ACQUISITION TALKS — UPMC is in negotiations to acquire Trinity Medical System, reports Monday indicated. Trinity Medical Center West would be included in the deal. -- Warren Scott

STEUBENVILLE — Health care in the Tri-State Area could soon see a major transformation, if reports coming out of Pittsburgh come to fruition.

UPMC is negotiating to buy Steubenville-based Trinity Health System, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Monday.

The deal, if completed, would include three hospitals, two urgent care centers and a behavioral health and physicians’ office building, according to people familiar with the plans, but who were not authorized to speak publicly about them, the Post-Gazette reported.

Those facilities would include Trinity Medical Center West, Trinity Medical Center East, Trinity Hospital Twin City in Dennison and the Trinity Health System St. Clairsville Neighborhood Hospital that opened in August, the Post-Gazette reported.

Officials with Trinity had little to say about the reports.

“We regularly evaluate potential affiliations and acquisitions that would strengthen our ability to carry out our mission of advancing health in the communities we serve. We do not have additional information to share at this time regarding any active affiliation or acquisition discussions,” Laurie Labishak, Trinity’s director of marketing, communications and public relations, said in a statement.

While terms for any proposed deal are not yet available, the health care-giant’s acquisition of Trinity would mark its first expansion into Ohio.

“This is typical in health care today — there are lots of mergers,” Jefferson County Commissioner Tony Morelli said Monday afternoon. “UPMC is a very well-known and well-respected name in health care, and I believe they would be a great partner for Trinity.”

In the summer of 2024, Trinity completed work on its 88-room, $75 million Tower project at its West campus.

“This really is a building that is designed around patients,” then-Trinity President Matt Grimshaw said about the project. “It is all about bringing natural light into spaces, open spaces, private spaces. It’s designed to be a true healing environment, and I think that changes lives. So, we’re excited about this, not just for today, but for generations to come. We believe this truly cements health care in Steubenville indefinitely. That survives far beyond us, and it’s really the backbone of any thriving community.”

Grimshaw spent seven years at Trinity before leaving in December to become market president for CHI St. Joseph Health, which is based in Lexington, Ky. That system, like Trinity, is part of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health.

The president’s position at Trinity has been vacant since Grimshaw’s departure.

Trinity also operates Express Care urgent care facilities in Wintersville and Cadiz. What would happen with those clinics is not clear, the report indicated.

UPMC is in a joint venture with Atlanta-based GoHealth Urgent Care to operate UPMC and former MedExpress clinics in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the Post-Gazette said. That includes a facility on Three Springs Drive in Weirton, which recently was rebranded as UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care.

Trinity has been expanding its services during the past several years. Last October, for example, it celebrated its 200th transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The nonprofit Catholic hospital was one of three in the CommonSpirit Health system to be designated as a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Center of Excellence. Its residency programs, which were started in 2019, have continued to grow, Trinity said earlier this year.

The local health system has been involved in numerous activities and events throughout the region.

A final deal between UPMC and Trinity would be the latest change to health care in the Tri-State Area. On Jan. 27, Weirton Medical Center became a full member of the West Virginia University Health System. That facility, located on Colliers Way, has been rebranded as WVU Medicine-Weirton Medical Center.