St. Luke’s is the region’s only health network to earn a spot on the annual list recognizing excellence in clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, patient experience and financial health.

St. Luke’s University Health Network has been named to Premier’s 2024 PINC AI 100 Top Hospitals list published by Fortune magazine.

This is the 10^th time in a row and the 12^th time overall that St. Luke’s University Hospital has been recognized among the 100 Top Hospitals in the United States. St. Luke’s is the only health network in the greater Lehigh Valley region to ever earn this distinction.

“St. Luke’s has earned the 100 Top Hospitals designation for a remarkable 10 years in a row and 12 years overall. The facts speak for themselves. Our Network delivers the highest quality health care with the best clinical results not only in our region, but nationwide,” said Rick Anderson, President and CEO of St. Luke’s University Health Network. “This outstanding achievement is a direct result of the outstanding care provided by our physicians, nurses and our entire St. Luke’s team. This remarkable award is a result of their unwavering focus on our patients and quality at every level of our organization.”

The 100 Top Hospitals ranking, conducted annually since 1993, is the most prestigious honor for hospitals in the United States. It is based entirely on objective data and also as top performers are not subjected to the exorbitant, pay-for-play promotional fees associated with recognitions from other organizations such as U.S. News & World Report.

PINC AI, the technology and services platform of healthcare consultancy Premier, Inc., has identified the top hospitals from a rigorous evaluation of 2,601 acute care, non-federal hospitals in the U.S., recognizing excellence in patient outcomes and quality as well as operational efficiency, financial health and community impact.

In Pennsylvania, a total of only six hospitals earned a place on the 100 Top Hospitals list. Three of the six are St. Luke’s campuses:

• St. Luke’s University Hospital, which comprises the Bethlehem, Allentown and Sacred Heart campuses, was recognized among the 15 best Major Teaching Hospitals. No other hospital in the Major Teaching category this year has been named to the list more times than St. Luke’s.
• St. Luke’s Anderson Campus was recognized among the 25 Best Teaching Hospitals.
• St. Luke’s Miners Campus was among 20 winners in the Small Community Hospital category.

“The winning organizations that rose to the top outperformed their peer hospitals,” Fortune said in its article about the 100 Top Hospitals list. “If all hospitals performed at the level of the nation’s top 100, more than 350,000 additional patient lives would be saved, more than 607,000 individuals would be spared in-hospital complications, and more than 16,600 patients would be spared readmission within 30 days of their hospital stay. That amounts to more than $17.6 billion in savings, as well.”

For more information, visit https://fortune.com/article/100-top-hospitals-2024-pinc-ai/.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 300+ outpatient sites.  With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.

Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.  In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school campus.  It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 45 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 400 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke’s, a member of the Children’s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.

SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.  It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital.  The Network’s flagship University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from Fortune/PINC AI 11 times total and eight years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.  In 2021, St. Luke’s was identified as one of the 15 Top Health Systems nationally.  Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.  The Network is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.

Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy