Last August, Lehigh Valley Health Network and Jefferson Health Network, which is headquartered in the Philadelphia region, finalized an agreement to combine. Since then, the two organizations have worked to “give our communities more,” according to Joseph G. Cacchione, MD, CEO of Jefferson.
In the past year, Jefferson has expanded its services into the Lehigh Valley region. New services are being provided at the area’s first Women’s Health Center and a primary and specialty care health center, both on the former site of Bethlehem Steel’s Martin Tower.
Jefferson is preparing to open Hanover Hill Behavioral Health Hospital in partnership with Universal Health Services, an expanded emergency room at Lehigh Valley Hospital - Muhlenberg, and neighborhood hospitals and Tannersville and Hellertown.
The network is also looking to strengthen local economies through projects like an official PGA Tour Champions event at Lehigh Country Club next year and redevelopment of the Turn and Grind Shop at Bethlehem’s SteelStacks.
LVHN is considered the Lehigh Valley region’s largest employer, with more than 20,000 employees across their hospitals, health centers, and physician practices as of January. The combined workforce between LVHN and Jefferson comprises 65,000 people in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Residents did express concerns prior to the combination that the merger would mean layoffs across the network. In January, LVHN announced that they laid off around 100 staff members, although they said in a statement that the job eliminations were not a result of the merger. As the two networks combined their outreach and care efforts, LVHN said that they were working to “align the staffing structure with community needs.”
