DOUGLASS TWP. – Lehigh Valley Health Network is expanding again.
Officials say construction has begun on another “neighborhood hospital” off Route 100 in Douglass Township, Montgomery County – the health system’s first hospital in Montgomery County.
- The hospital is being built off Route 100 in the Gilbertsville area
- It will be similar to the neighborhood hospital being built in Lower Macungie Township
- It will be LVHN's first hospital in Montgomery County
The concept is similar to the hospital still under construction in Lower Macungie Township, with a full-service emergency room and limited number of inpatient beds. The idea is to provide shorter emergency room wait times and favorable inpatient care times from arrival to discharge.
The new hospital will be called Lehigh Valley Hospital - Gilbertsville and is on target to open in the fall of 2024 at Route 100 and Grosser Road. A medical office building, the Health Center at Gilbertsville, is also going up on the same site.
The 22,000-square-foot hospital will be accredited to offer acute care around the clock and capable of delivering lab, imaging and pharmacy services, according to a news release. Patients requiring surgery or greater levels of care will be transferred to other LVHN facilities.
The larger companion health center will comprise 57,000 square feet and contain a variety of medical services, including Lehigh Valley Physician Group primary care and HNL Lab Medicine.
“Easy access can improve patient engagement and help individuals live their healthiest life.”Dr. Brian Nester, LVHN president and CEO
“LVH–Gilbertsville and the Health Center at Gilbertsville will give residents more convenient access to emergency and hospital-level care, along with robust ambulatory services located closer to where they live, work and play,” Dr. Brian A. Nester, president and chief executive officer of LVHN, said in the news release. “Easy access can improve patient engagement and help individuals live their healthiest life.”
LVHN’s only other facility in Montgomery County, the Health Center at Pennsburg, opened in March 2022.
The neighborhood hospital underway in Lower Macungie – Lehigh Valley Hospital - Macungie – is slated to open by July 2024. Its companion medical office building could open as early as this winter, LVHN said.
The Lower Macungie and Gilbertsville hospitals will become LVHN's 14th and 15th hospitals. The network currently includes 13 hospital campuses — four in Allentown, two in Bethlehem, one in Easton, one in East Stroudsburg, one in Hazleton, two in Pottsville, one in Lehighton and one in Dickson City, Pa.
