Among Best in U.S. in Six Specialties

Lehigh Valley, Pa. (July 13, 2007) – Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH) ranks as one of the nation's top hospitals in six specialty care delivery areas in the 2007 U.S.News & World Report guide to "America’s Best Hospitals."

The 2007 list recognizes LVH among the nation's leading hospitals for:

• Cancer care
• Digestive disorders
• Endocrinology
• Geriatrics
• Gynecology
• Heart care and heart surgery

LVH has made the U.S. News rankings 12 consecutive years, with a total of 25 specialty category listings in the past four years alone.

"Our community has entrusted us with providing the highest quality care while ensuring the safety of our patients," said Elliot J. Sussman, M.D., Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network's (LVHHN) president and CEO. "This recognition by U.S. News & World Report demonstrates the experience, expertise and commitment of our teams of physicians, nurses and staff in meeting our community’s needs."

According to U.S.News & World Report, "America's Best Hospitals" assessed care in 16 specialties. Only 173 of 5,462 hospitals that were evaluated made the list in one or more specialties. In order to be considered, a hospital must meet one of three standards: membership in the Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH), affiliation with a medical school, or availability of specific technology-related services. In each specialty, a hospital must admit and treat a minimum number of patients with sufficiently complex conditions, or be cited by at least one physician as among the best in that specialty in the past three years of U.S. News surveys. These hospitals received a score that equally weighed reputation, mortality and certain care-related factors such as nursing and advanced services.

"There are many outstanding health care organizations on this list and it is an honor for LVH to be recognized among them," said Linda Lapos, president of LVHHN's medical staff of 1,100 physicians. "What is especially gratifying is being able to offer nationally recognized specialty services close to home. That's important because it means our community doesn't have to travel outside the area to receive the highest quality care."

LVH cares for more inpatients and outpatients at its Cedar Crest & I-78 site than any hospital in a nine-county region in six specialty areas including heart care and heart surgery, one of the specialties for which LVH is cited in the U.S. News rankings. The nine counties include Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Monroe, Montgomery, Lehigh, Luzerne, Northampton and Schuylkill.

LVH's latest "America's Best Hospitals" ranking follows other recent national recognition including:

• National re-certification as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the only hospital in the greater Lehigh Valley to achieve this status.
• National Magnet Hospital re-designation, the American Nurses Association's (ANA) highest honor for excellence in nursing.
• FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2007.
• Most Wired and Most Wireless hospitals 2006, and Most Wired Innovator Award by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine for creation of the Advanced Intensive Care Unit (AICU) tele-intensivist technology.
• Verispan IHN 100 most integrated health networks for the sixth straight year in 2007.

A premier academic community hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network includes three hospital facilities – two in Allentown and one in Bethlehem, Pa. – and Lehigh Valley Health Services, providing home health, hospice, pharmaceutical and health management services. These three hospitals have more than 800 beds, 1,100 physicians on staff, 1,900 registered nurses, and are the area's largest employer with a workforce of more than 8,800. LVHHN's advanced regional resources include a Level I Trauma Center with added pediatric qualifications; a regional referral Burn Center for critical care burn patients; national certification as a Primary Stroke Center; the largest cancer program in the region and fourth largest in Pennsylvania; the Regional Heart Center – the second largest heart program in Pennsylvania based on volume; and an Advanced ICU with tele-intensivists to provide an extra level of care for critical care patients.

One of Pennsylvania's largest teaching hospitals and a major teaching campus of Penn State's College of Medicine, LVHHN is also a regional resource for kidney and pancreas transplants, perinatal/neonatal care and neurology and complex neurosurgery. All three LVHHN hospitals are designated national Magnet hospitals for excellence in nursing.

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