Gov. Rendell Announces PA's Largest Health Care Investment in the Region for St. Luke's Riverside

Grants from Multiple Departments to Create Jobs, Improve Local Economy and Expand Health Services

Bethlehem Township (10/29/2009) – Today, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced more than $17 million in investments to support development of St. Luke's Riverside in Bethlehem Township, St. Luke's future premier health campus near the intersection of Rt. 33 and I-78. The comprehensive funding package is the largest health care investment made by Governor Rendell in the Lehigh Valley. Governor Rendell was sworn into office in January 2003.

St. Luke's Riverside project will enhance the lives of thousands of Pennsylvanians as well as have a dramatic economic impact on the region. St. Luke's expects to initially create more than 685 new direct jobs and 700 indirect jobs representing a yearly payroll impact of $28 million and an indirect payroll impact of $24 million. An estimated 150 to 200 construction jobs will be created as well.

Now under construction, St. Luke's Riverside will feature an acute care inpatient hospital, the region's only free-standing Cancer Center and a medical office building. St. Luke's Riverside will offer access to leading-edge medicine and, in partnership with GE, provide some of the world's most advanced technology in environmentally-sensitive facilities.

The Commonwealth's funding will support an initial investment of more than $182 million by St. Luke's for land acquisition and construction of 251,000-square feet of new hospital and medical space. The amount also includes $25 million in local road improvements to Freemansburg Avenue.

“This project is very exciting news for Pennsylvania, especially in this difficult economic climate. Not only will St. Luke's Riverside provide a wide range of high-quality health care services, but it will also create nearly 1,400 new jobs for the hardworking men and women of the Lehigh Valley,” said Governor Rendell. “Major projects like this don't happen by accident, and St. Luke's expansion shows how we can create new opportunities and revitalize our economy and communities by investing in ourselves.”

Phase I of the project is targeted for completion in late 2011. When fully developed, St. Luke's Riverside is expected to be the largest contiguous health care campus in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the United States.

"As we look forward today, it is important we take a moment to pay tribute to our current and past Boards of Trustees whose leadership has positioned St. Luke's for the great success it enjoys today and for the unprecedented success to come here at Riverside,” said David Lobach, Chairman, Board of Trustees, St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network. “We are forever indebted to the unending influence of these outstanding men and women from our community who have ensured this community's continued access to nationally recognized health care for generations to come."

"Today, we celebrate the outstanding community benefit that occurs when government and an organization such as St. Luke's combine their expertise to successfully partner to benefit those who live and work in this region—both now and in the future,” said Richard A. Anderson, President and CEO, St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network. “At St. Luke's, we dream big and we invent our future with the help of outstanding partners such as the Governor and his staff, our State Representatives and Senators, and our friends and partners who govern Bethlehem Township. Nothing is impossible to accomplish when well-intentioned people work together."

Joining Governor Rendell, Richard Anderson and David Lobach were the Rev. Dr. Douglas Caldwell and Ken Smith, immediate past Chairmen, Board of Trustees, St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network, and Jon Hammer, Township Manager of Bethlehem Township.

State Senators and State Representatives, who with their caucuses assisted in securing the funding for St. Luke's Riverside, were welcomed at the ceremony along with Bethlehem Township officials, community business leaders, physicians and friends of St. Luke's.

The comprehensive funding package includes funding from several Pennsylvania departments - the Department of Community & Economic Development with funding from the Infrastructure Facilities and Improvement Program; the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to support improvements to Freemansburg Avenue; and the House Republican and Democratic caucuses through the Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program.

Projected Future Development and Economic Impact

St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network owns 500 acres of land in Bethlehem Township, Northampton County near the intersection of SR 33 and I-78. Referred to as St. Luke's Riverside, this location is considered by many real estate experts as one of the few remaining premier development sites on the eastern seaboard. The site is bisected by SR 33 and a connector road under SR 33 is planned. The 200 acres west of SR 33 is referred to as “Riverside West” and is intended for health care uses only. To the east are 300 acres referred to as “Riverside East” that could accommodate mixed use development.

The development of the entire Riverside Campus will take several decades to complete. Development of Riverside West is master-planned to occur as nine projects over at least the next 10 years. In total these projects would encompass over one million square feet of construction and create an estimated 5,280 permanent new direct and indirect jobs, as well as thousands of new construction jobs. Over the longer term, an additional one million square feet of hospital, research and clinical space and 4,100 more new direct new and indirect jobs are anticipated.

Development of Riverside East can accommodate the construction of at least 3.5 million square feet of mixed-use space. These facilities have the potential to create 5,500 new direct health care and non-health care related jobs as well as a substantial number of indirect jobs.

It is expected that the recently announced Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network will eventually relocate to the St. Luke's Riverside Campus.

St. Luke's has secured and reserved sufficient sewer capacity to support full build out of the Riverside Campus. Likewise, plans are underway to improve Freemansburg Avenue (which intersects with SR 33) to mitigate the total new traffic associated with the full build out of the Campus.

Current Status of St Luke's Riverside

In August 2009, three years after an intense land development planning process with Bethlehem Township, site work began on Phase I of St. Luke's Riverside. Initial construction features 251,000-square feet of new space including a 126,000-square foot acute care inpatient hospital, a 48,000-square foot free standing Cancer Center and a 77,000-square foot medical office building. A completion date of late 2011 is expected.

Technology

The General Electric Company is a strategic partner of St. Luke's. St. Lukes Riverside will showcase GE Healthcare and has been selected as one of GE five global show sites, allowing St. Luke's to feature some of the worlds most advanced radiology, interventional radiology and women's imaging technology available anywhere in the world. St. Luke's Riverside will incorporate an array of environmentally-friendly building materials, energy efficient lighting, heating and cooling systems.

Community Statistics

Anticipating the health care needs of the community is a priority to St. Luke's. St. Luke's Riverside is poised to become one of the largest single sites for health care in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In addition to a local catchment area of more than one million people, Riverside has easy highway access to more than 7.5 million people within a 50-mile driving radius. The sheer size of the site will make it possible to co-locate a variety of synergistic partners offering a wide range of health related clinical services, research and educational programs.