A family-owned heating, cooling and plumbing business is expanding.
After 25 years operating out of his home, Louis Accardi, owner of Home Comfort Solutions LLC, will open a shop at 325 Cypress St., Lehighton.
A ribbon cutting is planned for June 13 and a grand opening is set for June 17.
“This move is a long time coming,” said Accardi. “We have grown a lot over the last few years and it’s nice to expand out of running the business from home.”
What began as Accardi working by himself out of one van, has expanded into a family business.
“Over the years, we have added my mom and wife in the office and my son and uncle out in the field,” Accardi said. “Without the help of my family, none of this growth would have been possible.”
Located in the heart of Lehighton Borough, the new office will provide a place for customers to meet with staff and see a variety of equipment the business offers, he said.
There will also be a training facility located in the lower level, which will offer local technicians the opportunity to receive further training and instruction without having to travel out of Carbon County.
St. Luke’s University Health Network will open its first walk-in mental health clinic in Lehighton Thursday.
The network will celebrate the 24-hour center’s opening with a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. at 211 North 12th St.
John Nespoli, president of both St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus and new Carbon Campus; Dr. Najma Khanani, medical director of the Lehighton Campus Psychiatric Services; and Jody McCloud-Missmer, St. Luke’s service line administrator of Behavioral Health Services will be on hand for the opening.
The walk-in center is designed to serve individuals 14 and up by assessing and addressing a variety of mental health circumstances including anxiety, panic attacks, depression, grief, thoughts of self-harm, mood swings, anger, school phobia, and others, said Khanani.
“This walk-in center, both by its purposeful architectural design and our outreach efforts, is to have people feel that they are in a welcoming and comfortable environment, not one that feels clinical and analytic,” she said. “We hope that the community we will be serving will see us as members of that community, as well as a sources of comfort and support to them.”
Visitors seeking mental health services through the center will find a space designed to resemble a comfortable, homey living room, according to Network Director of Clinical Therapy Services and Psychotherapist Amie Allanson-Dundon.
There is “no wrong door to mental health services,” said Network Director of Clinical Therapy Services and Psychotherapist Amie Allanson-Dundon. The walk-in center is intended to serve those ‘struggling in the moment’ – not experiencing the kind of mental health crisis that would require emergency in-patient admission.
“It’s a hub, an option for someone to be able to be assessed and connected to the resources they need and walk out with no sense of judgement,” she said, adding it will reduce visits to hospital emergency departments.
“We will be reaching out to the members of this community to educate them about this option and to encourage them to feel more comfortable seeking the help they might need,” Khanani said.
RelaxNation, a 48-acre campground in Lehighton, sold for $3.8 million.
The complex at 1500 Rock Road was purchased by a group of investors, including Deepak Bhatnagar of Flemington, New Jersey, and Kuldeep Kumar of New York in early June.
The investors plan on making many improvements and updates to the year-round vacation and leisure destination that offers both traditional campgrounds and glamping facilities.
“We are adding 10 new cabins, fully renovating a house, and moving a chalet on the property to a better location,” Bhatnagar said. “We also plan to clean up the property and hire a consultant/management company to run it,” he said adding the improvements should be complete by the end of the year.
The partners also own the Hampton Inn, next door to RelaxNation. That’s how they saw it was for sale and believed it was a good investment, Bhatnagar said. The other investors are Dilbag Singh of Pennsylvania and Namrata Sharma of New Jersey.
RelaxNation is 1/2 mile off the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Jim Thorpe, Beltzville Dam, Blue Mountain Resort and more.
The gated resort offers guests a variety of amenities for all camping abilities including rustic cottages, RV sites, primitive camping and glamping sites. It also has a swimming pool, fishing, and nightly entertainment. A sky pavilion, located on the summit of the facility, is available for larger events including weddings.
