CHOP is adding Lehigh Valley Health to its network of affiliates, expanding Pa. reach

The arrangement formalized Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's reach into Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley Health Network have formed an affiliation that will give patients in Lehigh Valley easier access to advanced care at CHOP, the two nonprofits said.Read moreHandout

Published Sept. 22, 2023, 10:50 a.m. ET

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley Health Network have formed an affiliation that will give patients in Lehigh Valley and in Northeastern Pennsylvania easier access to CHOP for treatment of rare and complex diseases, the two nonprofits said Thursday.

Adding Lehigh’s 13 hospital campuses and expansive network of pediatricians significantly expands CHOP’s formal reach into Pennsylvania. Through its relationship with Penn Medicine, CHOP already has interests in Lancaster County, where it competes with Penn State Health Children’s Hospital in Hershey, Pa.

CHOP’s main hospital in University City draws patients from Lehigh’s core market. CHOP had 545 inpatients from Lehigh and Northumberland Counties in 2021, according to data from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. That year, CHOP had a total of 22,490 inpatient admissions, according to the state data.

In addition to Penn Medicine, CHOP has affiliations with numerous community hospitals and health systems, including Virtua, AtlantiCare, Redeemer Health, St. Mary Medical Center, and Einstein Medical Center Montgomery. A year ago, CHOP replaced Nemours Children’s Health as Main Line Health’s pediatric partner.

CHOP’s arrangement with Lehigh is unusual in that Lehigh has its own children’s hospital on the campus of Lehigh Valley Hospital — Cedar Crest in Allentown. Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital has 62 inpatient beds, including a 12-bed intensive care unit, a 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and an emergency department with 27 beds.

At least for now, CHOP doctors, such as neonatologists, will not work at Lehigh Valley locations, as they do at many other CHOP affiliates, CHOP said.

In 2017, CHOP announced that it was in talks to form what would have been a major affiliation with RWJBarnabas Health, one of New Jersey’s largest health systems, but a final deal was never reached.