St. Luke’s Celebrates its Monroe Campus, 7^th in the Network

Bartonsville, PA (10/13/2016) – A celebratory ribbon cutting at the new St. Luke’s Monroe Campus was held Thursday, Oct. 13, commemorating the official opening of Better Health Care in the community. The Stroudsburg High School Marching Band opened the ceremony with the National Anthem, playing to several hundred guests in attendance. The celebratory ribbon cutting followed the hospital’s soft opening Oct. 3, when St. Luke’s Monroe Campus accepted its first Emergency Department patients and hospital admissions.

St. Luke’s Monroe Campus, the first new acute-care, non-replacement hospital Monroe County has seen in 100 years, comprises four stories and 180,000 square feet. The $100-million hospital building opens with 72 of 108 private patient rooms, including 12 beds for critical care patients.  All are spacious and beautifully decorated to promote healing. The hospital also features state-of-the-art operating and procedure rooms, a helipad and the most modern medical technologies from GE Healthcare. Close to major roadways, the emergency department features 33 exam and treatment rooms and is equipped to handle 60,000 patient visits each year.

Dr. Charles Saunders, Chairman of the St. Luke’s Board of Trustees and Richard A. Anderson, the Network’s President and CEO, presided over the ceremonies.

Anderson acknowledged the people who built the hospital from a dream to a reality. Saunders explained a bit of the reasoning behind the Network’s decision to build in Monroe County.

For decades, St. Luke’s has had a presence in Monroe County through a growing network of respected health care providers. The Emergency Department has opened with a familiar face, Dr. Peter Favini, Medical Director of Emergency Medicine and President of the Medical Staff for St. Luke’s Monroe Campus.  He is also the Vice Chairman of Emergency Medicine for St. Luke’s University Health Network.

“For me, it’s a thrill to be back, to serve this community again and to bring amazing ER care back to Monroe County,” Dr. Favini said.

State Senator Mario Scavello, also present, thanked St. Luke’s for making a real difference in the Monroe County community saying St. Luke’s Monroe Campus is already having a significant impact. “Since the groundbreaking a year ago, the construction of this hospital alone has contributed to the local economy in Monroe County, with hundreds of local workers in the building trades and related industries gainfully employed as a result. That benefit continues as St. Luke’s created well over 400 well-paying jobs for those now working at this campus. Visitors to the campus also will contribute to the vibrancy of the local economy.”

St. Luke’s Monroe Campus President Don Seiple addressed the crowd. “Many of you watched the construction of this new hospital each time you drove along Route 611,” he said. “I promise you that better health care is not just our message; it’s our word.”

A new Medical Office Building, currently under construction on the Monroe Campus grounds, is expected to open in the summer of 2017.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a non-profit, regional, fully integrated and nationally recognized network providing services at soon-to-be seven, hospitals and more than 270 outpatient sites. The network’s service area includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, and Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and in Warren County in New Jersey.  Dedicated to advancing health education, St. Luke’s operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing and 22 graduate medical educational programs and is considered a major teaching hospital, the only one in the region. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first Medical School. Repeatedly, including 2016, St. Luke’s has earned Truven’s Top 100 Major Teaching Hospital designation as well as Top 50 Cardiovascular program in addition to other honors for clinical excellence.  St. Luke’s is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of St. Luke’s information technology applications such as electronic medical records, telehealth, online scheduling and pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers in comparison to major teaching hospitals and other health systems.

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Media Contact:

Mariella B. Miller
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
St. Luke's University Health Network
484-526-4134
Mariella.Miller@sluhn.org

For more information about St. Luke’s services or to find a physician, call St. Luke’s InfoLink toll-free at
1-866-STLUKES (785-8537) Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm or email us anytime at  Info.Link@sluhn.org.