The four-hospital Susquehanna Health system is officially a part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), with the deal including $500 million in renovations and upgrades at the newly acquired facilities.

The acquisition became official Oct. 18 after first being announced in May. The president of the rechristened UPMC Susquehanna, Steven Johnson, said the affiliation will “bring a new level of innovation and advanced care” to central Pennsylvania.

“Today marks a new era of healthcare for our region,” Johnson said. "Building on our strong clinical quality and patient safety track record, emphasis on caring for patients and expertise in delivering care to all of the communities we serve, including rural communities, Susquehanna Health is even stronger with UPMC."

To show “its commitment” to the region, UPMC said it will invest $500 million in the system. Among the planned improvements are expanding emergency, vascular and cancer services, creating an urgent care network and neurosciences center, and building a new inpatient rehabilitation facility, replacing one built in the 1960s.

Services offered at the Susquehanna Health hospitals won’t be outsourced, Johnson said, and UPMC emphasized the local governance of the facilities will be maintained.

“With UPMC’s leading integrated health care delivery and insurance model, we also share with Susquehanna the same firm commitment UPMC has proven in other communities, and that is to keep high-quality, affordable care locally accessible and close to home for our patients,” said UPMC executive vice president and CMO Steven Shapiro, MD.