Lehigh Valley Health Network leaders and local officials donned blue hard hats and pink shovels recently at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg.

Together they broke ground on the four-story, 161,000-square-foot Specialty Care Pavilion that will bring numerous "new arrivals" - about 2,000 births a year to LVH-Muhlenberg for the first time in the Bethlehem hospital's 54-year history."This project will extend our commitment to growing strong families closer to home for people in and around Northampton County," said LVHN President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Nester, DO, MBA, FACOEP.The total project cost of $93.6 million will be paid for through a combination of LVHN capital funding and philanthropic gifts, including a $600,000 pledge courtesy of the LVH-Muhlenberg Summer Festival and a $300,000 pledge courtesy of the Auxiliary of LVH-Muhlenberg. The Specialty Care Pavilion will create 225 new construction jobs and 185 new patient-care jobs.The Specialty Care Pavilion• Obstetrics and newborn services on the second and third floors, including:• A mother-baby unit with 20 private patient rooms• A Level II NICU with 10 private rooms• Eight labor, delivery and recovery rooms• An admitting-holding nursery for use during the admission process or for procedures• Two operating rooms• Five obstetrics triage beds• A three-bay post-anesthesia care unit area• And a four-bed antepartum unit• A Center for Inpatient Rehabilitation on the first floor, providing patients a short period of intensive, hospital-based therapy following a serious illness, injury or procedure. It will include:• 28 beds• A therapy gym• A suite where patients can perform activities of daily living• Specialized rehab equipment, including a harness patients can use as they learn to stand and walk again during recovery• Lobby space on the first floor, including a new gift shop, cafe, a children's play center, private lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers, additional rest rooms and an outdoor courtyard.• Shell space on the fourth floor for future growth.About the projectErdman Healthcare Real Estate Solutions of Madison, Wisconsin, will provide the design/build services for the Specialty Care Pavilion, while the Pidcock Company of Allentown will assist in civil engineering.Lehigh Valley Health Network includes five hospital campuses - three in Allentown, one in Bethlehem and one in Hazleton; 13 health centers serving five counties; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices throughout the region; pharmacy, imaging, home health services and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred.Children's Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital, the only children's hospital in the region, provides care in 28 specialties and general pediatrics.