When Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center opened its doors on Oct. 3, it fulfilled a goal of the organization. "Adding Lancaster Medical Center is another step toward delivering on our promise to ensure the communities we serve are within 10 minutes of our primary care providers, 20 minutes of our specialty care and 30 minutes of our acute care," said Joseph Frank, hospital president, East Region for Penn State Health. The medical center is located near the intersection of State Road and Harrisburg Pike in East Hempfield Township.

The new hospital is an acute care facility, and it will offer both inpatient and outpatient care from its six-story, 341,000-square-foot location that features 132 private patient beds. "Lancaster Medical Center will have inpatient services, including a cardiac catheterization lab, cardiac surgery, general surgery, labor and delivery, and complete medical and surgical capabilities," Frank noted. "It will offer outpatient services such as an Emergency Department, imaging services and physician offices."

Unique features at the facility include a "hybrid operating room," Frank said, explaining that this state-of-the-art design is an advanced procedural space that includes a traditional operating room (OR) and medical imaging devices. "Having advanced imaging and surgical technologies available in the same space makes it easier on the patient," he remarked. "Our teams will be able to give them a single visit to the hybrid OR as opposed to multiple procedures. It allows us to do more advanced interventions in the operating room."

While Frank emphasized that the most important feature of Lancaster Medical Center is its team of caregivers, he detailed design features that reflect the organization's commitment to a healthy work environment. Departments and units are designed to promote staff collaboration and efficient workflow that reduces steps and provides quick access to supplies when minutes matter, he said. "A state-of-the-art cafe with indoor and outdoor seating provides healthy dining in a soothing atmosphere," Frank shared. "Meditation areas, abundant windows with panoramic views, art and decor designs and the walking trail further promote well-being for staff and visitors."

Construction on the hospital began in 2020. "Being able to design a hospital from scratch gives you many opportunities to incorporate design and technology into an exceptional patient experience," Frank said. "We've planned so we are able to provide state-of-the-art technology for the community needs now and in the future as our community grows. We've engaged our physician partners in the technology choices just as our nurses are engaged in designing our care. And we've added expanded consumer technologies like in-room digital patient education to not only provide the highest level of quality care, but also easy accessibility, comfort and convenience."

Projected population growth was an important factor in choosing the site of the new medical center, he said. "We know that Lancaster County is growing, and along with population growth will come the need for more health care services," he commented. "This location provides a comfortable and convenient access to Penn State Health care, especially for an aging population. It allows us to anticipate the city's outgrowth and plan for our community of 10 years from now. And not just in age, but in many other measures of diversity. Understanding the changing face of our community has been a key driver for our decisions from staffing, to care design to locations."

For more information, visit http://www.pennstatehealth.org.