History

Kane's first medical facility, The Woodside Cottage Hospital, was originally a one-story wooden building located near the corner of Biddle and Y Streets. Elizabeth Kane, MD, and her two sons, Evan Kane, MD, and Thomas Kane, MD, organized the hospital in 1887. The building served the community for about five years, until a need for expansion became evident.

The original building was relocated and raised up to become a second story, with a new first story built underneath. The name was then changed to the Kane Summit Hospital, and it was organized as a nonprofit corporation. A nurse's training school was instituted in 1898 and was operated until early 1929.

In 1921, Dr. Evan Kane decided to prove to the world that ether was being used far too often when less dangerous local anesthetics could be used. Dr. Kane proved this by performing an appendectomy on himself using only a local anesthetic. He performed other operations on himself including amputating one of his own fingers and correcting an inguinal hernia.

Kane Summit Hospital ceased operations on July 5, 1970, after the death of its only remaining medical practitioner, Dr. Dutter. The building was put up for sale and purchased by the Kane Community Hospital (KCH) in 1971.

KCH has continued to improve and expand its services over the years to include the state-of-the-art technology and specialized services it offers to the Kane community today.

UPMC Hamot Affiliation

In 2002, KCH and UPMC Hamot Heart and Vascular Institute (formerly Hamot Heart Institute) in Erie, Pa., launched a new partnership to provide enhanced cardiac diagnosis and services at KCH. A specialty cardiology clinic was established which brought UPMC Hamot cardiologists to Kane to see patients.  

The Hamot Medical Park building in Johnsonburg became a joint venture between UPMC Hamot and KCH in mid-2009.

In 2009 KCH made perhaps its most critical decision in eight decades, to enter into a business partnership and become UPMC Hamot's first affiliated community hospital.

In 2010, UPMC Hamot emergency medicine physicians began managing and staffing physician operations in the KCH emergency department and established an after-hours fast track for patients needing lower level care.

UPMC Affiliation

In 2017, KCH became UPMC Kane when the hospital officially integrated into the UPMC network.