The new luxury cottages will offer guests the best views overlooking the Pocono Mountains. “Our great hall will offer daily breakfast, evening reception, and nightly entertainment,” Bhatnagar said. “We will also have a general store for all your travel needs. Guests will be able to come and stay in our newly renovated historic farmhouse with a view of the Pohopoco River.”
Jeff Barber of Lehigh Financial Group LLC in Allentown arranged the financing for the investors to buy the property and make improvements to it. Shawn Bogutskie from First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union in Allentown, was the lender. Loren Speziale of Gross McGinley LLP in Allentown represented the buyers.
Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon will open following final inspection by the Pa. Department of Health. PHOTO/PROVIDED –
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) held a ribbon cutting for its newest hospital in Lehighton.
Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon will officially open following final inspection by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The 100,587-square-foot campus on Blakeslee Drive in Lehighton is a full-service community hospital with a 16-bed emergency room (ER), and a health center providing specialty services.
New surgical suite at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon. PHOTO/PROVIDED –
“At LVHN we firmly believe ‘your health deserves a partner,’” said Brian A. Nester, LVHN president and CEO. “A health partner is here for you in times of illness or crisis. We’re also here for you to help you get well and stay well. In many aspects of life, choosing a great partner can make it so much better.”
“We listened to the community,” said Terrence J. Purcell, president, LVHN Northwest Region. “Our response is what you see here, today – a beautiful new hospital and health center, and the opportunity for even more programs and services to come.”
Services provided at LVH–Carbon include:
24/7, year-round physician-staffed ER. Many of the attending doctors will be from LVH–Cedar Crest’s Level 1 Trauma Center. A helipad is available for times when a higher level of care is needed
Twenty private inpatient rooms with Telehealth technology for virtual care, if needed, with LVHN specialists
Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute
State-of-the-art surgical suites for orthopedics, general surgery, ENT, urology, GI and spine under the leadership of Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence
Advanced imaging department providing MRI, CT, ultrasound and X-ray.
Rehabilitation services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy and other rehab specialties
Cancer services including an infusion center and genetic counseling through Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, part of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance.
The Health Center at LVH–Carbon will house Lehigh Valley Physician Group (LVPG) obstetrics and gynecology, ENT, GI, urology, orthopedics, spine, and general surgery, including specialty neurology and pulmonology services.
The LVH–Carbon campus was designed to be easily navigated with safety measures. Additional amenities include convenient parking options, smart car-charging stations and waiting and family consultation rooms.
LVH–Carbon President Christine Biege said, “Great health care involves more than brick and mortar, the latest technology, or access to services and specialists. Great health care starts with people. Friend caring for friend. Neighbor caring for neighbor. Our pledge is that you will find exceptional health care here at LVH–Carbon.”
Carbon Plaza Shopping Center in Lehighton. PHOTO/SUBMITTED –
Colliers said it has concluded the investment sale of Carbon Plaza Shopping Center for $18 million.
The 34-acre property. On Blakeslee Boulevard in Lehighton, is 95% leased with tenants that include a 74,000-square-foot Giant supermarket, McDonald’s, Rite Aid, Arby’s, Taco Bell, Big Lots, First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union, Lehigh Valley Health Network, and St. Luke’s University Health Network.
Jeff Algatt and Scott Horner were the exclusive listing agents on behalf of their Delaware-based private capital seller.
Derek Zerfass represented the buyer, a private equity investor and developer based in Central New Jersey.
“Our team and platform enabled us to quickly generate multiple buyers looking at this opportunity, and ultimately we selected a seasoned investor offering an $18 million all cash, no financing purchase with an aggressive due diligence and closing schedule. This allowed us to meet our Seller’s objectives of both a top of the market price and a closing before the end of 2021,” said Jeff Algatt of Colliers
The Colliers leasing team will continue as leasing agent for the property.
Thoreya Audiology of Lehighton will hold its grand opening Saturday.
