St. Luke’s Hospital-Bethlehem campus is part of St. Luke’s University Health Network. (FILE PHOTO)
To help its employees be as responsive to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as possible, St. Luke’s University Health Network has created a donation program that will also help keep workers safe, even if widespread shortages of supplies occur in the future.
The four-pronged donation program includes a response fund, a blood drive, a personal protective equipment (PPE) drive and a meal initiative called Feeding the Frontlines.
The health network’s COVID-19 Response Fund will provide critical support to St. Lukeʼs during the pandemic. Donations will be used to expand diagnostic testing capacity, supply special equipment and other supplies, support the extended time and benefits needed for health care providers working directly on the crisis, provide emergency assistance for vulnerable patients and SLUHN employees, and help offset the cost of caring for uninsured or underinsured patients who require COVID-19 care.
Donations may be made online or by check. If making a donation by check, please make it payable to St. Lukeʼs University Health Network and mail it to: St. Lukeʼs Development Office, 801 Ostrum St., Bethlehem, PA 18015. Please enclose a memo with the check to have it designated to COVID-19 relief.
If you don’t have money to donate, but still want to help and are healthy, perhaps you will want to consider making a donation on a more personal level.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic blood supplies throughout the region have been decreasing, which is why SLUHN is asking anyone who is able to consider donating.
To schedule a donation with Miller-Keystone Blood Center, click here or call 1-800-B-A-DONOR (1-800-223-6667).
Another way to help SLUHN is by donating personal protective equipment (PPE).
St. Luke’s University Health Network is currently accepting donations of various types of PPE (personal protective equipment) to help prevent future shortages during the coronavirus pandemic.
The types of PPE and supplies that are currently needed (critically needed if in bold) are:
- Homemade Masks (for suggested tips on making masks, view this PDF)
- Vinyl Gloves
- Hospital Gowns
- Hand Sanitizer
- Lysol/Clorox Cleaner and Wipes
- Hospital-Grade Cleaning Supplies and Disinfectant
- Goggles
- Paper Hoods
- Surgical/Procedure Masks
- Stethoscopes
- Show Covers
- Caps
*Note that N95 masks, face shields and nasal swabs are not currently needed.
To donate PPE, fill out a contact form on the St. Luke’s website and someone will be in touch with you within two business days. A form that can be downloaded, printed and attached to a donation left at a PPE dropoff location (see below for a list of locations) is also available, along with a separate form and instructions for bulk shipments.
St. Lukeʼs has set up donation drop-off centers at some of its urgent care locations and at its Geisinger St. Lukeʼs Campus, where they are being accepted during business hours:
- Allentown: 501 Cetronia Road, Allentown, PA 18104
- Whitehall: 2402 MacArthur Road, Whitehall, PA 18052
- Quakertown: 157 West End Blvd., Quakertown, PA 18951
- Hamburg: 9 Dave’s Way, Hamburg, PA 19526
- Lehighton: 575 S. 9th St., Lehighton, PA 18235, Suite 7
- Bethlehem: 153 Brodhead Road, Bethlehem, PA 18017
- Wind Gap: 487 E. Moorestown Road, Wind Gap, PA 18091
- Brodheadsville: 111 Rt. 715, Brodheadsville, PA 18322
- Phillipsburg: 200 Stryker’s Road, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
- Orwigsburg/Geisinger St. Lukeʼs Campus (Front Reception): 100 Paramount Blvd., Orwigsburg, PA 17961
For more information about donating PPE, please call 484-207-1859 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or email
pp*@sl***.org
.
Note: Lehigh Valley Health Network is also in need of and accepting donations of PPE. To view a list of their needs, to donate and for more information, please click here.
If nourishment is your preferred way to help, then the health network’s Feeding the Frontlines initiative may be of interest to you.
Feeding the Frontlines is a special initiative developed to help show support for healthcare providers, while also helping local restaurants. Donations to it will be used to purchase gift cards for frontline hospital staff caring for COVID-19 patients.
“Our hope is to make their life a little easier at the end of a long shift, so they can grab a pre-cooked meal for their family,” the hospital’s website states, while also noting that St. Lukeʼs employees are well-fed with free cafeteria meals during their hospital shifts.
Monetary donations are preferred to help streamline the purchase and distribution process, but gift cards can also be purchased directly from restaurants and mailed in (click here for more information). Unfortunately, St. Lukeʼs cannot accept gifts of homemade food, and it should be noted that SLUHN officials discourage restaurant food deliveries to hospitals during the pandemic for safety reasons.
Click here to donate to Feeding the Frontlines online.
St. Lukeʼs University Health Network is a 501c3 charitable institution, so gifts are tax-deductible to the extent the law allows. Donations of supplies and equipment are eligible for a tax receipt.
For additional questions, contact
De***************@sl***.org
or call 484-526-3067.