UPMC has asked the Pleasant Hills Zoning Hearing Board to postpone a hearing on its proposal to build a new hospital.
The hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday, but now could be delayed 60 days. UPMC wants to build a 300,000-square-foot hospital on an 80-acre tract off Route 51, but the borough's land use ordinance does not include a provision for a hospital. Such zoning omissions rarely have withstood legal challenge.
UPMC spokesman Paul Wood said the postponement was sought to solicit additional information and "address the concerns of the residents."
The proposed hospital, which has been criticized by Allegheny Health Network officials, is less than 3,000 feet from rival AHN’s Jefferson Hospital.
"Contrary to UPMC's rhetoric, they see that the groundswell of community sentiment is actually overwhelmingly against their plans for this unnecessary duplicative hospital," AHN spokesman Dan Laurent said in a statement Saturday.
First Published: February 6, 2016, 10:03 p.m.
