Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) and Universal Health Services plan to construct a new 144-bed behavioral health hospital along Macada Road, Hanover Township, Northampton County, across from the Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH) - Muhlenberg campus.

The new facility will be operated by the joint venture and is expected to create more than 300 full-time jobs including nurses, clinicians, therapists, technicians and administrative staff.

Groundbreaking for the new 97,000-square-foot facility is expected to held in spring 2024 with expected opening in fall 2025.

The partnership combines two leaders in health care: UHS, one of the United States’ leading providers of behavioral health care, and LVHN, long-respected for its behavioral health program in our region, to address the growing demand for high-quality behavioral health care services for seniors, adults and adolescents.

“The scarcity of mental health resources is a major national issue that is hitting us hard, right here in the Lehigh Valley,” said Brian A. Nester, DO, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer, LVHN.

“The need for a variety of behavioral health programs and services is far outpacing regional capacity, and those needs are only growing,” Nester said.

“As the region’s leading health-care provider, LVHN has for decades implemented initiatives and worked with others to address this ongoing need, which includes the largest inpatient behavioral health service in the region on the current LVH - Muhlenberg campus,” said Nester.

“This new facility across the street will nearly triple the number of inpatient beds available to the Lehigh Valley. With the announcement of this new partnership, LVHN is taking a positive step forward on our journey to expand access to care for those suffering with mental and behavioral health issues,” Nester said.

“Whole person health is incomplete without comprehensive mental health services, and it has never been more apparent that this is a service our community wants, needs and relies on,” said Edward Norris, MD, Chair, Department of Psychiatry, LVHN.

“Our annual Community Health Needs Assessments consistently reveal that access to leading-edge, convenient and compassionate behavioral health care is a top priority. This project addresses that long-standing need,” Norris said.

Nester said LVHN provides inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, including extensive tele-psychiatry programs. Demand for services has increased rapidly in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need for inpatient psychiatric capacity for all populations in the region.

UHS is one of the nation’s largest and most respected providers of health care in the U.S. with more than 300 facilities.

UHS behavioral health facilities located in Pennsylvania include Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital, Clarion Psychiatric Center, Fairmount Behavioral Health System, Foundations Behavioral Health, Friends Hospital, Horsham Clinic, KeyStone Center, Roxbury Treatment Center, The Meadows Psychiatric Center and Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, the latter a joint venture with Penn Medicine.