St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) and Geisinger are partnering to build a new acute care hospital in southern Schuylkill County, on Rt. 61 near Orwigsburg. The fully-licensed, 80-bed hospital will include an emergency department and a full range of specialties and services.
Groundbreaking will occur this spring and the hospital will open late next year.
“Geisinger’s commitment to caring means providing compassionate, comprehensive health care to our patients close to home,” said David T. Feinberg, MD, MBA, Geisinger President and CEO. “We know that many patients are leaving Schuylkill and Berks counties for hospital services. Our growing partnership with St. Luke’s will not only expand the range of health care services in that community, but perhaps, more importantly, will offer greater convenience so that patients, including many of our Geisinger Health Plan members, will receive the care they need right where they live.”
The three-story, 120,000-square-foot hospital will be located on Paramount Boulevard off Rt. 61 in West Brunswick Township near Orwigsburg.
An artist’s rendering of the hospital in Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County, that will be built and operated jointly by St. Luke’s University Health Network and Geisinger.
This is the first time in Pennsylvania that two health care systems have agreed to build and equally co-own a new hospital.
Under terms of the agreement, the new hospital will operate under SLUHN and Geisinger as a joint venture, with funding and governance shared equally between the two non-profit health systems. Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s will build and manage the hospital. SLUHN and Geisinger, headquartered in Danville, Pa., will both contribute physicians and specialty support staff and expertise.
“The new hospital in Orwigsburg will emphasize the strengths of St. Luke’s and Geisinger, extending the best value in health care–that is, the highest quality at the lowest cost–to more residents of Schuylkill County and surrounding areas,” St. Luke’s President and CEO Rick Anderson said.
The two systems enjoy a history of collaboration, including an insurance partnership. Also beginning July 1, Geisinger’s Life Flight service will provide emergency medical air transportation for the entire St. Luke’s system.
Additionally, both organizations have provided services to Schuylkill, Berks and Carbon county residents for years.
St. Luke’s currently (since 2000) has a hospital in Schuylkill County: St. Luke’s Miners Campus. St. Luke’s Miners Campus, to which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) recently awarded its highest five-star rating, is a 44-bed acute care hospital with a Level IV trauma center and 48-bed skilled nursing facility, located in Coaldale. In Hamburg, Berks County, which is south of Orwigsburg, a St. Luke’s Care Now walk-in center and a primary care office exist. St. Luke’s Gnaden Huetten and Palmerton campuses, which recently joined SLUHN, are located in nearby Carbon County.
Geisinger Orwigsburg’s outpatient clinic on Hollywood Boulevard offers comprehensive primary care for adults and children, including chronic disease management, laboratory, pharmacy and X-ray services. Geisinger offers primary care and specialty services, including outpatient surgery and radiation oncology in Pottsville, as well as primary care offices in Frackville and Mahanoy City.
Note: This story was contributed by St. Luke’s University Health Network. Its publication is part of a health news partnership between Saucon Source and SLUHN.