Lehigh Valley Phantoms owners Jim and Rob Brooks are offering the PPL Center in center city Allentown for use by Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) as a possible surge facility to care for patients, if necessary, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Brooks said the arena is available because events are not being held there following the order in March from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf that nonessential businesses must close and that individuals should observe social distancing and stay at home because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The American Hockey League, as with most professional sports leagues, suspended play in March and remains idle for safety reasons. PPL Center is home arena for the Phantoms hockey team, the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers.

Brian Nester, DO, MBA, FACOEP, LVHN President and Chief Executive Officer, praised the Brooks brothers for their offer and indicated he’s hopeful LVHN and the community do not face a situation where the contingency plan is activated.

“We are grateful the Brooks family came to us with their generous offer. People have asked if there is a plan to surge capacity and there is. This gives us a great asset to include in our plans in the very unlikely event it is needed,” said Nester.

“At this point, I want to assure our community that we believe we have the hospital space, equipment and staff to handle their needs during the COVID crisis,” Nester said.

Nester said it is good to know the PPL Center option exists if such a move became necessary. He said while that is highly unlikely, it’s prudent to plan ahead as the health network has done for weeks. He said LVHN planners have looked at the arena as part of that planning and only in a worst-case scenario would consider caring for low-level acuity, non-COVID patients there.

“While we are far from moving beyond the devastating impact of COVID-19, I believe as of today with the pre-planning we did at LVHN and the round-the-clock hard work and incredible care that continues to go on at all of our hospital campuses, we will be able to weather this storm without taking the dramatic step of turning the arena into a hospital,” said Nester.

“We have been extremely impressed with the leadership at LVHN and how they have quickly prepared and acted in this time of need,” Rob Brooks said. “We are also enormously grateful to all of the employees at LVHN, first-responders and all the front-line heroes who have put our community first. They truly inspire us with their courage.”

“This incredible gesture by Jim and Rob Brooks is just another example of the amazing support the community has demonstrated for LVHN and our physicians, nurses and staff during this difficult time period,” Nester said. “It shows how our community comes together in times of need.

“At LVHN we have a world-class infectious diseases team that with the support of our other caregivers has steered our community through other threats like SARS, Ebola and even seasonal influenza, for which we operate one of the most highly-organized and successful drive-through vaccination campaigns you’ll find anywhere,” said Nester.