LVHN marks the start of construction on $93M facility

Citing a greater need for newborn services, obstetrics and in-patient rehabilitation services, officials from Lehigh Valley Health Network conducted a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday afternoon for a project that would fulfill all three requirements.

At its Lehigh Valley Hospital- Muhlenberg campus in Bethlehem, officials marked the start of construction on its Specialty Care Pavilion, a $93.6 million project that covers 161,000 square feet and rises four stories at the south side of the campus. The four-story pavilion will be connected to the main hospital through the existing south tower lobby and the former hospital cafeteria.

The facility, when it opens July 1, 2017, will accommodate about 2,000 deliveries annually, and these services will be the first in the 54-year history of the Muhlenberg hospital campus, officials said.

“We feel privileged to play a very hands-on role in helping people start their families,” said Brian Nester, LVHN president and CEO.

The network has been planning this facility for more than three years, Nester said. He said not many health care organizations are investing as much in mother/child health.

“It’s hard to play a big role unless you are taking care of mothers and babies,” Nester said. “We have all these services but [at Muhlenberg] we didn’t have mother/baby care.”

This project will extend the network’s commitment to growing strong families closer to home for people in and around Northampton County, Nester said.

Officials noted that the project allows LVHN to have births at its Bethlehem campus for the first time, outside of an emergency.

“LVHN is a major employer in the city and Lehigh Valley,” said Alex Karras, chief of staff for Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez. “LVHN will make it possible to say, ‘I was born in Bethlehem.’”

Construction costs will be paid through a combination of capital funding from LVHN and philanthropic gifts from community members.

The LVH-Muhlenberg summer festival will provide $600,000 and the Auxiliary of LVH-Muhlenberg will provide $300,000 toward the project, said Jim Geiger, president of LVH-Muhlenberg Hospital.

The project will create 225 new construction jobs and 185 new patient care jobs, Nester said.

At its Cedar Crest campus in Salisbury Township, LVHN played a role in bringing almost 4,300 babies into the world, said Mary Bianchi, vice president of women’s and children’s line at LVHN.

“By bringing obstetrics and newborn services here, we will allow mothers to stay closer to their families,” Bianchi said.

Floors one and two will be dedicated to newborn services and obstetrics, including a mother-baby unit with 20 private rooms, eight labor, delivery and recovery rooms and neonatal intensive care unit with 10 private rooms.

The lobby will have a play center for visiting children, a gift shop, café, and mothers at LVH-Muhlenberg will have access to high quality services, such as private lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers, restrooms and an outdoor courtyard. The pavilion also will offer rapid transfer services to LVHN Cedar Crest as needed, she said.

LVHN is equally enthusiastic about the addition of its inpatient rehabilitation services at the pavilion, said Terry Capuano, executive vice president and chief operating officer of LVHN.

The rehabilitation unit will be on the first floor. This area will be similar to the Center for Inpatient Rehabilitation-Cedar Crest that LVHN recently opened, she said.

“This type of comprehensive, inpatient rehab is in high demand,” Capuano said.

At Cedar Crest, LVHN is at or near capacity in serving the need for rehab services, she said.

The fourth floor of the pavilion will be reserved as shell space for future growth, Capuano said.

LVHN will relocate the existing Banko Community Center at the Muhlenberg campus, which is used for community space, events and behavioral health programs, which she said would continue to grow. LVHN plans to remove the building this fall and will incorporate the conference space for community events into the renovations to the Muhlenberg south lobby as part of the project.

Then, LVHN will relocate the behavioral health program to 2170 Schoenersville Road.

Erdman Healthcare Real Estate Solutions of Madison, Wis., is providing the design/build services for the project and The Pidcock Co. of Salisbury Township is the engineering company.

Source: LVB