MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — St. Luke's Monroe Campus opened its doors to patients almost five years ago near Stroudsburg. Now, it's time to add more space. An expansion project is planned for the hospital.
"The building will contain 36 med-surg beds, additional operating and procedural spaces, and growth for outpatient services," said Don Seiple, president of St. Luke's Monroe Campus.
The $85 million project touts a four-story addition, doubling the size of the existing hospital.
Dr. Douglas Degler expects the expansion will benefit patients and bring more medical professionals to this part of the Poconos.
"This next phase of the expansion will allow us to provide additional services in the community. It will allow us to continue and recruit the best and brightest in the field of medicine to practice in Monroe County," said Dr. Degler.
The expansion will extend out from the existing building. The plan is to start construction in the spring of 2022 with the hope of wrapping it all up in 2024.
Seiple says that when the hospital opened in 2016, they never expected the demand for patient care to grow significantly. The need for more space so soon is a welcome surprise.
"I just really did not think it would, as quickly, grow as quickly as it did. We really needed this expansion probably two, three years ago, to be perfectly honest with you. The pandemic certainly has highlighted the need for this expansion," said Seiple.
St. Luke's Monroe Campus expansion project will employ hundreds of construction workers.
It will also create 80 new permanent jobs at the hospital.