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Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) is expanding upon its new hospital, LVH–Hecktown Oaks in Lower Nazareth Township, Northampton County, before it even opens. The hospital, which is slated to open summer 2021, is undergoing a second phase of construction that will add an additional 95,000 square feet and open by fall 2021.
The second phase of construction will include a four-story bed tower, with 30 additional patient beds as well as a helipad, which will connect to the hospital to the north of current construction. The helipad will be for transferring patients with more emergent needs. An LVHN MedEvac helicopter will not be based at the site. Three of the floors within the tower will be available for future growth.
According to Bob Begliomini, President, LVH–Muhlenberg and LVH–Hecktown Oaks, there were several reasons an expansion of LVH–Hecktown Oaks made sense. “Initiating a second phase of construction while we already have crews at the site provides significant savings and is overall more efficient. Having the additional hospital space also provides capacity to meet health care needs of Northampton County residents,” he says.
This expansion of LVH–Hecktown Oaks also provides access to area residents so that they have a greater choice on where they can receive care within their community. In fiscal year 2019 alone, more than 1,700 LVHN patients would have been able to receive care closer to home at LVH–Hecktown Oaks compared to other LVHN hospital campuses.
The overall campus at LVH–Hecktown Oaks is being built with state-of-the-art infection control and patient safety protocols in response to COVID-19. Some of the safety measures include HEPA filters and UV lights within the rooftop HVAC system to control and eliminate bacteria, bacteria–resistant flooring, hand–sanitizing stations and Plexiglas dividers at the registration area. “We’re taking extraordinary care at LVH–Hecktown Oaks to install the most advanced infection control technology as a commitment to patient safety,” says Begliomini.
The campus in Lower Nazareth Township on Hecktown Road just off Route 33 with the expansion will include a 201,000-square-foot hospital, 35,000-square-foot Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, 61,000-square-foot medical office building and an emergency room caring for adults and children, including an area dedicated just for children.
LVHN has had a number of physicians express interest in providing care at LVH–Hecktown Oaks, and the expansion will allow them more opportunity to do so. “Our physicians want the best for their patients and that means providing them with convenient and accessible care,” says Pat Toselli, DO, Chief Medical Officer, LVH–Hecktown Oaks.
For more information on LVH–Hecktown Oaks, visit LVHN.org/HecktownOaks.