St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is set to open 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. SLUHN officials expect the first patients to be treated in the new hospital beginning this winter.
The 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 Medical Center, 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 Dr. Douglas Lundy.
St. Luke’s Orthopedic Hospital’s first floor will house 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,” Lundy added. The cost of the hospital is $44 million.
Lundy estimates that St. Luke’s orthopedic surgeons will perform nearly 3,000 operations, all elective, in this hospital during 2024. About 15,000 surgeries of the musculoskeletal system are completed yearly by the St. Luke’s orthopedic specialists. The network charted a 20% growth in this service line between 2022-23 and anticipates this to rise to the same degree next year.
According to Jessica Kamensky, service line administrator for the network’s Musculoskeletal Service Line, some 80 nurses, technicians, therapists and other staff are being added to work at the new hospital, where an estimated 25-30% of all network-provided orthopedic operations will be performed.
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