News

Bethlehem, PA (April 7, 2017)—The St. Luke's Epilepsy Center has received a high-level accreditation designation for the next two years from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC).

The NAEC recently notified the St. Luke's Epilepsy Center that it has been accredited as a Level 3 Epilepsy Center for 2017 and 2018.

According to the NAEC, Level 3 Epilepsy Centers “have the professional expertise and facilities to provide the highest level medical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.”

“The NAEC is the premier body of epileptologists in the country who, over the last 20 years, have organized what is the best practice of epilepsy treatment,” explains, Jonathan Hosey, MD, St. Luke’s University Health Network’s Chief of Neurology and Chairman of the Department of Neuroscience.

“Through that process, it has set requirements and evidence-based performance that must be attained to gain accreditation. Our NAEC accreditation demonstrates both within the profession and to our patients and community that the St. Luke's Epilepsy Center is committed to providing the highest level of care that has been established for the medical treatment of epilepsy.”

During the accreditation process, the NAEC Board reviews information about a hospital or network’s technology, safety policies and procedures, the expertise of its epilepsy team, sample reports from its physicians and more. Based on its review of the center’s capabilities, the NAEC Board grants it an appropriate level of accreditation.

Dr. Hosey notes that among the strengths of the St. Luke’s Epilepsy Center is that it has four full-time epileptologists—most in the region—and an accomplished staff that features a dedicated neuropsychologist.

“Having this accreditation is important for patients. It shows there is comprehensive epilepsy care right here in the Lehigh Valley that they may otherwise need to drive one or two hours to a major city to receive,” says Scott Kohler, MD, one of the St. Luke’s Epilepsy Center’s epileptologists.

St. Luke’s epilepsy team includes epileptologists Lizbeth dePadua, MD, Medical Director of St. Luke’s Epilepsy Center, Kuei-Cheng Lim, MD, PhD, Scott Kohler, MD, and Chad Saunders, MD; functional neurosurgeon Steven Falowski, MD; and neuropsychologist Anthony DeMarco, PsyD.

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 seven hospitals and more than 270 outpatient sites. The network’s service area includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and 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 2017, St. Luke’s has earned Truven’s 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation as well as 50 Top 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.