Signed Steel Beam Lifted into Place at Hospital Building Site Ceremony

A three-story neighborhood hospital and medical office building taking shape on Main Street in Hellertown received a symbolic touch Monday, when a signed steel beam was ceremonially lifted into place atop the structure’s frame.

Officials from Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, were joined by Hellertown Mayor David Heintzelman, Hellertown Borough Council members and State Rep. Bob Freeman (D-136) at the ceremony held at the building site.

Local leaders said the investment by LVHN is significant for the Hellertown community because it will improve access to health care.

“What’s happening now is growth,” said Heintzelman, who predicted that the opening of the new facility in mid-2026 will increase nearby property values.

Freeman said he could remember campaigning for office in the early 1980s outside the former Champion Spark Plug factory, which until recently stood on the site of the future neighborhood hospital. He added that he was happy to be able to help secure a RACP (Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program) grant from the state budget office to benefit the project.

The new building will feature hospital services on its first floor and medical offices–including those for a sleep center, cardiac rehabilitation and family medicine–on the two upper floors. The hospital area will include a full-service emergency room with 11 ER beds and 10 inpatient beds for individuals requiring overnight stays or additional monitoring. Anyone in need of a higher level of care will be stabilized and taken to a nearby larger LVHN hospital, which LVHN Neighborhood Hospitals Chief Operating Officer Holly Badali said would likely be either LVHN-Muhlenberg in Bethlehem or LVHN-Cedar Crest in Allentown.

“Raising this beam today brings us closer to opening our doors and providing leading edge care to the Hellertown community,” Badali said at Monday’s ceremony.

Badali said that in addition to the convenience it will provide by being open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the new neighborhood hospital will help reduce pressure on larger hospital ERs.

LVHN already operates neighborhood hospitals in Macungie and Gilbertsville, and expects to open a third such facility in Tannersville, Monroe County, by the end of the year.

“As someone with family in this area, I’m thrilled for this community to have a neighborhood hospital in Hellertown to provide quick, accessible health care,” said Eric Bean, DO, LVHN, at the ceremony. “You shouldn’t have to go far to get caring, compassionate care and great expertise; we’re bringing that close to home for this community.”