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Sellersville & Fountain Hill, Pa. \u2013\u00a0Penn Foundation<\/a>\u00a0and St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network are pleased to announce they have received all the required regulatory approvals to allow for the completion of their merger, effective July 1, 2021. Penn Foundation is now part of St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network.<\/p>\n Watch video<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Headquartered in Sellersville, Bucks County, Penn Foundation is a nonprofit, community-based behavioral health provider with 25 behavioral health and substance use treatment programs that serve approximately 20,000 individuals annually. It operates one of Pennsylvania\u2019s first Opioid Use Disorder Centers of Excellence and is an Aetna Institute of Quality and an Independence Blue Cross Center of Distinction.<\/p>\n St. Luke\u2019s is a regional health network with 12 hospital campuses and more than 300 outpatient sites serving 11 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s hospitals have earned numerous national awards including the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health seven years in a row and in total nine times. In April, IBM Watson Health named St. Luke\u2019s among the top 15 health systems nationwide.<\/p>\n \u201cPenn Foundation has a long and proud history of providing outstanding and compassionate care based on the most recent science and research. All of us at St. Luke\u2019s are honored and pleased Penn Foundation will be joining our Network,\u201d said Rick Anderson, President & CEO of St. Luke\u2019s.<\/p>\n Wayne A. Mugrauer, who will remain President of St. Luke\u2019s Penn Foundation, said, \u201cPenn Foundation is fortunate to be well-positioned to make this strategic change for the future health of our community. Joining St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network assures continued regional access to high-quality behavioral healthcare that is fully integrated with general medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n The St. Luke\u2019s Penn Foundation partnership was unanimously approved last fall by the Board of Directors of Penn Foundation and the Board of Trustees of St. Luke\u2019s. Securing regulatory approval from various agencies followed the votes and was completed this spring.<\/p>\n Now that Penn Foundation is part of St. Luke\u2019s, St. Luke\u2019s operates the largest nonprofit network of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services in eastern Pennsylvania. The Network\u2019s combined services establish a comprehensive continuum of care to treat patients with behavioral health and substance use disorders.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter years of exploring strategic partnerships to ensure the sustainability of our mission and to position Penn Foundation to respond to extraordinary demand for services, increasing competition, and, unfortunately, diminishing funding, we are thrilled to have found an extraordinary partner in St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network,\u201d said Dorothy K. Weik-Hange, Esq., Penn Foundation Board Chair. \u201cSt. Luke\u2019s shares our community-based mission; values our history, expertise, and contributions to the fields of behavioral health and addiction treatment; and is committed to ensuring these vital services remain accessible within an integrated system of wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n Penn Foundation will retain its affiliation with Mosaic Mennonite Conference as a Conference Related Ministry. This connection to its Anabaptist faith heritage will continue to shape the ministry of Penn Foundation as it grows in its role and reach in partnership with St. Luke’s.<\/p>\n “Mosaic Conference is grateful for the good work Penn Foundation has done since 1955,” says Margaret Zook, Director of Collaborative Ministries at Mosaic Conference. “Penn Foundation ‘quietly shone a light’ as a faith-based leader in creative initiatives as it pioneered responsive and innovative approaches in behavioral health. We trust that this new partnership will empower Penn Foundation in its support of local congregations, pastors, and their communities.”<\/p>\n As part of the merger, Penn Foundation will expand its Board of Directors to include two St. Luke\u2019s representatives: Tara Koehnlein, CPA, MBA, Vice President, Finance for St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network, and Frank Ford, President, St. Luke\u2019s Sacred Heart.<\/p>\n Penn Foundation\u2019s merger with St. Luke\u2019s comes at a time when the demand for behavioral health services is rapidly rising. Rates of depression, anxiety, suicide and substance use disorder have surged because of the global pandemic.<\/p>\n St. Luke\u2019s has made behavioral health a top priority. In 2018, St. Luke\u2019s tripled its number of behavioral health inpatient beds to 168, making it the largest provider of services of this type in the Lehigh Valley. St. Luke\u2019s Sacred Heart in Allentown recently opened the region\u2019s first Level IV medical detoxification unit, providing 24-hour medical supervision to people withdrawing from alcohol or other drugs.<\/p>\n \u201cSt. Luke\u2019s recognizes the significant role that behavioral health services play in the overall health and wellbeing of our community,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThe synergies created by this agreement will benefit patients throughout our service areas for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n About St. Luke\u2019s<\/b><\/p>\n Founded in 1872,\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network<\/strong>\u00a0(SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 16,000 employees providing services at 12 hospitals sites and 300+ outpatient sites.\u00a0 With annual net revenue in excess of $2.5 billion, the Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.\u00a0 Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.\u00a0 In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke\u2019s established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only regional medical school campus.\u00a0 It also operates the nation\u2019s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 38 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 347 residents and fellows.\u00a0 St. Luke\u2019s is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s five- and four-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.\u00a0 St. Luke\u2019s is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital.\u00a0 U.S. News & World Report ranked St. Luke\u2019s #1 in the Lehigh Valley and #6 in the state.\u00a0 Three of IBM Watson Health\u2019s 100 Top Hospitals are St. Luke\u2019s hospitals.\u00a0 St. Luke\u2019s flagship University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health nine times total and seven years in a row, including in 2021 when it was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.\u00a0 In 2021, IBM Watson Health also named St. Luke\u2019s among the 15 Top Health Systems nationally.\u00a0 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\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. \u00a0St. Luke\u2019s is also recognized as one of the state\u2019s lowest cost providers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sellersville & Fountain Hill, Pa. \u2013\u00a0Penn Foundation\u00a0and St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network are pleased to announce they have received all the required regulatory approvals to allow for the completion … Continue reading Penn Foundation Joins St. Luke\u2019s<\/span>
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\nStephen Andrews
\nhttps:\/\/www.slhn.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n
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