HANOVER TWP., NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley’s newest behavioral health hospital is a step closer to opening.
On Tuesday, the last beam was placed on the Lehigh Valley Health Network and Universal Health Services facility. It’s across from LVHN’s Muhlenberg Hospital.
There were cheers and applause on Macada Road as the final steel beam was secured into place on what will be Hanover Hill Behavioral Health.
"It just signifies the end of the real rough construction, and we start to actually close in the building and start to get to see finishes and things like that,” said Todd Fairfield of Boyle Construction, the company building the site.
"What's gonna start to happen over the next few months, as you'll see walls get built around the outside of the building, which will allow us to focus on all the interior fit out work, which is where the real details of the project start to come in,” Fairfield said.
'Open up a lot of opportunities'
Fairfield said crews are on track to finishing construction next summer.
The facility will offer 144 beds that include geriatric care, adult care and adolescent inpatient care.
There currently are 52 adult beds and 13 adolescent beds for behavioral health at LVHN-Muhlenberg.
"I think it's going to open up a lot of opportunities for people to be healthy."
Dr. Rory Marraccini, LVHN
"I think it's going to open up a lot of opportunities for people to be healthy,” said Dr. Rory Marraccini, assistant medical director of LVHN's psychiatry department.
Marraccini said there is a high demand for mental health services in the area and he’s looking forward to offering those in a new hospital.
"It's the access for our community and the collaboration and the work that we'll do with UHS, and it's obviously going to be [a] state-of-the-art, brand new building,” he said.
LVHN plans to continue to provide inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, including extensive telepsychiatry programs.
It is partnering with UHS to expand its behavioral health services. LVHN and UHS expect the facility to open in fall 2025.