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West Penn Allegheny moves top executives to Alcoa Business Service Center
By Luis Fabregas, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Top executives from cash-strapped West Penn Allegheny Health System this week are relocating to offices at the Alcoa Business Service Center on the North Side.

West Penn Allegheny signed a lease that will give it 22,000 square feet at the building on Isabella Street, said system spokesman Dan Laurent.

Laurent did not immediately know how many people will be moving into the space, but they include CEO Dr. Chris Olivia, whose offices were located at flagship Allegheny General Hospital in the North Side.

"We believe this will allow us to more effectively manage our system — where managers currently occupy offices in 11 different buildings — to exit existing leases, and to consolidate future space," Laurent said.

The move will result in long-term cost savings for West Penn Allegheny, Laurent said, declining to give a specific amount. The six-hospital network last year posted losses of $62.8 million.

Officials have said they plan to shave costs by $66 million. Late last year, Olivia told investors they already achieved the first half of those savings, or about $33 million.

West Penn Allegheny will occupy a portion of one floor of the 230,000-square-foot, six-story building, said Paul D. Horan of NAI Pittsburgh Commercial, which represented part-owner The Rubinoff Company in the deal.

The other portion of the floor will be occupied by Omnyx LLC, a digital imaging company partly created by University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. West Penn Allegheny, the region's second largest hospital network behind UPMC, did not raise objections about this, Horan said.

The building, which is about 90 percent occupied, is home to several other companies including Alcoa, which occupies two floors, Horan said.

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