St. Luke’s University Health Network has announced the opening of St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital based at the Network’s Bethlehem Campus in Fountain Hill.

“St. Luke’s is the first established hospital in the Lehigh Valley and has been caring for children for the 150 years since its founding in 1872,” St. Luke’s President & CEO Richard A. Anderson said.

“This new children’s hospital designation recognizes the incredible depth of pediatric expertise developed across our Network over its long and storied history, including an array of specialty services added in recent years,” said Anderson.

The announcement was made at a press conference, 1 p.m. June 20, under a tent set up across from School of Nursing at the corner of Ostrum and Bishopthorpe streets, Fountain Hill.

It’s the culmination of a coordinated effort to reorganize pediatric care under the concept of a children’s hospital, according to a press release from the Network.

St. Luke’s became a member of the Children’s Hospital Association in 2022. In May 2022, St. Luke’s Pediatric Specialty Center, the region’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to children, opened, allowing families to coordinate multiple specialty appointments in the same day at one convenient location.

Shortly thereafter, St. Luke’s 17-bed pediatric inpatient unit was renovated and relocated to include 24/7 hospitalist coverage, support from pediatric trained respiratory therapists and specialty trained pediatric nurses, pharmacists and pediatric surgeons.

In 2020, St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus added a $5-million, eight-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), which provides advanced care to critically-ill children.

In 2017, St. Luke’s had opened the Baby & Me Support Center, the region’s only comprehensive service offering prenatal education, lactation support, post-partum depression counseling and support groups in one location.

St. Luke’s robust pediatric services complement the Network’s award-winning obstetrics group, which are named “Best Place to Have a Baby,” and state-of-the-art birth centers. More Lehigh Valley babies have been born at St. Luke’s than at any other health network in the region.

“St. Luke’s is committed to ensuring that parents enjoy access to St. Luke’s personalized and high-quality care, from pregnancy through all stages of their children’s development,” said Jennifer Janco, MD, Chair of Pediatrics.

“Whether for planned routine check-ups or unexpected illnesses and injuries, St. Luke’s is prepared to deliver on the promise to care for your family,” Dr Janco said.

Dr. Janco noted that St. Luke’s continues to invest in its pediatric programs through the addition of experienced, compassionate providers.

The team of 35-plus pediatric specialists includes the region’s only pediatric nephrologist and only developmental pediatricians, as well as the largest team of fellowship-trained pediatric orthopedic surgeons in the area.

The most recent additions to the specialty team include a Network Medical Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and a Child Life Specialist.

St. Luke’s also offers the region’s only pediatric dialysis center and the first and only pediatric specialty labs, designed to make children more comfortable and parents less stressed.

“The establishment of St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital represents a decade of intensive planning and investment in pediatrics,” said Jessika Haynos, Service Line Administrator, St. Luke’s Pediatrics.

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 18,000 employees providing services at 14 campuses and 300-plus outpatient sites.

With annual net revenue of $3.2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.

St. Luke’s hospitals operate the biggest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania.

Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school campus.

It also operates the nation’s longest continuously-operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 45 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 400 residents and fellows.

In 2022, St. Luke’s, a member of the Children’s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to children.

SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to receive Medicare’s five-star ratings, the highest, for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.

It is a “Leapfrog Group,” “Healthgrades Top Hospital” and “Newsweek World’s Best Hospital.”

The Network’s flagship University Hospital has received the “100 Top Major Teaching Hospital” designation from Fortune-Merative 10 times total and eight years in a row, including in 2022 when it was identified as “The No. 2 Teaching Hospital in the Country.”

In 2021, St. Luke’s was identified as one of the “15 Top Health Systems” nationally. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the “Most Wired” award, recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.

The Network is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest-cost providers.