Bomb Squad Clears 'Suspicious' Package at Hospital

Officials have determined the 'suspicious' package found at the Kasych Family Pavilion at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest is 'non-threatening,' the hospital says.

Salisbury Township Police and the Allentown Bomb Squad were called to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest Thursday morning to investigate a "suspicious" package found on the first floor of the Kasych Family Pavilion, but the package was found to be safe, police and the hospital said in news releases. Police were called at 10:22 a.m., the hospital issued an alert and evacuated the area above and below where the package was found—in a ladies room in the Kasych building. By 1 p.m. the building was declared safe as the Allentown Bomb Squad determined the "suspicious" package was harmless, police said. Salisbury Police will do additional processing on the package's contents, the police release said. Police did not say what type of package had …

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Flu Update: LVH and St. Luke's Restrict Hospital Visitors

People under 18 are not permitted to visit Lehigh Valley Hospital and St. Luke's Hospitals under new temporary restrictions.

Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Luke's University Health Network announced Monday that their hospitals are temporarily restricting visitors because of community-wide surges in the the flu and flu-like illnesses. Both networks said in prepared releases that visitors under age 18 will not be permitted in the hospitals. Also, people with flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, body aches) should not to come to the hospital to visit patients. Lehigh Valley Hospital said the visitation restrictions apply to hospital inpatient areas only and do not affect outpatient, procedure, treatment, diagnostic or pharmacy locations. St. Luke's University Health Network said the visitor restrictions are in effect at St. Luke’s Hospital – …

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Diane Roberts

2:26 pm on Monday, January 21, 2013

Westfield Hospital, in Allentown, changed their visitation policy on January 10 when the surge in flu became imminent. Westfield also has restricted visitors, under the age of 18, to visit with those admitted and has asked that anyone who has a cough or flu-like symptoms not visit patients at the hospital. Westfield Hospital, who normally permits 24/7 visitation, reduced its visitng hours from 10…   more ›

LVH Sets Up Separate ER for Flu Patients

An influx of patients suffering from flu-like illness has prompted Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest to set up a mobile tent outside the emergency department to treat patients.

LVH Sets Up Separate ER for Flu Patients

An influx of patients suffering from flu-like illness has prompted Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest to set up a mobile tent outside the emergency department to treat patients.

In one of the worst flu outbreaks in years, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township will open a separate emergency room Tuesday, Jan. 8 for patients experiencing flu-like symptoms. The hospital has set up a mobile tent outside the ER to handle an additional influx of patients suffering from flu-like illness, it said in a news release issued Monday. Patients who are experiencing flu-like symptoms should still report to the main ER entrance for triage, a hospital spokesman said. St. Luke’s University Health Network's six emergency rooms is currently seeing about 20 patients a day with flu-like symptoms but does not see a need to expand patient capacity at this time, said Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, chief of infectious diseases. The …

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Patch McCracken D.O. Gastroenterologist

5:24 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements??!!!! Nah --- oUhhhh! They told me to get vacine so i can display tag that states "I got Vaccinated, so I don't have to wear a blue mask." err "meant because I care." oh well at least I can bypass the tent of flu patients spreading it to maybe has it patients by stating "I dont have to go in there, I got the shot." to the person outside the main ER, diverting flu …   more ›

Free Flu Shots Saturday at Dorney Park

Lehigh Valley Hospital will give free flu shots at its drive-through stations Nov. 3 at Dorney Park and on Nov. 4 at Coca-Cola Park.

Mom Justifies Taking Baby From LVH

A Pottstown woman's account of why she and her fiance took their premature baby out of Lehigh Valley Hospital differs from hospital and police, according to The Morning Call.

Mom Justifies Taking Baby From LVH

A Pottstown woman's account of why she and her fiance took their premature baby out of Lehigh Valley Hospital differs from hospital and police, according to The Morning Call.

A Pottstown woman's account describing how she and her fiance took their premature baby out of Lehigh Valley Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit Tuesday differs from hospital and police accounts, according to a report in The Morning Call. The Salisbury Township Police Department was dispatched after it received a report that a child was abducted from the hospital. Police said the child had been taken from the hospital "against medical advice." April Saul, 42, and her fiance, Daniel Rivera, unhooked their three-month-old daughter from a monitor and left the hospital with her after they said they scuffled with hospital staff, according to the Call. The hospital said there was no physical altercation, the article said. The parents, who …

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Police: Baby Abducted From Lehigh Valley Hospital, Returned

Allentown Police stopped a vehicle and returned a baby to Lehigh Valley Hospital after receiving a report that a small child had been taken "against medical advice," Salisbury Police said.

LVH Earned $3.5 Billion

Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest was listed this year among the 50 top-grossing hospitals in the United States, according to Becker's Hospital Review

Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest earned $3.54 billion in the last year, placing it among the nation's 50 top-grossing hospitals, according to Becker's Hospital Review. LVH was 36th on the list. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian was first, with $10.19 billion in gross revenue, followed by the Cleveland Clinic with $9.86 billion and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weil Cornell Medical Center with $8.06 billion. Pennsylvania had eight hospitals on the list, more than any other state. The six other Pennsylvania hospitals that were on the list: At the end of fiscal year 2011, LVH had $1.5 billion in revenue and $1.4 billion in expenses, but an operating margin of $80 million.

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LVHN To Lease Medical Offices on Hamilton Blvd.

Lehigh Valley Health Network will lease a new three-story medical office building under construction in South Whitehall.

Lehigh Valley Health Network will lease a new three-story medical office building rising on Hamilton Boulevard, according to the building's developer. The 45,000-square-foot building will have parking on the first floor and devote the next two levels to 30,000 square feet of office space, according to Ed Novak, owner of Novak Ventures Inc., the owner and general contractor on the building. Since site preparation, the office building has been rising quickly on Hamilton Boulevard, not far from the intersection with Cedar Crest Boulevard. Novak expects the building frame to be completed in early July. Interior and site work will follow. He said he expects the building will be finished by early December. The stretch of Hamilton Boulevard where…

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