The strategic affiliation agreement enables the three organizations to further partner on a number of clinical, scientific and educational initiatives. Under the agreement, Penn State, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Mount Nittany will set priorities and evaluate opportunities to collaborate on patient care services and the recruitment of clinical specialists.

Together, Mount Nittany and Penn State and its Medical Center, explore growth in a number of clinical programs, most recently enhancing the Medical Center’s cardiac catheterization lab with interventional cardiology. The agreement also enables Mount Nittany Medical Center’s participation and access to research grants and core clinical research facilities through Penn State Hershey and Penn State University, as well as shared funding for clinical trial participation.

Under the collaborative agreement, both organizations maintain their independence but work together to expand and develop clinical specialty services and recruit world-class medical specialists who would practice at Mount Nittany Medical Center and serve as members of the Penn State College of Medicine faculty.

Penn State and Mount Nittany Medical Center currently collaborate on a number of initiatives. Mount Nittany Medical Center was one of the founding members of the Penn State Cancer Institute, which brings the benefits of cancer-related research and education at Penn State College of Medicine to the care of patients at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (PSHMC) and the Institute's other members, the Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network Cancer Services in Allentown and Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College.

Penn State partnered with Mount Nittany Medical Center to provide many of the laboratory experiences for the students seeking career certification at the Medical Center’s School of Clinical Laboratory Science.

In 2004, Mount Nittany Medical Center and PSHMC, working jointly with CMSA, successfully recruited James Fick, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery, PSCOM, to create a neurosurgery practice in State College. Fick specializes in the removal of brain and spinal tumors. He has medical privileges at Mount Nittany Medical Center and cares for patients there and at CMSA’s clinical office practice.