St. Luke’s Names New Leaders at Sacred Heart and Gnaden Huetten / Palmerton Campuses

St. Luke’s University Health Network is pleased to announce that John Nespoli has been appointed President of the St Luke’s Gnaden Huetten / Palmerton campuses in Carbon County, and that Frank Ford has been appointed President of St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Campus in Allentown.

“Frank Ford has agreed to take on the role at the Sacred Heart Campus and to continue to build on the great foundation established by John Nespoli over the past decade,” St. Luke’s Chief Operating Officer Joel Fagerstrom said. “We are very fortunate to have two exceptional leaders take on these important roles at this exciting time in St. Luke’s history.”

Nespoli is assuming the role of St Luke’s Gnaden Huetten / Palmerton President from St. Luke’s West President William Moyer, who has been overseeing the campuses on an interim basis.

Nespoli joined St. Luke’s upon St. Luke’s merger with Sacred Heart HealthCare System in March. Nespoli had served as President and CEO of Sacred Heart since 2009.  Previously he oversaw operations at Guthrie Health System in Sayre, Pa., after serving in senior executive roles at health care systems through the Northeast.

“John joined us at a time when the future of Sacred Heart was uncertain. He has done a remarkable job of expanding services at the hospital, meeting the needs of our community, creating a quality profile that is outstanding and partnering to improve the neighborhood surrounding the hospital,” said Paul Huck, Chairman of the St. Luke’s Sacred Heart board. “He also led our process to join St. Luke’s University Health Network, ensuring the long-term future of the hospital in a time of great change in health care. We are grateful for John’s leadership over the past decade and know that the Gnaden Huetten and Palmerton campuses are getting a great leader for the hospital and community.

“While we will most certainly miss John, we are pleased to welcome Frank and look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Ford has been responsible for facilitating Sacred Heart’s assimilation into St. Luke’s since he became the Network’s Chief Integration Officer earlier this year. Previously, he served as President of St. Luke’s Allentown Campus for 12 years, overseeing a major expansion of services at the hospital. 

Since joining St. Luke’s earlier this year, both Sacred Heart and the Gnaden Huetten / Palmerton campuses have undergone substantive improvements.  St. Luke’s has invested tens of millions of dollars to raise salaries, upgrade infrastructure and install Epic, an electronic medical record system widely considered the gold-standard of the health care industry.

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