Region’s health networks added new locations and new services in 2025

Listen to this article

The year 2025 saw many major milestones for the Lehigh Valley’s  two largest health networks. 

For Lehigh Valley Health Network it was its first full calendar year as part of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, bringing new expertise and technology to the area. 

For St. Luke’s University Health Network, it was the year it became the Lehigh Valley’s largest employer with 23,000 employees after acquiring Bucks County’s Geisinger Health system. 

Part of the accomplishments the health networks saw over the course of the year were in its new offerings. 

Lehigh Valley Health Network dedicated the Peter and Odete Kelly Center for Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy after a $12 million gift from Peter and Odete Kelly established the center, which will on personalized immunotherapy,  a new paradigm for treating cancer using translational research, therapeutic cancer vaccines, expanded access to clinical trials and an interdisciplinary team of experts. 

LVHN also added liver transplant services to its kidney and pancreas transplant program. LVHN has recruited top surgeons, transplant hepatologists and gastroenterologists to lead the new program, including Dr. Shahid Malik. 

“Liver transplant is truly one of the miracles of medicine. Many of these patients are on death’s door. With a transplant, they get a new lease on life,” Malik said of the new program. 

Meanwhile at St. Luke’s, members of its Structural Heart Program were among the first in Pennsylvania to use the Pi‑Cardia ShortCut device, a new technology designed to make certain high‑risk heart valve procedures safer and more predictable.  

The  ShortCut device was used during a valve‑in‑valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement in a patient with a previously implanted surgical bioprosthetic aortic valve. If a patient’s initial valve replacement begins to reach end-of-life, this procedure is done to place a new valve over top of the existing one by a catheter inserted via a small incision in the patient’s groin.  

“This device represents a major step forward in protecting patients with complex anatomy. It allows us to safely treat individuals who previously had no good options, often involving redo open heart surgery,” said Dr. Jose Amortegui, chief of cardiac surgery. 

The health networks also grew their footprints across the region. 

In July, LVHN opened two new health centers at Tower Place in Bethlehem at the former site of Martin Tower – Health Center at Tower Place and Women’s Health Center at Tower Place.  

“Our teams have worked tirelessly to plan, design and build these two centers. They are an investment in health care in the region and will increase access to care in this community,” said Bob Begliomini, president, Jefferson Health–Lehigh Valley Region 

St. Luke’s University Health Network opened a new Women’s Imaging Center at St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus.  

“This investment in advanced imaging technology is a reflection of St. Luke’s commitment to providing the very best individualized breast care for each patient based on their unique history and risk factors,” said St. Luke’s Michele Brands, network director of Women’s Imaging.  

The new diagnostic services at Bethlehem include diagnostic mammography on GE HealthCare’s Senographe, stereotactic and ultrasound-guided biopsies, Diagnostic Breast Ultrasound and screening mammograms. 

St. Luke’s also doubled the size of its emergency department at its Upper Bucks Campus hospital.   

The new $8 million, 11,000 square-foot expansion adds 12 new patient treatment bays, bringing the total to 28 individual emergency rooms. 

LVHN capped off the year with a ceremonial ribbon cutting on its long-planned Hanover Hill Behavioral Health – a new three-story, 144-bed behavioral health hospital designed to expand and enhance access to mental and behavioral healthcare services across the Lehigh Valley. 

Located at 1755 Macada Road in Hanover Township, Hanover Hill Behavioral Health will provide a full continuum of inpatient behavioral healthcare services for seniors, adults and adolescents.  

The hospital will open for patient care in early 2026. 

“High-quality behavioral health care is essential in building a healthier and resilient community,” said Baligh R. Yehia, president, Jefferson Health. “Hanover Hill Behavioral Health nearly triples the number of inpatient beds available in the Lehigh Valley. This partnership and hospital will help ensure that people in our community have access to the compassionate, specialized care they deserve.”