St. Luke’s Expands Cancer Care in Carbon & Schuylkill Counties: New Infusion Center Planned for Fall 2020

“Cancer is a health care issue that impacts the whole family,” states Donna Bydlon, RN, BSN, OCN, director of St. Luke’s Infusion Services. “When a loved one is sick, very often it’s the family members who bear the burden of caregiving, including transporting to and from treatments.”

St. Luke’s announced Friday that it is expanding cancer services in Lehighton with the addition of a new Infusion Center, slated to open this Fall. The infusion center will join the Network’s eight other infusion locations including St. Luke’s Miners Campus in Coaldale.

Photo: L-R, St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus at 211 North 12th Street in Lehighton and St. Luke’s Miners Campus at 360 West Ruddle Street in Coaldale.

“We know that our patients appreciate being able to access care close to home,” said Joe Pinto, chief operating officer for St. Luke’s Lehighton and Sacred Heart campuses. “It’s important to us to offer excellent quality care without the extra stress of having to drive long distances for that care.”

Patients who are looking to receive oncology care in Carbon and Schuylkill counties can take advantage of the services St. Luke’s offers at its two office locations in Lehighton and Coaldale.

Experienced physicians Neil Belman, DO and Tamam Habib, MD specialize in treating oncology patients as well as patients with blood disorders. Nurse practitioners Lauren Bachman, CRNP and Charity Eck, CRNP work together with the physicians to diagnose, treat and care for each patient individually.

Photos: L-R, Lehighton Team, Tamam Habib, MD and Lauren Bachman, CRNP; Miners Team, Neil Belman, DO, Charity Eck, CRNP.

“We are proud of the care our Cancer Center provides,” expresses Wendy Lazo, president of St. Luke’s Miners Campus. “Not only can patients access their doctors’ appointments and chemotherapy treatments here, we have counselors, dietitians and other support services that can help them through their cancer journey.”

For patients who do not want to travel to the Lehigh Valley for cancer care, they can call St. Luke’s HOPE Line at 484-503-HOPE (4673). Virtual Visits via video or telephone are available.

Chemotherapy appointments are available in Coaldale immediately and St. Luke’s expects to open its Lehighton Infusion Center in a few months.

o St. Luke’s even offers transportation to and from appointments for patients that do not have access to transportation. Star Transport is a door-to-door shuttle service that is free of charge and operates in Carbon, Schuylkill, Northampton, Lehigh, Monroe and Warren (NJ) counties.

“We are anticipating a Fall opening,” says St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus president John Nespoli. “It’s going to have a warm, friendly environment – we want patients to feel comfortable and supported.”

Photo: One of St. Luke’s multiple Infusion Centers.

To schedule an appointment in person or virtually, call 484-503-4673. To learn more about St. Luke’s Cancer Center, visit www.sluhn.org/cancer.

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Media Contact:

Kate Raymond, Marketing Director, 484-526-4131

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 15,000 employees providing services at 11 hospitals and 300 outpatient sites. With annual net revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne 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 Lehigh Valley's first and only regional medical school campus. It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 34 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 263 residents and fellows. St. Luke's is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system with Medicare’s five- and four-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. St. Luke’s is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. In 2019, three of IBM Watson Health's 100 Top Hospitals were St. Luke's hospitals. St. Luke's University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health seven times total and five years in a row. St. Luke's 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.

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