Media Invited to New St. Luke's Quakertown Hospital 'Beam Topping'

St. Luke’s University Health Network will celebrate Thursday afternoon the new Quakertown hospital “beam topping.” After being signed by employees and community members, the final steel beam of the structure will be lifted into place and secured – an important milestone in a major construction project.

What: New hospital “beam topping.”

When: 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 4

Where: On the new hospital campus property at the intersection of Route 663 & Portzer Road, Quakertown

Off-site parking with shuttle service to the site is available at Quakertown Community School District Service Center, 100 Commerce Drive, Quakertown PA 18951.

The new $100 million Quakertown hospital in Bucks County – built with American steel – will be 131,000 square feet. Upon its completion in the fall of 2019, the hospital will have 40 patient rooms and capacity to outfit an additional 40 in the future. It will include radiology, surgical and emergency departments as well as a laboratory, pharmacy and cafeteria.

“The new facility will afford more functional, efficient space and systems, including private rooms, allowing St. Luke’s to continue providing the best care, recruit the best physicians and allow for continued expansion,” St. Luke’s Quakertown President Dennis Pfleiger said.

At its peak, the project will employ over 150 construction workers through more than 25 contractors, injecting a powerful economic stimulus into the local economy. It will also sustain hundreds of permanent, family-supporting jobs.

The new Quakertown hospital is one of numerous, major initiatives underway at St. Luke’s.  Already this year, the Network has merged with Blue Mountain Health System and Sacred Heart HealthCare System. It is partnering with Geisinger to build a new hospital in Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County. Additionally, a project is underway to double the size of the Anderson Campus hospital in Bethlehem Township. Amid these major developments, St. Luke’s has been designated an IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven) 100 Top Hospital for a sixth time and the fourth year in a row.

###

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 14,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient sites.  With annual net revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.  Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.  In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first and only regional medical school campus.  It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows.  St. Luke’s is the only health care system in central-eastern Pennsylvania to earn Medicare’s five-star rating (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.  St. Luke’s has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) repeatedly – six times total and four years in a row including 2018.  It has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program.  Utilizing the EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) system for both 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.  St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.