Owned by Dr. Leane Koch, the practice offers full hearing related services including hearing evaluations, middle ear evaluations, cerumen removal, hearing instruments, hearing instrument repairs, assistive listening devices, hearing protection, swim plugs, sleep plugs, and more, according to a press release from the Carbon County Chamber & Economic Development Corp.
Koch is from Lehighton and received her Bachelor’s of Science and Doctorate in Audiology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. She has been involved in mission trips to Guatemala and to Navajo Reservations in Utah to provide hearing tests and hearing aids to those in need.
She is the 2019 recipient of the Maroon and Gold Excellence Award from Bloomsburg University for her humanitarian work locally and abroad.
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.
Wine & More on 1st offers samples and sales of local wine, beer and spirits. PHOTO/SUBMITTED
Lehighton is getting a tasting room, but will be a bit different than what you’re used to.
Most tasting rooms are opened by winemakers, distillers or brewers to promote and sell their own product. This will offer samples and sales of products made by other local producers. But, Wine & More on 1st owner, Tina Henniger, said it’s an idea that has worked.
Henninger, said when she opened her first tasting room in Palmerton she didn’t even think she had an unusual idea. “I thought it was a niche that needed to be filled,” she said.
She had been working at a winery’s tasting room. She enjoyed her job and saw that people really enjoyed coming to tasting rooms. So when the winery decided to close the tasting room, she decided she’d open one of her own.
She didn’t make wine herself, so she spoke to a number of wineries in the region to find out if they would be interested in a deal where she would operate a tasting room for them. She quickly found out that her idea was not the way it was generally done, but that didn’t mean the wineries weren’t receptive to the idea.
She ended up opening a tasting room in a small back room of another business. Even though it was small it did well. She routinely sold $2,000 to $3,000 worth of product a month.
She had to close the shop during the pandemic, but now that it’s receding, she’s opening a new shop in Lehighton she says will be bigger and better.
Wine & More on 1st plans a May 20 grand opening in a building Henninger and her husband bought on First Street in the borough. It will feature the wine of Stone Mountain Wine Cellars of Pine Grove. Henninger will also carry beer made by Cave Brewing of Bethlehem and spirits from Insurrection Distillery of Lehighton.
Because wine and cheese go well together, she will also sell cheeses from Jubilee Heritage Farms of Middleburg.
She’s also putting a spin on another concept. While many small eateries are BYOB – bring your own booze, her tasting room will be BYOF – bring your own food. She hopes customers will support some of the eateries nearby, bring in lunch or dinner and enjoy a flight of wine or beer or some spirits.
Her business model is simple. The makers of the products she offers front her the stock and then she gets a percentage of the sales.
She isn’t limiting Wine & More to her primary brands. She also plans to have special events where wineries, brewers or distillers can hire her to have one or two day “expos” featuring their products.
Mostly, she said she wants to create a fun comfortable place that her neighbors in Lehighton will enjoy.
“I think the locals will be my bread and butter,” she said. “There will be tables, chairs and sofas. People can buy drinks by the flight or buy a bottle to go.”
She notes that the products she carried are all priced to the Leighton market and aren’t overly expensive.
She plans on having events, like a trivia night and sip-and paint-parties to make the tasting room a fun place to hang out and enjoy a beverage. She also hopes to offer activities like.
But the draw of the tourist trade is not lost on her. Tourists going to events in Jim Thorpe will drive right by her building and she thinks that will make her business an ideal stop for those coming to or from events like the borough’s autumn festivals. She will likely expand her operation to meet any growing business she might get from the tourist trade.
One thing she thinks will help draw in visitors coming to the region for outdoor activity is that her tasting room is pet friendly. People can take their dog for a walk among the fall leaves and then come in and enjoy a drink.
Starting today, Lehigh Valley Health Network is temporarily closing its LVHN ExpressCARE–Lehighton at 363 N. 1st Street, Lehighton, so its staff can support LVHN COVID-19 Assess and Test locations.
