STROUD TOWNSHIP, PA — Almost five years after St. Luke's Monroe Campus opened its doors to patients, the hospital near Stroudsburg already needs more space.
"When we first opened, we didn't realize there was such a health care need. That need hasn't been relenting. The pandemic probably increased it. More people have moved here, and there's that continued need for health care in Monroe County," said Don Seiple, the president of St. Luke's Monroe Campus.
With shovels in the ground and a toss of dirt, officials at St. Luke's Monroe Campus broke ground on a major expansion project.
The new four-story patient care tower will feature 36 more hospital beds, expanded surgical services, additional outpatient programs, and a state-of-the-art radiology suite.
Dr. Douglas Degler says the expansion is overdue.
"We have 98 beds. Our average daily census has been up to 140 sometimes, and, you know, throughout the pandemic, we've had to struggle to find places to put outpatients to continue to provide the care that they need," Dr. Degler said.
The new patient care tower will extend from the existing hospital, nearly doubling the size of the hospital.
"We are looking at a $90 million investment in the community with over 200 construction jobs over the course of the project and then initially probably 50 to 60 full-time employees in the building as well," Seiple said.
The new patient care tower at St. Luke's Monroe Campus near Stroudsburg is expected to open in early 2024.
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