LEHIGHTON, Pa. — An emergency room is one of the most vital parts of a hospital, and while one at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon near Lehighton is quiet for now, that won't be the case for long.
"Everything you need from Lehigh Valley is here. We have a lab. We have our outpatient radiology. We have surgery and the ORs, you can get your colonoscopy here every year, you know your screenings tests. You can visit your specialist in our health center," said Dr. Marianne Smalley, physician and emergency room medical director at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon.
Lehigh Valley Health officials cut the ribbon in a ceremony where they showed off the new hospital in Mahoning Township.
The facility features 20 private inpatient rooms, a 24/7 emergency department with 16 emergency room beds, and surgical suites.
Patient rooms are private. Each is equipped with telemedicine technology.
"If we need a urologist, whoever we need if they're not physically present in this building, we're able to bring all of them here," Dr. Smalley said. "So that is something I think is unique that we can bring into this community."
The new facility will make accessing healthcare much easier for residents living in Carbon County. People will no longer have to travel to Allentown or Hazleton for care.
Cutting down the commute will also benefit patients taking advantage of the hospital's new infusion center, including those battling cancer.
"So many of our patients have to travel to our Cedarcest campus, and now they'll be located right here. So when they come for services, they don't have to mitigate the traffic and all those things that you know you see in the big cities. We really want to be a resource for the community here," said Christine Biege, the President of Lehigh Valley Health-Carbon.
The hospital expects to have its final license approved this week and will then be ready for patients.
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