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Good Shepherd hosts beam signing on new rehabilitation hospital

Good Sheperd supporters attended a beam signing ceremony for the network’s new rehabilitation hospital in Center Valley. PHOTO/SUBMITTED –

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network put Sharpie to steel on Wednesday afternoon, signing the final steel beam that will “top off” Good Shepherd’s under-construction rehabilitation hospital. 

At 23 feet long, it is the final beam to be added to the rehabilitation hospital, which is slated to open in Center Valley in June 2023.  

As part of the beam-signing festivities, which were held at the Hyland Center for Health & Technology on Good Shepherd’s South Allentown campus, Good Shepherd Chaplain Kelly Brooks blessed the beam. 

In addition to employees, members of Good Shepherd’s Hope Starts Here capital campaign committee, board of trustees, elected officials, community partners and others also participated in the signing. 

“I want to thank each and every associate who is here today, as well as our colleagues working at sites throughout the Network,” Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network President & CEO Michael Spigel said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time here, it’s that Good Shepherd has a very large, very passionate base of supporters, who will do everything in their power to ensure Good Shepherd is here to serve the community for another 100-plus years. We cannot do what we do without all of you.” 

Located in Center Valley across from The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, the four-story, 76-private-room rehabilitation hospital will focus on providing highly specialized, complex care and serve as the anchor of an all-encompassing destination campus.  

Good Shepherd’s new hospital will provide advanced inpatient rehabilitation services to people seeking care for stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury and other complex conditions. 

Good Shepherd breaks ground on inpatient rehabilitation hospital

Featuring a former patient, Ruth Aragon, who was able to walk again using its Ekso Bionics Exoskeleton, Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network broke ground Wednesday on its new rehabilitation hospital in Upper Saucon Township. 

Located across the street from the Promenade Shops of Saucon Valley, the state-of-the-art inpatient rehabilitation hospital will be a four-story 76-private bed hospital, which will be the only one of its kind in the region. 

At the event, Aragon walked onto the stage using the exoskeleton and thanked the people of Good Shepherd for helping her and others like her with the will to recover. 

Michael Spigel, president and CEO of the network, said with the new facility Good Shepherd hopes to create more success stories like Aragon’s and break new ground on with emerging technologies and techniques. 

“This is a transformational project. This hospital will be a game changer in rehabilitation,” he said. 

He said the hospital’s goal is to revolutionize treatment and recovery options for people with complex medical conditions, such as stroke, spinal cord injury and brain injury. 

Dr. Sandeep Singh, chief medical officer and program director of the spinal cord injury program offered his support for the future of treatment at the hospital. 

“Our mission now is to elevate what has been our primary focus to another level,” he said. “I’m confident that this building and the infrastructure will attract the talent we need. This is an opportunity for us at Good Shepherd to embrace new technologies.” 

And by embracing those new technologies, John Inglis, Upper Saucon Township supervisor, said the hospital will become a center for rehabilitation technology, which will be good for the region’s economy. 

“We’re putting our full support behind this project it’s a chance to draw attention to the area and lure other tech companies here,” he said.  

In addition to the medical and rehabilitative treatment that will be available at the new hospital, the building will also feature an experience center where people in rehabilitation can learn about new technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to 3D printing and how they can be used for a more independent life. 

Construction on the inpatient rehabilitation hospital is expected to be complete in 2023. 

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