LVHN opens first neighborhood hospital

Lehigh Valley Health Network will officially open its first of several planned neighborhood hospitals to patients at 7 a.m. Tuesday. 

LVHN officials cut the ribbon on Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Macungie Friday, while awaiting approval from the state Department of Health after final inspections. Approval was granted Monday.  

LVH–Macungie will provide more accessible health care in the region, complete with an around-the-clock emergency room, LVHN said. 

The hospital is on the Macungie medical campus where Health Center Macungie opened in December at 3369 State Route 100.  

LVHN said the new hospital and health center fill a need by creating a medical campus and health care services not currently available in the Macungie area. 

Community leaders and LVHN officials, including Dr. Brian Nester, president and CEO, LVHN, participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at LVH–Macungie. 

“LVH–Macungie is part of our continuing effort to bring world-class health care to you, making it more convenient than ever to get the expert help you need, when you and your families need it,” Nester said. “Overall, LVHN is growing to meet community needs for care and convenience across the areas we serve. That means hiring more doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to be there when you need us, in places like our neighborhood hospitals and their adjacent health centers.” 

Lehigh Valley Hospital–Macungie is a stand-alone, licensed, accredited acute care hospital with a full-service 11-bed ER, a 10-bed inpatient medical unit, and ambulatory diagnostic services. The inpatient beds are for those requiring overnight hospital stays, or for additional care, observation and testing. 

Someone arriving at LVH–Macungie with more acute medical problems, or requiring surgery, would be stabilized and transported to a larger LVHN hospital with increased care capability, the network said. Pediatric patients requiring inpatient care will routinely be transferred to Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital. 

Other in-house hospital services include lab and imaging. Imaging services, including X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan and MRI, also are offered on an outpatient basis. 

A second LVHN neighborhood hospital and health center is under construction in Gilbertsville, Montgomery County. LVH–Gilbertsville and Health Center at Gilbertsville are projected to open later this year.