Revitalized St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Campus one year after joining the network

A year after joining St. Luke’s University Health Network, once-struggling Sacred Heart Hospital has undergone a $31 million upgrade that has revitalized numerous buildings/patient floors, and strengthened and expanded health care services.

Some of the major renovations included an expansion of inpatient Behavioral Health beds where $11 million was invested. Two new Behavioral Health floors were added and required major infrastructure changes. Sacred Heart’s Behavioral Health capacity increased to 109 inpatient beds after 42 beds were transferred from St. Luke’s University Hospital in Bethlehem, which needed the room for more acute care beds.

The Sigal Center, 450 Chew St., is undergoing a $4 million expansion to convert the 4,000-square-foot clinic into a federally qualified health center. These centers, which serve medically underserved, uninsured and underinsured populations, qualify for enhanced reimbursements for Medicare and Medicaid and other benefits.

Primary Care, Pediatrics and Women’s Health will be expanded at the Sigal Center and will be operated under the brand name Star Wellness. Two of St. Luke’s clinics in Allentown will close and be consolidated in the Sigal Center. They include the Family Health and Pediatrics Practice, 1501 Lehigh St. and the Women’s Health Center, 1837 Linden St.

St. Luke’s Sacred Heart will open a Wound Care/Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Center, which is being moved from St. Luke’s Allentown Campus. The center will open in 2020. Other renovations that were completed: · The Transitional Care unit, a 22-bed short-term rehab facility for patients discharged from the hospital.

· Hallways and waiting rooms on the peri-operative floor.

· The seventh floor in the Trexler Tower, a 32-bed acute care unit.

· The fifth floor in the Trexler Tower was reopened after having been closed for several months.

· The Emergency Department’s waiting room got a refreshed look with new paint, flooring and furniture. The department is now staffed by St. Luke’s physicians.

· About $1 million was spent to make significant upgrades to Sacred Heart’s infrastructure, including a new electrical system switching gear.

Plans are in progress at Sacred Heart’s Education Center and 240-seat auditorium. A major renovation includes new seating, flooring, lighting and state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment. Other changes in progress include renovations to the aging Chew Street parking deck across from Sacred Heart. A roof is being installed on the top level and parking floors 1 & 2 will be refurbished. Parking is now free.

While many changes are visible inside Sacred Heart’s buildings, some less visible but no less important updates were made to infrastructure, including a new computer system. Soon after St. Luke’s acquired Sacred Heart, it converted the hospital’s electronic health records software system to Epic, the system used throughout the Network. The $10 million project was completed last June and Sacred Heart is now fully integrated.