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St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) held a ribbon cutting Wednesday for the area’s newest specialty hospital for orthopedic surgery, where expert teams will perform same-day surgeries of the knee, hip, spine, hand and shoulder, and treat a myriad of sports-related fractures and other injuries.

The first patients will be treated in the new hospital beginning Monday, December 18.

St. Luke’s Orthopedic Hospital, built with American steel, is a two-story, 52,000 square-foot facility located at the St. Luke’s West End Campus, 501 Cetronia Rd., Allentown, in western Lehigh County.

“This hospital will provide the ideal orthopedic patient experience in terms of quality, comfort and convenience,” said St. Luke’s Chairman of Orthopedics Douglas Lundy, MD.

St. Luke’s Orthopedic Hospital’s first floor houses eight operating rooms and 24 rooms for pre- and post-surgery care of patients, along with support, auxiliary space and comfortable family waiting rooms. The VELYS robot-assisted orthopedic surgery system and other advanced technology will be used to maximize safety, accuracy and quality operative outcomes. The second floor will contain patient overnight rooms, staff and supplies space and shelled-in rooms for future use.

“We want our patients to realize this facility was built completely around their needs,” Dr. Lundy added.  The cost of the hospital is $44 million.

Jessica Kamensky, MBA, service line administrator for the Network’s Musculoskeletal Service Line, said, “This hospital is the logical next step in the continuing evolution in our orthopedics program, and it will take patient care to the next level of quality and efficiency.”

Some 80 nurses, technicians, therapists and other staff have been hired to work at the new hospital, where an estimated quarter of all network-provided orthopedic operations will be performed.

Bill Moyer, St. Luke’s West Region President, said, “This project underscores St. Luke’s continued commitment to the growth and enhancement of our advanced medical services in this region. We are honored to have our orthopedics teams engaged in the improvement of lives as they bring their clinical expertise to this new facility built just for their patients.”

The St. Luke’s Orthopedic Hospital was designed with both the present and future needs of patients in mind, said Dr. Lundy. “We have built the hospital in a way that will enable it to provide the very latest and best in orthopedic technology and care for years to come.”