Construction crews placed the final beam Monday afternoon atop Lehigh Valley Health Network’s new hospital in Carbon County, marking the latest milestone toward a spring 2022 opening.

“This beam raising brings us one step closer to opening the doors of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon in the spring of 2022,” hospital President Terry Purcell said during a ceremony at the Mahoning Township site. “The facility is going to allow us to offer a higher level of health care to the community and add 150 new jobs. People will no longer have to leave the area to get care at an LVHN hospital.”

The new hospital, located cattycorner to the Walmart Superstore on Blakeslee Boulevard, will cover over 100,000 square feet and feature 18 private inpatient beds, a 12-bay emergency department, two operating rooms, two procedure rooms and four observation rooms with plans to expand in the future.

LVHN broke ground for the hospital in December and marked the event with a virtual ceremony.

While Monday wasn’t the full in-person “topping off” ceremony LVHN had hoped for, Purcell said he was pleased to be able to gather a few people at the site and stream the event on the network’s Facebook page.

“LVHN colleagues and public officials gave their virtual signature, which was then imprinted on a vinyl sticker and placed on the beam,” Purcell said. “We’re very proud to say that beam was made with American steel.”

Purcell said the hospital will expand upon the services already offered in the area. Some of the services at the hospital, he said, include surgical care provided by the Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence, comprehensive heart care through Lehigh Valley Heart Institute, and cancer care provided by the Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute. It will also include a 24/7 emergency room that will be staffed by the same physicians who work at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

Outpatient diagnostic testing and access to state-of-the-art medical technologies, LVHN officials said, will also be available at the facility. “Lehigh Valley Health Network is certainly not new to the area,” Purcell said. “We have been providing care to Carbon County residents for decades. LVH-Carbon will allow us to offer even more services and eliminate the need to travel for world-class care.”

Joining Purcell at the ceremony Monday was orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nicholas Slenker.

“I’m excited for this phase of the building project because it means we’re one step closer to opening our doors to the community,” Slenker said. “As an orthopedic surgeon with Coordinated Health, part of Lehigh Valley Health Network, my colleagues and I are already so proud to serve the people of Carbon County at our office on North First Street in Lehighton. LVH-Carbon will allow us to expand offerings even further. Some of those include inpatient and outpatient surgery, rehabilitation, diagnostic cardiology and radiology.”

For updates on LVH-Carbon construction, visit www.lvhn.org/carbon.