Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, a nationally recognized physical rehabilitation leader that offers an innovative continuum of care for adults and children with physical and cognitive needs, announced plan to build a new, state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Hospital on Center Valley Parkway.

The three-story, 75-bed, inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital will be constructed on 12 acres of network-owned land, directly across from The Promenade Shops in Center Valley/Upper Saucon Township.

The 123,000-square-foot facility will feature all private rooms and offer world-class physical rehabilitation care to patients who are recovering from complex and catastrophic conditions, such as stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple traumatic injuries, amputation, neurodegenerative diseases and more.

“Good Shepherd’s Center Valley campus will serve as a destination for recovery for patients - from our region and across the globe - who turn to Good Shepherd for our unique brand of hope, compassion, comfort and healing,” said Gary Schmidt, Chair, Board of Trustees.

“The project is closely tied to our mission, vision and a key component in achieving our Strategic Plan,” Schmidt said. “The Board of Trustees was extremely deliberate and thoughtful in taking this historic step.”

The new hospital will provide acute inpatient rehabilitation for adults, including physiatry services, nursing, occupational, physical, recreational and speech therapies, imaging, pharmacy, clinical psychology and more. The building will house dedicated units for specific conditions (such as brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke and more) and feature a multistory therapy gym.

“This leading-edge facility will allow us to continue offering world-class physical rehabilitation - and to do so in a modern, comfortable space that maximizes patient recovery,” said Executive Director Frank Hyland, MS, PT. “We also are excited to provide Good Shepherd Associates with an energizing, innovative environment that will help them grow as professionals, while they work to advance our industry.”

Plans call for the Center Valley-based Rehabilitation Hospital to replace GSRN’s existing South Allentown-based Rehabilitation Hospital, which opened in 1983. GSRN is currently conducting a feasibility study to analyze re-use options for the current hospital building, which stands at 850 S. Fifth St., Allentown.

“While our current Rehabilitation Hospital operations and staff will eventually shift to Center Valley, we fully intend to maintain a strong presence in South Allentown,” Schmidt said, adding that GSRN’s administrative offices and support services will remain in South Allentown, as will a number of other patient and resident services, including long-term care, outpatient rehabilitation and physician services.

The new Rehabilitation Hospital will be built on a 45-acre parcel of land that GSRN acquired in 2016. GSRN is in the process of evaluating future uses for the remaining acreage that will benefit Good Shepherd’s patients and families as well as the surrounding Upper Saucon Township community.

Good Shepherd’s Office of Business Development is working with KRN Development and Francis Cauffman Architects for design of the new hospital and campus.

Selection of a project construction firm is pending an open bid process. Construction is anticipated to take two years. The cost of the new facility has not been finalized.