Patients who would normally go to the location with common illnesses or minor injuries can visit their primary care provider or visit one of LVHN’s other ExpressCARE locations.
Other practices located in the same building will remain open, including LVPG Hematology Oncology and LVPG Family Medicine–Lehighton, it said in a release.
LVHN’s 20th ExpressCare location, is at 363 N. First St., Lehighton. (Submitted photo) –
Lehigh Valley Health Network’s newest ExpressCare location will open Sept. 3. The walk-in urgent care center, LVHN’s 20th ExpressCare location, is at 363 N. First St., Lehighton.
Open 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., seven days a week, ExpressCare at Lehighton will provide residents with treatment for minor injuries and illnesses without an appointment, including flu, ear infections, poison ivy, sprains, strains and lacerations.
LVHN plans to open another ExpressCARE in Carbon County in Palmerton at 528 Delaware Ave. later this year.
“ExpressCARE is a great service that allows for immediate access in a convenient location right in the community for every day injuries and occurrences that do not require an emergency room,” said Dr. Grant Greenberg of the Lehigh Valley Physician Group for Family Medicine.
To make room for ExpressCARE on North First Street, Lehigh Valley Physician Group re-located four specialty practices back in July.
LVPG Cardiology-Lehighton, LVPG Neurology-Lehighton, LVPG Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine-Lehighton and LVPG-Vascular Surgery-Lehigton were moved to 1001 Mahoning St., about a mile from the new ExpressCare at Lehighton.
Diagnostic breast imaging experts will be now be available at the St. Luke’s University Health Network’s Gnaden Huetten Campus on Fridays, according to a press release.
Women in the Lehighton area who need diagnostic breast imaging can schedule an appointment between 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the campus, located at 211 N. 12th St. in Lehighton.
Diagnostic breast imaging is appropriate for women who have had a screening mammogram and whose results indicate a need for a diagnosis via breast imaging.
“We are proud of our highly qualified breast imagers, three of whom are fellowship-trained,” said Dr. Joseph P. Russo, section chief of women’s imaging for St. Luke’s. “They will rotate and bring their wealth of imaging experience to the Gnaden Huetten campus each week.”
At the breast centers, breast health nurses guide patients through every step of the diagnostic process. In many cases, a same-day or next day biopsy can be performed so that women can get their results as fast as possible.
“St. Luke’s is committed to providing women with great access to the highest quality breast imaging and is focused on getting those results to patients as quickly as possible to reduce a women’s anxiety,” said Michele Giletto, Network Director of Women’s Imaging. “We are excited to be bringing this expertise directly to the Gnaden Huetten campus.”
Patients at Gnaden Huetten can also look forward to a new mammography suite opening in the fall, according to Giletto.
Express Employment Professionals has opened an office in the Grant Professional Plaza in Lehighton. (Photo submited) –
A Monroe County employment firm has opened a second office in Carbon County to meet a growing demand for its services there.
Express Employment Professionals, which has been operating in East Stroudsburg for 17 years, opened an office in Lehighton this week to help better recruit for companies in that region.
“We had many local businesses in Carbon County that were struggling to find staff,” said Terry Lukas, owner of the firm. “There are many industrial businesses and even small offices that were struggling to find the right administrative professionals.”
Lukas said with low unemployment, the recruiting industry is facing a “nationwide crunch” and employment professionals need to work extra hard to find the right staff for clients.
Part of that effort is being closer to where potential employees live.
“We were having a tough time getting people to come into the East Stroudsburg office, which is understandable. It’s a long drive,” Lukas said.
The new office, in the Grant Professional Plaza at 613 Blakeslee Blvd., Lehighton, is about a 10-minute drive for many of her clients, making it more convenient to potential employees.
The office will initially have a staff of three to recruit and conduct interviews with job seekers.
The office also plans to hold a grand opening on Aug. 15 to introduce itself to the local business community.
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St. Luke’s University Health Network will open its first walk-in mental health clinic in Lehighton Thursday.
