News

July not only marks the third anniversary of St. Luke’s University Health Network’s (SLUHN’s) acquisition of Easton Hospital, but it also serves as a marker to underscore the hospital’s dramatic transformation.

The purchase – which was completed in July 2020, early in the Covid pandemic – breathed new life into the struggling 125-year-old hospital just in time to provide life-saving care to the Easton area during an historic global health crisis. From the start, SLUHN was determined to provide state-of-the-art facilities and the highest quality of treatment.

“St. Luke’s has since stabilized and grown the hospital’s finances and focused on adding new services. We underwent a period of rebuilding and expansion, and brought vitality back into this hospital to, once again, make it a centerpiece of this amazing community. There is a sense of enthusiasm here now and you can feel the pride that emanates from St. Luke’s Easton Campus,” says Linda Grass, St. Luke’s Easton Campus President.

Key to the transformation was a $25 million commitment by SLUHN to improve, update and expand Easton Hospital’s programs, facilities, equipment and technology.

By February 2021, the Easton Campus posted its first positive operating margin in years. Now, after three years since SLUHN acquired Easton Hospital, the impact of the Network’s direction is eye-opening:

• Revenue is up 98%;
• Operating income has jumped 163%;
• Emergency department volume has increased 31%;
• Outpatient volume has climbed by 80%;
• The average daily census is up 42%; and
• Surgeries and GI procedures have grown by 1,000%.

Among the numerous impact projects that have been completed are an expansion of the medical/surgical beds to 35; the creation of an orthopedic suite, a non-invasive cardiovascular testing suite and a nuclear medicine suite; implementation of a surgical robot; expansion and relocation of pulmonary function testing and replacement of MRI equipment to a state-of-the-art unit.

Last December, the vacant and damaged Meuser Hall was demolished. In a nod to its significance to the campus, the materials from this historic 100-year-old building will have new life: Its bricks and stone are being repurposed to create a hardscape patio at the campus’s new garden that features a pillar bearing a plaque from the Meuser family. 

There is much more in the works. This year, St. Luke’s Easton Campus is developing a pain management procedure room, CT suite, ultrasound suite, women’s health center and an additional operation room. In addition, it is renovating a radiology suite and a medical/surgical area. 

Meanwhile, future projects include renovations to the emergency department and inpatient rooms, improvements to the surgical waiting room and development of a six-bed intensive-care unit and a secure holding in the emergency department.

The strong commitments SLUHN made – both financial and in terms of leadership and expertise – have yielded an ascending hospital bolstered by the strength of a nationally recognized health network that understands and is well-equipped to meet the evolving needs of its community.

For example, during the pandemic, St. Luke’s Easton Campus met the critical need of the community by opening a monoclonal antibody clinic to treat COVID-19 patients and a molecular laboratory that provided rapid COVID-19 test results in as little as 24 hours.

More recently, SLUHN launched its new Adolescent Behavioral Health Unit at Easton Campus. This unit provides safe, expert and compassionate care to children and adolescents experiencing serious mental, emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to the surge in need for these services.

The upward trends have people taking notice. St. Luke’s Easton Campus has been named to the Top Hospital list by Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit hospital safety watchdog. Having a C grade from Leapfrog prior to SLUHN’s acquisition, Easton Campus has most recently earned an A. Furthermore, Grass says, a recent Glint survey of employee satisfaction places St. Luke’s Easton Campus in the top decile.

The three years since SLUHN acquired Easton Hospital can be characterized as a time of great vision, commitment, action and energy, descriptions that might not have seemed possible to apply to Easton Hospital just three years ago.

“People are proud of St. Luke’s Easton Campus. The community is once again excited to have it serving them and our staff are proud to work here. There is so much momentum here and so much more to come,” Grass says.