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Business & Tech

Nation's Newest Hospital Opens in Township

St. Luke's opens doors on state-of-the-art Anderson Campus off Route 33 in Bethlehem Township.

The nation's newest hospital, St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network -  Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township, held it's official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Veteran's Day.

“There is no better way to open this campus than to proudly raise our flag and hear our nation's anthem, especially on a day set aside to honor our veterans,” Chairman of the St. Luke's Board of Trustees, David Lobach told the crowd of about 500 who braved the cold and wind to attend the opening celebration.

The new facility, which opened its doors to patients on Monday, includes a 108-bed hospital with a full-service emergency department, state-of-the-art operating rooms, an intensive care unit, along with an outpatient cancer center, and a medical office building located on 500 acres at Route 33 and Freemansburg Avenue in Bethlehem Township.

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Currently, there are eight or nine patients receiving care at the hospital, employees said.

“What you see here today started with a vision,” said Kenneth Smith, former chairman of the St. Luke's board of trustees. “Nine years ago, the board of trustees requested management find 25-acre site in the Route 33 corridor for future development. Their vision manifested itself in this 500-acre site.”

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The fifth hospital in the St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, the Anderson Campus is ultimately planned to be among the largest health care sites in Pennsylvania. It is also the first new non-profit hospital built in Pennsylvania in the last 40 years that is not a replacement facility.

Designed to the latest standards in care, features include private rooms with private bathrooms, fold-out beds for family, along with in-room flat screen televisions and Wi-Fi access.

Additionally, the hospital's imaging and diagnostic equipment is among the most advanced available, including two of the first 70 portable digital X-ray units in the world and specialized CT scanning units that will allow physicians to complete complicated tests with increased accuracy in a fraction of the time of less sophisticated units, according to hospital press releases.

The combined facility are staffed by 300 new employees, with about 100 positions still left to be filled, St. Luke's officials said, adding that they expect to see the need for expansion in the next three to four years.

“I have always believed that at St. Luke's if we can dream it, we can do it,” Rick Anderson, president and CEO of the health network and namesake of the new campus. “It is here, through hard work, creativity, collaboration, insight and an unwavering commitment to the mission of St. Luke's that we will invent the future of health care in this region.”

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