St. Luke’s unveils new health center in Palmerton

The transition from a bowling alley to medical facility is complete as St. Luke’s University Health Network unveiled its 10,000-square-foot health center on Delaware Avenue during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Palmerton on Monday.

Located at 614 Delaware Ave., the former Haja Lanes property, the building will house St. Luke’s primary care physicians, the network’s 18th Care Now offices and a specialty office suite.

“This is a spectacular building,” John Nespoli, president of St. Luke’s Carbon Campus, said. “Palmerton is such a lovely community, and the best part is this is just the beginning. The bigger picture is eventually 30,000 square feet of services on the main street of Palmerton.”

The primary care physicians will be relocating from their current office just down the street next to Dunkin’ Donuts. Providers include family medicine physician Joseph McGinley, DO, and nurse practitioners Bethany Lengel, CRNP, and Britta Hansen, CRNP.

“We’re going to be adding two more providers soon, bringing the total to five,” Nespoli said.

As for the Care Now portion of the building, it will be open seven days a week.

According to Dr. Robert Dolansky Jr., network medical director for urgent care services, most people think urgent care centers are an extension of the emergency room, and while that is somewhat true, they are more of an extension of the primary care physician’s office.

“We recognize how busy the PCPs are and sometimes they can’t get patients in, and that is where we come in,” Dolansky said. “We have an X-ray on site. If you have a fracture we can stabilize and splint it, we have a small area for prescription and over-the-counter medications. We’ll take care of your acute problem and get you back to your primary care physician for a follow-up.”

Jim Thorpe was one of the original two Care Now locations for St. Luke’s. The network saw 5,000 patients there last year. The Lehighton facility, which opened in 2016, saw 17,000 patients last year. Since taking over the Palmerton emergency room space six months ago, St. Luke’s has seen 3,000 patients there.

The specialty office suite at the health center, Nespoli said, is going to start with radiology, gastroenterology and pain management.

“We’ll grow it from there,” Nespoli said, and eventually we would like to have every medical specialty represented on the main street of Palmerton.”

In a few months, Nespoli added, work will begin at what is now Terry’s Winner Circle car lot next to the health center. By late summer, he said, that building would look a lot like the one christened Monday.

“Plans for that building include outpatient physical therapy and some additional specialty provider officers,” Nespoli said. “Then, down the street at what is now the St. Luke’s Palmerton Primary Care, we will open the St. Luke’s Carbon County Diabetes Center. It is a huge need in this county whether it is endocrinology, nurse educators or insulin pump educators. This is all about keeping care close to home. St. Luke’s truly believes in access.”

Dr. David O’Neill, regional medical director of St. Luke’s Physician Network in Carbon County, spoke of the connection between the network and Palmerton.

“We’re a part of this community,” O’Neill said. “I see this as two great histories coming together. Together, we are going to step into the future.”

O’Neill has a practice in Lehighton, but is raising his family in Palmerton.

“If you were wondering how much St. Luke’s is betting on this area, we’re all in,” he said. “It’s an honor and privilege to provide care to this great town.”

Care Now and radiology hours will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends. Lab hours will be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to noon on weekends.