BARTONSVILLE St. Luke's University Health Network has broken ground for the new St. Luke's Hospital-Monroe Campus, adjacent to Wigwam Road and Route 611 in Bartonsville.

This will be the first new hospital in Monroe County in 100 years.Dr. Charles Saunders, Chairman of St. Luke's University Health Network's board of trustees, led the celebration for the milestone so important to St. Luke's and Monroe County."St. Luke's has been blessed by the strong support of people in the community and today is no exception. I feel privileged to witness another tremendous outpouring of community support as we break ground for the seventh hospital in the St. Luke's University Health Network. As a physician, I am particularly delighted that it is the physicians in this community that asked St. Luke's to build a hospital where they could deliver a new standard in the practice of medicine. They have played a key role in the design and organization of this new hospital," Saunders said.St. Luke's is investing $80 million into the 180,000-square foot hospital that will be easily accessed from Interstate 80, Route 33 and Route 611.The hospital will have four stories, 108 private patient rooms including 12 beds for critical care patients, a large and efficient emergency room, helipad, operating rooms, a cardiac catheterization lab and the most modern diagnostic technology. The campus, which is nestled in a beautiful, natural setting, will include a large fountain and walking trails. The hospital is expected to open in the fall of 2016."The Emergency Room will be able to treat 60,000 patients a year," said Dr. Peter Favini, Vice Chairman of Network Emergency Services."My goal is to provide the best emergency care in the region. I spent 25 years providing emergency care in Monroe County and I am thrilled to return to direct the care at this state-of-the-art hospital. I look forward to welcoming my friends in the emergency services community and the patients and families I formerly cared for."With the development of the new hospital, St. Luke's is addressing the community's need for additional health care resources. Monroe County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state of Pennsylvania. Much of its growth can be attributed to the opening of Interstate 80 in the 1960s, with many metropolitan residents relocating to the area to raise families. Older adults also have found Monroe County an attractive area to retire. Today, nearly 170,000 residents call Monroe County home."Exceptional health care is one of a community's greatest assets," said Richard A. Anderson, President and CEO, St. Luke's University Health Network. "St. Luke's promises the residents of Monroe County that we will do our best to create an exceptional health care experience for you. We are already working closely with a large number of physicians in Monroe County that either work for St. Luke's or have partnered with us. In fact, it was these physicians that first asked us to build the hospital we are now breaking ground for. We are helping them realize their vision to set a new standard in higher quality and lower cost care. We will work with and support them by bringing the resources and strength of our nationally recognized and integrated health care network."In designing this new hospital, St. Luke's borrowed from the success of the Anderson Campus that opened in the fall of 2011."That hospital has grown exceptionally fast and has gained a high-approval rating from our patients and our doctors alike," Anderson said. "When complete, the new St. Luke's Monroe Hospital will mirror the look and feel of St. Luke's Anderson Campus."St. Luke's Hospital-Monroe Campus will offer patients some of the world's most cutting-edge medical technologies to diagnose and treat disease, thanks, in part, to St. Luke's long-standing clinical relationship with GE Healthcare. St. Luke's has been an international show site for GE Healthcare for more than 15 years.The construction and opening of this new hospital will contribute to the economy of Monroe County. St. Luke's held a construction vendor fair on the hospital site in February, extending the opportunity to those businesses and individuals working in the building trades locally to be a part of the project. St. Luke's also plans to hold an employee fair later in the spring.