St. Luke’s Nurse Honored at White House Ceremony

A St. Luke’s University Health Network nurse was recently called to the nation’s capital on National Nurses Day to receive an honor that few have attained.

Allen Zelno of the Parish Nursing program at St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Campus in Allentown participated Wednesday in the Nurses Day ceremony at the White House.

Zelno, who was nominated for the recognition by the Catholic Medical Association, was one of eight nurses selected to attend the ceremony led by President Donald Trump.

“I am overwhelmed with this show of support for healthcare workers on the frontline, and I’m humbled to find that nurses especially are being thanked with such generosity,” Zelno said Thursday. “Yesterday was surreal, and it’s an experience I will remember forever.”

The Parish Nursing program blends faith ministry with nursing, and through his role in it, Zelno primarily serves homeless and poor individuals in the urban core of Allentown.

“I’m thankful to my fellow nurses for their teamwork, without which I cannot serve the patients in need,” he said. “I was proud to represent St. Luke’s at a national level.”

Note: This health news is brought to you in partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, nonprofit network of more than 15,000 employees providing health care and related services at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual net revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 34 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 263 residents and fellows.