St. Luke’s dedicates children’s ER

St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital unveiled a new children-focused emergency room during a dedication ceremony Tuesday.

The new Isaacman Family Children’s Emergency Room is in the network’s children’s hospital at St. Luke’s University Hospital-Fountain Hill in Bethlehem. The new space features a special waiting room designed to provide a soothing and comforting environment for children.

The new children’s ER is also supported by pediatric specialists including pediatric emergency medicine physicians and on-site therapists with expertise in child development, psychology and counseling. These therapists can also assist in explaining diagnoses and treatment options to children and their parents.

According to a St. Luke’s spokesperson, the ceremony marked the completion of phase one for the children’s emergency department. Phase one involved using pre-existing sectioned-off space in the emergency department to create the now separate children’s ED. During phase two the size of the Children’s ER will be increased with four new pediatric beds, added for a total of 10.

The addition of the new Children’s ER was made possible by a contribution from local businessman Jared Isaacman and his wife, Monica Isaacman. Jared Isaacman is the founder and CEO of Shift4, a payment processing company based in Allentown. He is also a pilot and commercial astronaut who served as commander of Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit. According to St. Luke’s, Isaacman’s donation will assist with phase two of the children’s ER as well.

The network only just opened St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in St. Luke’s University Hospital-Fountain Hill in June, which is manned by a team of 35-plus pediatric specialists. According to St. Luke’s, while the Children’s Hospital is not yet a designated pediatric trauma center, the team is equipped to stabilize and care for any pediatric patient that comes through the door and then determine the most appropriate level of care as needed.

St. Luke’s has also spent millions in the last several years on improving pediatric care across its network.

In 2020, the network added an eight-bed pediatric intensive care unit to the Fountain Hill campus. Then, in June 2022, the network renovated and relocated its 17-bed pediatric inpatient unit to be next to the pediatric intensive care unit. During that time it also added 24/7 hospitalist coverage as well as support from pediatric-trained respiratory therapists and specialty-trained pediatric nurses, pharmacists and pediatric surgeons.

The network opened St. Luke’s Pediatric Specialty Center, a threestory, freestanding facility dedicated entirely to children, in May 2022.