ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A northeastern Pennsylvania hospital is starting a $27 million expansion.

Lehigh Valley Health Network said Wednesday the project will add two dozen private rooms and three floors to its flagship campus in Salisbury Township.Expansion plans call for adding a 24-bed medical-surgical unit with all private rooms, as well as installing steel construction to shell the fifth through seventh floors to allow for future growth.Hospital officials say the change will give patients more privacy and help reduce hospital-acquired infections.The work started late last month and the target date for completion is next May.