Photo caption:\u00a0<\/b>Al Gerra, left, with Michel Lloyd, enjoy a meal at St. Luke\u2019s Anderson Campus.<\/b><\/p>\n
Even a frigid cold day in January after a near-record snow couldn\u2019t stop area senior citizens from heading to St. Luke\u2019s Anderson Campus in Northampton County for their evening meal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe food is delicious, but the main reason we come is the people,\u201d said retired physician Ralph Shields of Bethlehem. \u201cThe friends. We have friends we get to see here all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
His wife, Jean Soloi, was a bit more focused on the food. \u201cDo they have a good dessert,\u201d she asked. \u201cI have to get it first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dozens of senior citizens turn out every weekday night to the cafeterias at 10 St. Luke\u2019s campuses to take advantage of the Older Adult Meal Program.<\/p>\n
Over at Geisinger St. Luke\u2019s Hospital in Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County, 85-year-old Clem Utara from nearby Deer Lake goes 4-5 times a week depending on the menu, and gets there early to save seats for five friends so they can all sit together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe food is good,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ambiance here, the people, the staff, it just feels nice. I look forward to it, and to seeing everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
For just $3.99, adults 65-and-over receive a nutritious and healthy meal that includes an entree, a soup or salad, a side dish, vegetable, dessert and a 12-ounce drink. All the meals are prepared fresh daily, and many of the ingredients are grown at the St. Luke\u2019s Rodale Institute Organic Farm, a 14-acre area that grows more than 70 varieties of about 30 types of produce.<\/p>\n
St. Luke\u2019s began the Older Adult Meal Program in\u00a02017,\u00a0one component of a broader Senior Health Program committed to helping older adults stay as healthy and independent as long as possible.<\/p>\n
According to a study in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, about one-third of older adults reported feeling lonely or a felt a lack of companionship, with that percentage raising the lower their income. Loneliness and social isolation increased the mortality rate by more than 25%.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis initiative addresses many of the needs outlined in our 2025 Community Health Need Assessment comprehensively \u2013 from access, healthy fresh food, to building companionship for community development,\u201d said Rajika E. Reed,\u00a0Ph.D., MPH, M.Ed., Vice President of Community Health for St. Luke\u2019s. \u201cAlong with the adults participating in the meal program, our partners in the community have been overwhelming positive about the benefits of this program, as it serves our senior population \u2013 a group frequently missed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Older Adult Meal Program, providing affordable nutritious meals along with social contact, exemplifies the unique culture that has made St. Luke\u2019s the top-ranked health care system in the country. In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked St. Luke\u2019s #1 ahead of Houston Methodist and Mayo Clinic as the nation\u2019s top health system for quality, safety and patient experience\u2014an objective recognition reaffirming St. Luke\u2019s preeminent position as a leader among the largest and most respected health care providers in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe food is good and it\u2019s good company, but it\u2019s a great value,\u201d said Butch Cutrona of Plainfield Township, who was there with his partner, Theresa. While often it\u2019s the relatively low price of the meals that initially draws people, it\u2019s the quality and camaraderie that keeps them coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter-in-law told me about this a long time ago,\u201d Theresa Rothrock said. \u201cI never really thought about coming until one of the friends I\u00a0have\u00a0breakfast with said she was coming, so we came. That was two years ago, and we\u2019ve been coming ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theresa said that the friends they meet make the evening meals special. She and Butch attend almost every weeknight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sit with our friends and we laugh so much,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople say they want to sit at our table because we\u2019re having so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ralph and Jean said they attend two or three nights a week. He is a retired St. Luke\u2019s family practice internal medicine doctor, the middle of a three-generation chain of St. Luke\u2019s doctors starting with his father and now his son.<\/p>\n
Ian Russell, the general manager for Dietary Administration at the Anderson Campus, said they serve 60-100 Older Adult meals every day, averaging 63 meals per weekday over the last year. The Warren (NJ) Campus led the way by\u00a0averaging\u00a080 meals per weekday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get a big crowd, about 20-30 who are regulars every day,\u201d he said. \u201cSome of them get here well before we are ready to serve at 4 o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sally Boyer, a Nutrition Services aide, is the shining star for the seniors on Wednesday nights. She knows everyone\u2019s name and everyone asks her what’s being served before they get to the dinner line.<\/p>\n
Hours vary a bit from campus to campus for the Older Adult meals, but they are served on weekdays Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n
Many of the campuses also offer an expert speaker during the meals one night a month who speaks on physical or mental health topics.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 1872, St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than $4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is\u00a0the Lehigh\u00a0Valley\u2019s biggest employer.<\/p>\n The Network\u2019s 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\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.<\/p>\n Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established\u00a0the Lehigh\u00a0Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation\u2019s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 530+ residents and fellows.<\/p>\n In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognized St. Luke\u2019s ahead of nationally renowned Mayo Clinic and Houston Methodist as the nation\u2019s three highest performing health systems for quality, safety and patient experience \u2013 affirming St. Luke\u2019s status as a leader among the largest and best-known health care providers in the country.<\/p>\n St. Luke\u2019s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality,\u00a0efficiency\u00a0and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight A\u2019s from Leapfrog across all of its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 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\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.<\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: Photo caption:\u00a0Al Gerra, left, with Michel Lloyd, enjoy a meal at St. Luke\u2019s Anderson Campus. Even a frigid cold day in January after a near-record snow couldn\u2019t stop area senior … Continue reading St. Luke\u2019s Older Adult Meal Program Is a Big Hit among Seniors<\/span>
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"