Lehigh Valley Health Network

New COVID vaccine clinic locations announced

LVHN will be transitioning the Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Cedar Crest and LVH–Muhlenberg clinics to two new, larger locations in the Lehigh Valley that will complement the network’s robust vaccination efforts throughout the region. In Lehigh County, LVHN is opening a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the former A.C. Moore store, 2633 MacArthur Blvd., Whitehall. Another vaccination clinic will be located in Northampton County at Northampton Crossings shopping center in the former Sears Appliance and Hardware store, 3768 Easton Nazareth Highway, Palmer Township. Both locations open April 12 and will provide COVID-19 vaccinations by appointment only.

Saturday, April 10, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., LVHN plans to vaccinate 4,000 people with their first dose of the Moderna vaccine at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown.

An appointment is required to receive the vaccine at all LVHN drive-through clinics and vaccination sites.

In addition to these locations, vaccine appointments continue to be available at LVH–Pocono, LVH–Hazleton and LVH–Schuylkill.

To schedule an appointment for any LVHN COVID-19 vaccination event, including drive-through clinics, people in Phase 1A can sign in to MyLVHN, the health network’s patient portal. You also can schedule an appointment by calling the COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at 833-584-6283 (833-LVHN-CVD). However, because of large demand and call volume, you may be on hold. MyLVHN will be the fastest and easiest way to schedule.

Dr. Jean named Neurosurgery Chief

Walter Jean, M.D., a board-certified neurosurgeon with expertise in complex intracranial surgery, has been named Chief of Neurosurgery. He is the only area physician to utilize virtual reality in neurosurgery. The use of patient headsets for those in need of complex brain surgery enables better visualization of the upcoming procedure medical terminology. The technology allows brain surgeons to create a surgery plan by simulating different scenarios to find the best approach.

He has nearly 20 years’ experience in both open and endoscopic skull base surgery, about which he wrote the “Skull Base Surgery: Strategies” surgical textbook. He has several clinical interests including acoustic neuromas, pituitary adenomas, skull base meningioma, intraventricular tumors, and trigeminal neuralgia.

The Hong Kong native and Princeton University summa cum laude graduate completed neurosurgical training at the University of Minnesota and a fellowship in Skull Base Surgery at the University of Cincinnati. He was a professor of neurological surgery at George Washington University Hospital. He was a program director at Georgetown University for seven years. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the North American Skull Base Society and serves frequently as faculty at their national meetings.

St. Luke’s Health Network

Newsweek Names St. Luke’s to List

St. Luke’s University Hospital has been named one of the 334 American “World’s Best” hospitals by Newsweek magazine for the third year in a row. Of the 15 are based in Pennsylvania, St. Luke’s University Hospital (Bethlehem and Allentown campuses) was ranked seventh overall in the state and is the only hospital from the Lehigh Valley on the list.

Newsweek and Statista Inc. global market research and consumer data company evaluated hospitals using hospital recommendations from peers; patient experience: surveys of patient satisfaction with hospitals; and medical KPIs (e.g. data on quality of treatment, hygiene measures) to evaluate the ranking.

St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus has been recognized for Best Hospitals for Infection Prevention, also.

New Vice President of Community Health

Rajika Reed, PhD., MPH, MEd, has been promoted to Vice President of Community Health at St. Luke’s University Health Network effective Feb. 21. She was since 2012 the Network Director of Epidemiology and was in 2018 promoted to Senior Director of Epidemiology and Strategy.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, master’s degrees in public health from the University of Pittsburgh and in Education from Lehigh University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Instructional Design from Lehigh University.

Originally from Sri Lanka, she was prior to joining St. Luke’s in research, data evaluation and in local community health programs. She will build upon the work of St. Luke’s Community Health Department, to achieve health equity by reducing health disparities in the communities that the network serves.

ActivArmor casts introduced

The use of 3D-printed, durable plastic casts by ActivArmor of Colorado will be debuted by St. Luke’s University Health Network’s Kristofer Matullo, M.D., in early March in the region. ActivArmor is a custom-made device that form-fits the anatomy: hands, wrists, arms and lower limbs. The plastic used is recyclable and 100 percent biocompatible. SLUHN is the first healthcare organization in Pennsylvania to offer this casting.

A 3D scan of the affected area is taken. A printer creates two halves of the cast which are then fitted onto the body part. The 3D cast, which can get wet, may locked on like a cast or removed like a splint to allow swelling of an injured area to subside. The lattice-like spaces allow for wound care, treatment with advanced healing technologies and cleaning of the skin or sanitizing the device to remove pathogens like the coronavirus while the cast is being worn. It will be available to orthopedic patients throughout the St. Luke’s network.