Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network announced plans Thursday to build a state-of-the-art rehabilitation hospital on land across from the Promenade Shops in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County. This artist’s rendering provided by Good Shepherd shows what the completed facility on Center Valley Parkway will look like.
Allentown-based Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network (GSRN) has big plans for Center Valley. The network announced Thursday that it plans to build a state-of-the-art rehabilitation hospital on land along Center Valley Parkway in Upper Saucon Township.
The 75-bed, inpatient rehabilitation hospital will be housed in a three-story building constructed on 12 acres of GSRN-owned land across from The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, a news release said. Much of that land was formerly a golf course.
The 123,000-square-foot facility will feature all private rooms and offer physical rehabilitation to patients recovering from conditions such as stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple traumatic injuries, amputation and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Good Shepherd’s Center Valley campus will serve as a destination for recovery for patients–from our region and across the globe–who turn to Good Shepherd for our unique brand of hope, compassion, comfort and healing,” said GSRN Board of Trustees Chairman Gary Schmidt said in the news release.
“The project is closely tied to our mission, vision and a key component in achieving our Strategic Plan,” he added. “The Board of Trustees was extremely deliberate and thoughtful in taking this historic step.”
The new hospital will provide acute inpatient rehabilitation for adults, including physiatry services, nursing, occupational, physical, recreational and speech therapies, imaging, pharmacy and clinical psychology. The building will house dedicated units for specific conditions such as brain injury as well as a multi-level specialized therapy gym.
“This leading-edge facility will allow us to continue offering world-class physical rehabilitation–and to do so in a modern, comfortable space that maximizes patient recovery,” said GSRN Executive Director Frank Hyland, MS, PT. “We also are excited to provide Good Shepherd associates with an energizing, innovative environment that will help them grow as professionals, while they work to advance our industry.”
When it opens, the Center Valley rehabilitation hospital will replace GSRN’s 37-year-old South Allentown facility, Good Shepherd indicated. The news release noted that a feasibility study to analyze potential reuse options for the current hospital building at 850 S. Fifth St., Allentown, is being conducted.
“While our current rehabilitation hospital operations and staff will eventually shift to Center Valley, we fully intend to maintain a strong presence in South Allentown,” Schmidt said, adding that GSRN’s administrative offices and support services will remain in South Allentown, as will a number of other patient and resident services, including long-term care, outpatient rehabilitation and physician services.
Good Shepherd did not specify a timeline for the start of construction but said it’s expected to take two years. A project construction firm is pending an open bid process.
The news release also noted that the cost of the new hospital has not yet been finalized.
“The new Rehabilitation Hospital will be built on a 45-acre parcel of land that GSRN acquired in 2016,” the release said. “GSRN is in the process of evaluating future uses for the remaining acreage that will benefit Good Shepherd’s patients and families as well as the surrounding Upper Saucon Township community.”
