St. Luke’s Nurse Honored at White House

Allen Zelno of the Parish Nursing program at St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Campus participated Wednesday in a Nursing Day ceremony at the White House. Zelno, who was nominated by the Catholic Medical Association to attend the ceremony led by President Trump, was one of eight nurses selected.

“I am overwhelmed with this show of support for healthcare workers on the frontline, and I’m humbled to find that nurses especially are being thanked with such generosity,” said Zelno. “Yesterday was surreal, and it’s an experience I will remember forever.”

The Parish Nurse program blends faith ministry with nursing, and through his role, Zelno primarily serves the homeless and poor in the urban core of Allentown.

“I’m thankful to my fellow nurses for their teamwork, without which I cannot serve the patients in need,” Zelno said. “I was proud to represent St. Luke’s at a National level.”

Zelno is second to the right, behind President Trump

Media Contact

Sam Kennedy, Corporate Communications Director, 484-526-4134, samuel.kennedy@sluhn.org

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.