Highlights of 2005 Accomplishments

Our cancer patients’ satisfaction level is consistently in the top 1 percent nationwide, due to skilled and friendly staff, concern with patient comfort, less waiting time, easy scheduling and good explanations from physicians.

Our Regional Burn Center is one of only six in a 150-mile radius accredited by the American Burn Association.

In hospitals with maternal fetal medicine, there are 15 percent fewer problems in full-term babies and 54 percent fewer problems in premature (earlier than 37 weeks) babies.

Each year, health care information company Verispan ranks health networks nationwide. Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network ranks No.1 in the Northeast and No.10 in the nation.

Lehigh Valley Hospital’s inpatient satisfaction level ranks in the 93rd percentile compared with other similar-size hospitals nationwide.

Lehigh Valley Hospital ranks in the “100 most-wired” nationally for use of information technology in patient safety.

Nearly 94 percent of our medical staff is board-certified (a key measure of skill) vs. 89 percent nationally.

We expect our workforce of more than 8,000 to exceed 10,000 in three years.

The tele-intensivist program and other new technologies give our ICU nurses 1 hour and 15 minutes more time every day for hands-on care.

Lehigh Valley Hospital treated 2,850 new cancer patients this year, more than any other cancer center in the region. This volume makes ours the fourth-largest cancer program in Pennsylvania.

1,720 seriously ill or injured people were transported by the MedEvac helicopters. Our hospitals had a total of 83,118 admissions and 113,173 emergency room visits this year.

57,562 community members attended health classes, fairs, screenings and other programs this year.

Your best chance of recovery from stroke is to get clot-busting medication within 180 minutes. Our certified Primary Stroke Center administers it, on average, within 88 minutes.

This year, 185 residents took part in our graduate medical education and dental residency programs, and more than 2,159 doctors, nurses and others attended our continuing medical education programs.

Our sliding scale—based on 200 percent of the federal poverty level—is generous. An example: A family of four with a household income of $38,700 or less is eligible for 100 percent free care.

We had 118,212 visits from child and adult patients at the community practices at Lehigh Valley Hospital—17th and Chew and the clinic at Lehigh Valley Hospital—Muhlenberg.

Our employees donated $336,705 to the United Way this year.

135,791 calls were made to 402-CARE for health information and service referral.

Our physicians donated 40,502 hours of free care and education this year.

For the 10th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named Lehigh Valley Hospital among “America’s Best.” We’re honored this year in digestive diseases, geriatrics, heart care and surgery, hormonal disorders and orthopedics.

Lehigh Valley Hospital won the 2005 VHA Leadership Award in heart care, and we are one of just four nationwide to win a McKesson/American Hospital Association Quest for Quality prize.

Our coronary artery bypass surgery results are the best in Pennsylvania for a second straight year. Our mortality rate is 0.5 percent vs. 2 percent statewide, and we are the only hospital with lower-than-expected mortality both in the hospital and 30 days later.

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