St. Luke’s University Health Network is asking local counties to help it borrow $150 million for multiple building projects, including an expansion of its Monroe County Campus.

The health network is in the process of obtaining a tax-free revenue bond to fund improvements at health care facilities in seven counties, with the majority going toward projects in Monroe County.

“The bulk of the bond issue is to finance our Monroe Campus expansion, which is needed because the Monroe Campus has proven to be so popular among the residents of the county and the surrounding area,” said St. Luke’s spokesman Samuel Kennedy.

While St. Luke’s guarantees the bond, federal tax regulations require them to get approval from the counties where the projects will be located.

The Monroe County Commissioners voted to support St. Luke’s proposal last week following a public hearing. Commissioners in the other counties where the projects are proposed, including Carbon, are set to vote on them in the coming days.

The health network in August announced it was expanding its Monroe Campus. A new 175,000-square-foot inpatient tower will double the size of the hospital, which opened in 2016. Groundbreaking on the project is planned for this spring, with opening to follow in early 2024.

That project could use up to $88 million of the $150 million bond.

St. Luke’s has identified more than a dozen other facilities where it would use the remaining funds for building projects.

They include the new Carbon Campus rising in Franklin Township, Lehighton Campus, Allentown Campus, Anderson Campus, and other medical facilities throughout its seven-county region.

The bond would be issued by the National Finance Authority.

St. Luke’s says the individual counties won’t be liable for paying back the bonds if something would happen that prevents the health network from making payments. But counties must still approve the bond issue under IRS code.

The Carbon County Commissioners listed the St. Luke’s proposal Thursday.