Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) is to open a new hospital in Lower Macungie Township at the border with Macungie Borough to help meet increasing demand for accessible, convenient ER and inpatient care.

Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH) - Macungie is expected to open by the end of 2023.

The new hospital is at a new healthcare campus at the former Weis Market site, 3369 Route 100. A medical office building, the Health Center at Macungie, is part of the project.

The new hospital is a type of facility known in healthcare industry as a neighborhood hospital, with a full-service ER and a limited number of inpatient beds. At about 20,000- square-feet, it will be smaller than other LVHN hospitals in the region such as LVH - Cedar Crest, LVH - Muhlenberg and LVH - Hecktown Oaks.

The hospital will be a licensed and accredited acute care hospital, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Patients requiring surgery or higher levels of care will be stabilized and transferred to other, larger LVHN hospitals.

Other in-house hospital services will include lab, imaging and pharmacy.

Imaging services, including X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan and MRI will be offered on an outpatient basis.

The Health Center at Macungie, at about 30,000-square- feet, will house medical services, including HNL Lab Medicine, Lehigh Valley Physician Group (LVPG) family medicine, orthopedics, cardiology and pediatrics practices.

The health center will offer outpatient adult rehabilitation and cardiac and vascular diagnostic testing.

“As the region’s leading healthcare partner, we’re committed to making exceptional healthcare, including emergency care, more convenient and accessible across-the-board,” said Brian A. Nester, DO, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer, LVHN, at the Dec. 5 groundbreaking.

“This hospital will provide closer access to emergency and inpatient care for residents where they live and work, when and where they need it. It strengthens the entire health network for the benefit of our communities and their residents,” Nester said.

David Burmeister, DO, Chair, Department of Emergency and Hospital Medicine, LVHN, said the neighborhood hospital model will deliver shorter ER wait times and favorable door-to-discharge times.

“Patients will receive the same high-quality, compassionate care and exceptional patient experience that have made LVHN the gold standard in the region,” Burmeister said.

“LVH - Macungie fills a need by creating a health care option not currently available in this region,” said John Pierro, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, LVHN.

“This facility offers more capability than an ExpressCARE, with experience and expertise to treat the same cases that would traditionally be treated and released at a larger hospital, such as Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest,” Pierro said.

LVHN is planning several other similar hospitals in the region.

Announcements about groundbreaking for those facilities will occur over the coming months as necessary approvals are secured.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) includes 13 hospital campuses, four in Allentown, two in Bethlehem, one in Easton, one in East Stroudsburg, one in Hazleton, two in Pottsville, one in Dickson City, and one in Lehighton; 28 health centers; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices; 20 ExpressCARE locations, including the area’s only Children’s ExpressCARE; pharmacy, imaging, home health, rehabilitation and lab services, and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred.

Specialty care includes: trauma care for adults and children, burn care at the Regional Burn Center; kidney and pancreas transplants; perinatal-neonatal, cardiac, cancer, orthopedics, neurology, complex neurosurgery capabilities including national certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, and robotic surgery in 10 specialties.

Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence, Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute and Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute physicians provide the most advanced treatments.

Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute is a member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer (MSK) Alliance, an initiative that helps community providers improve the quality of cancer care and offers access to MSK clinical trials.

Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, the third largest children’s hospital in Pennsylvania, provides care in more than 30 specialties and general pediatrics.

Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest is ranked as the region’s No. 1 hospital for nine straight years and has been recognized among Pennsylvania’s top 10 hospitals for nine consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report.

Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH) - Cedar Crest, LVH - 17th Street and LVH - Muhlenberg are the region’s only Magnet hospitals for nursing excellence.