News
After 17 years away, Lehigh Valley native Dr. Stephen Olex has returned to the area to take care of patients’ comprehensive heart-health needs at St. Luke’s University Health Network.
Dr. Olex is following in his family’s medical tradition. Now retired, his father, Stephen Olex was a highly regarded cardiologist in the Allentown area for nearly 40 years.
“Dealing with chronic problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, requires an integrated, multifaceted and comprehensive approach to a patient’s health,” says Dr. Olex. “It’s very important to address diet, exercise, stress, and mental health, as these can have a great impact on our cardiovascular and overall health. Throughout it all, I believe that the patient should feel he or she is being heard and really cared for.”
Dr. Olex believes in evaluating many treatment options. “Certainly, there are times when prescription medicines are effective for a chronic issue,” he explains. “But there can be other cardiovascular symptoms that, for example, are stress-related. They may not be serious, but they do cause very real anxiety. In many cases, the patient could benefit from gentle yoga, meditation, and exercise to relieve stress. It’s all part of treating and helping the total person.”
Dr. Olex is certified by the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine as well as being board certified in cardiology. He received his undergraduate education from Franklin And Marshall College and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College, now the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Olex completed his residency training at Temple University Hospital and fellowships at Thomas Jefferson University and Albert Einstein Medical Center. Before joining St. Luke’s University Health Network, he was affiliated with the Brind-Marcus Institute of Integrative Medicine at Jefferson.
He is seeing patients at St. Luke’s Cardiology Associates at 1648 West Hamilton Street in Allentown. To schedule an appointment, call 610-435-5919.
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Media Contact:
Sam Kennedy, Corporate Communications Director, 484-526-4134, samuel.kennedy@sluhn.org
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of 14,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and over 300 outpatient sites. With annual net revenue of $1.9 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first and only regional medical school campus. It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows. St. Luke’s is the only health care system in central-eastern Pennsylvania to earn Medicare’s five-star rating (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. St. Luke’s has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) repeatedly – six times total and four years in a row including 2018. It has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program. Utilizing the EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.
