St. Luke’s Named among Most Socially Responsible in Nation, Best in Pennsylvania
St. Luke’ University Health Network has once again been recognized by the Lown Institute for outstanding social responsibility, receiving an ‘A’ grade on the 2025-26 Lown Institute Hospitals Index.
St. Luke’s is 5th in the nation out of 322 health systems for social responsibility, according to Lown, an independent health care think tank based in Massachusetts.
“This report’s findings reflect St. Luke’s dedication to expand access to our Network’s world-class, outcomes-driven quality care,” said St. Luke’s Vice President of Community Health Rajika Reed, PhD., MPH, MEd. “As the Lehigh Valley’s only locally based, independent health care network, proudly caring for those in need for over 150 years, we are fully committed to and invested in advancing the wellbeing of our communities.”
Out of more than 2,700 hospitals measured by Lown, only 5% achieved honor roll status, with St. Luke’s ranking among this select group of high performers.
St. Luke’s Hospital – Upper Bucks Campus (Quakertown) is ranked No. 1 out of 114 acute care/critical access hospitals in Pennsylvania and No. 14 nationally out of 2,717 hospitals on thesocial responsibility metric.
St. Luke’s University Hospital – Bethlehem (which includes the Allentown and Sacred Heart campuses) is ranked No. 1 in the state for patient safety, and No. 8 overall in the nation.
A total of 11 individual St. Luke’s hospitals earned Honor Roll status this year, with ‘A’ grades across all of the top four categories, Social Responsibility, Equity, Value of Care, and Patient Outcomes.
The Honor Roll hospitals include:
- St. Luke’s University Hospital (Bethlehem,Allentown and Sacred Heart campuses)
- St. Luke’s Anderson Campus
- St. Luke’s Carbon Campus
- St. Luke’s Easton Campus
- St. Luke’s Miners Campus
- St. Luke’s Monroe Campus
- St. Luke’s Upper Bucks Campus
- St. Luke’s Warren Campus
- Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital
“Hospitals are facing unprecedented political and financial challenges,” said Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute. “In this uncertain environment, it’s more important than ever to support the socially responsible hospitals who are delivering high-quality care to all in their community.”
The Lown Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility is the only ranking to combinemetrics of health equity and value of care alongside patient outcomes for more than 2,700 acute care and 800 critical access hospitals nationwide, offering a holistic view of hospitals as total community partners. In the sixth annual rankings, the 2025-26 Lown Index evaluates hospitals on over 50 measures including novel metrics such as community benefit, racial inclusivity and avoidance of overuse. Data sources include Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage claims, CMS patient safety data and hospital cost reports, and IRS 990 forms, among others. Full methodology can be found on the Lown Index website.
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 21,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue of $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 oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 52 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 500 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke’s, a member of the Children’s Hospital Association, established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.
St. Luke’s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight A’s from Leapfrog across all of its 11 acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Fortune/PINC AI 11 years in a row, including in 2021 when its flagship University Hospital was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. 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 SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy
