St. Luke’s to open state-of-the-art hospital in rural Lehighton

St. Luke’s Carbon Campus hospital, set to open in late fall, will be the centerpiece of the health system’s technologically advanced, multipurpose, rural medial and wellness complex in Lehighton.

The hospital and surrounding buildings, serving a rural population, will have some of the latest technology not found in major metropolitan areas, according to a St. Luke’s statement.

The 108-acre hospital and wellness complex will give the community easy access to Level IV trauma emergency care, acute, critical and chronic medical care provided by medical experts close to home.

The three-story, 80-patient-room, 160,000-square-foot hospital will be the largest of its kind in Carbon County and the first hospital built in the county in 65 years. The campus will offer fitness facilities, health education and nutrition information.

“This complex underscores St. Luke’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of this community,” says John Nespoli, president of St. Luke’s Lehighton and Carbon campuses. “At St. Luke’s we believe in providing quality services that keep people physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy and help take care of them when they are ill or injured, to ultimately enhance the health status of our neighbors.”

The private patient rooms will be outfitted with a wall-mounted, 55-inch smart TV to facilitate two-way audio/visual communication between patients and their providers anywhere, as well as patients and their family members worldwide. This beta-site installation–one of the first in the nation by AmHealth—will expand telemedicine capabilities and virtual visitation convenience, the statement said.

MedSigns will replace the typical write-and-wipe white boards in patient rooms with real-time computer system-linked digital whiteboards that will display that names of caregivers, day of the week, scheduled activities and other useful safety information.

During COVID, St. Luke’s forged a partnership with Life-Aire, a local air purification system company. Life-aire’s first-of-its-kind technology kills all airborne pathogens in a clinical environment, including COVID-19 and anthrax. Six Life-Aire air purifiers will be installed in the air ducts throughout the new Carbon hospital.

A home-grown concept for St. Luke’s, the TechConnect help center in the lobby, will be staffed by an attendant who will give free assistance to patients, visitors and community members struggling to learn or use personal digital or medical symptom-monitoring devices or apps, according to the statement.

Within a year of opening the main campus, a three-story, 50,000-square-foot medical office building will be built and connected to the hospital. Cancer, cardiac, orthopedics care, pain management and physical therapy services and physicians’ offices will occupy this facility, along with a full fitness center and more. A fitness walking trail will encircle the complex.

A lavender and sunflower meditation and healing garden will also be installed.