary care physicians in the state.
Only the Greater Philadelphia area and Cumberland County have an “acceptable” physician-patient ratio, and not even Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are at those ranges.
“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in a rural health care crisis,” Michael Driscoll, president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said. “Too many rural residents need medical care, and there are too few medical professionals to provide it.”
IUP’s college of osteopathic medicine, which has been in the planning stages since late 2022, now is in the process of seeking accreditation from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, a process that takes several years. IUP expects the new school to open in 2027, if everything goes according to plan.
“We’re in the initial stages of working with the accreditors,” Driscoll said. “Lots of steps remain to be completed, but we’re making great progress. It’ll be a couple more years to go, we think, before we end up with our first students coming into medical school, assuming everything goes right.”
This arrangement makes ACMH the latest hospital to sign such an agreement with IUP, following the Punxsutawney Area Hospital and Indiana Regional Medical Center, which signed theirs in June 2024 and September 2024, respectively. All three hospitals are part of the Pennsylvania Mountains Care Network.
Driscoll says the agreement will bring a much-needed boost to the number of primary care physicians in rural Pennsylvania.
Dr. Miko Rose, founding dean of the proposed school, touted the benefits of the arrangement for Western Pennsylvania’s rural population.
“We know that every year, and even every month, now hospitals in rural regions throughout Pennsylvania and the United States are closing,” Rose said. “Many of the reasons for that come back to: lack of workforce and not having enough physicians within those hospitals.
“By creating a future workforce stream of physicians, who are coming from rural regions and dedicated to staying within those rural regions, we’ll be able to help bolster the infrastructure of health care in rural Pennsylvania.”
More in Pennsylvania News
