LVH to Buy Westfield Hospital

Written by Mary Ellen Alu

Lehigh Valley Health Network will acquire the assets of Westfield Hospital in South Whitehall and transform it into the Center for Orthopedic Medicine, LVHN and Westfield Hospital announced Thursday.

In a news release, the two announced they have signed an agreement that will allow LVHN to operate and staff the new orthopedic center at Westfield’s current site, 4815-4825 W. Tilghman St., and consolidate the network's orthopedic services there. 

The center will tentatively open in early 2014, but LVHN will take ownership of the services in December, the release said. The new center will offer a range of orthopedic care, with a focus on total joint replacement and spine surgery.

Also as part of the transaction, Lehigh Valley Hospital Network will run the Westfield Surgery Center for ambulatory surgery. It has three operating rooms and two procedure rooms.

The hospital's emergency department will be converted into an urgent care facility, in preliminary plans, the release said.

Ronald Swinfard, LVHN’s president and CEO, said of the purchase of Westfield's assets: "This location offers convenience for our patients because of its accessibility and operational efficiencies for both inpatient and outpatient care.”

He said LVHN will operate its existing orthopedic services as part of the Center for Orthopedic Medicine. Those services are currently located at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg, Lehigh Valley Hospital-17th St. and Fairgrounds Surgical Center.

Westfield Hospital, which has 25 licensed beds, currently employs about 100 people. Its employees will be given an opportunity to seek jobs at the new Center for Orthopedic Medicine or at other LVHN campuses, the release said. The new facility is expected to employ about 100 people.

In the release, Dr. Yasin Khan, CEO of Westfield Hospital, thanked the doctors, nurses and staff who have cared for patients at the hospital since it opened in South Whitehall in 2007.

Dr. Yasin Khan and Dr. Elizabeth Khan will continue their private, independent practices— Comprehensive Pain Centers and Tilghman Medical Center—in a medical office building on the site, the release said. 

The purchase price was not disclosed.

The hospital, surgery center and medical office building include 65,000 square feet of space. The hospital accounts for about 45,000 square feet of that area. 

Lehigh Valley Hospital has been listed among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals for orthopedics five times, including the most recent report released in July, according to the release.