- Allentown zoning officials on Monday approved St. Luke’s plans to open a new drug and alcohol treatment facility at 451 W. Chew St.
- St. Luke’s needed zoning approval to seek state approval for the new facility
- The new treatment center could serve up to 100 patients
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown Zoning Hearing Board took little time Monday night approving a request by St. Luke’s to open a new drug and alcohol treatment facility at one of its buildings near downtown.
Officials from the health network said it’s the only hurdle they expect to face as they work to get an operating license from state agencies.
St. Luke’s needed zoning approval before submitting its application to the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, according to Amy Maurizio, who leads the network’s substance-use and recovery services.
“We're looking to be able to provide group and individual therapy in that office to be able to better serve the community."Amy Maurizio, St. Luke's director of operations for substance-use disorder and recovery services
The building at 451 W. Chew St. — a medical-office building connected to Sacred Heart Hospital via a third-floor walkway — is used for primary and specialty care services, but also has a breast imaging center and a pharmacy.
“We're looking to be able to provide group and individual therapy in that office to be able to better serve the community,” Maurizio said.
The new facility is expected to initially provide up to 100 patients with “intensive outpatient services” after they’ve completed detox and other steps of the recovery process, she said.
“Hopefully, someday, it'll grow into something much larger,” Maurizio said.
'Last step' to recovery
After the zoning board signed off on the plan in less than 10 minutes Monday, Maurizio said she was confident the facility will “very quickly” build its capacity to serve patients.
The facility’s outpatient services will be “the last step of the process” as St. Luke’s works “to keep [people] in the community and out of the emergency room, out of detox.”Frank Ford, president of St. Luke’s Sacred Heart campus in Allentown.
The facility’s outpatient services will be “the last step of the process” as St. Luke’s works “to keep [people] in the community and out of the emergency room, out of detox,” said Frank Ford, president of St. Luke’s Sacred Heart campus in Allentown.
The drug and alcohol treatment facility would let St. Luke’s care for people from when they first seek treatment in emergency rooms through their completion of the recovery program six to nine months later, health network officials said.
Maurizio said the facility is an extension of St. Luke’s SHARE program — St. Luke’s University Health Network Addiction Recovery Engagement — which provides medication-assisted treatment for addiction.
