St Luke's Expands Behavioral Health at Sacred Heart; Now Region's Biggest Provider
December 10, 2018
St. Luke’s University Health Network has tripled its number of inpatient beds for behavioral health from 57 to 168, making it the largest provider of psychiatric services in the region. Inpatient beds are available at three campuses: Sacred Heart in Allentown, Quakertown and Gnaden Huetten in Lehighton.
“After acquiring Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown and Blue Mountain Health System in Carbon County, we made a commitment to relocate and expand our behavioral health services to meet a critical need,” said Christina Zelko Bennick, Vice President, Inpatient Behavioral Health.
In November, inpatient behavioral health services were moved from our Bethlehem campus to Sacred Heart and the number of inpatient beds was increased from 67 to 108. In December, St. Luke’s opened an Older Adult Behavioral Health Unit at our Gnaden Huetten campus at 211 N. 12th Street. The new unit has 20 inpatient beds for individuals 55 and older and is located in space in the former Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital that was completely renovated for this purpose.
Also, once the new 80-bed hospital we are building in Quakertown is complete in the fall of 2019, our existing Quakertown hospital will be renovated and repurposed to include an inpatient behavioral health unit.
“The fact that we added these much-needed beds with plans to expand beyond this complement demonstrates a commitment to all the communities we serve,” Zelko Bennick said.
St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Services’ providers help diagnose and treat a wide variety of mental and behavioral health concerns that often present while patients are dealing with other physical conditions or injuries including, adult attention deficit disorder, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, depression, fibromyalgia, obsessive compulsive disorder, post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and work/life balance.
About St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Services
St. Luke’s inpatient behavioral health services include:
- Adult Behavioral Health Unit at St. Luke’s Sacred Heart, Quakertown and Gnaden Huetten campuses for adults who need intense structure and care 24 hours a day.
- Older Adult Behavioral Health Unit at St. Luke’s Sacred Heart and Gnaden Huetten campuses for adults 55 and older who need a secure and intimate setting to address their unique behavioral health needs.
- Extended Acute Care at St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Campus is an inpatient unit treating individuals 18 and older who require extended hospitalization for further therapeutic treatment.
St. Luke’s provides partial hospitalization services, which are designed to be “short-term,” and are an alternative to hospitalization if individuals can actively participate in treatment or as a “step-down” from the inpatient setting.
Also offered are outpatient services that are staffed by licensed professionals who provide individual, group, couples and family therapy. In addition, St. Luke’s Psychiatric Associates provides psychiatric evaluation and medication management for adults, adolescents and children.
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.
