Western Pennsylvania Trauma Centers

[Miker]

St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, PA

or

Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, PA

I would go to LVH...I have never gone to St. Lukes...and LVH is also the closest hospital to my house...

[buddha]

How fortunate that you have such vast resources to choose from, all of which are reputed to excellent facilities. In our corner of the world, we are not so lucky. While we have a level ll center about a half hour from home, that time changes greatly dependent on weather (or exact location within our jurisdiction). Also, different centers in our region have developed reputations for specializing in certain areas. As stated, our "local" facility is a general trauma center, and there is another just across the PA border (about 5 minutes farther by air). AOMC and Robert Packer are both fine facilities for most cases.

The special trauma situations are better handled by more distant (and larger) centers which would be out of reach by ground but are well less than 1 hour away by ground. As examples, Strong Memorial in Rochester, NY and Geisinger in Danville, PA are both known for specialized pediatric trauma care. Strong, along with Upstate Medical in Syracuse, both have regional burn center designation. Strong also has a neurological ICU.

Where I would want my family to go is largely dependent on the specific care they may need in a specific situation.