St. Luke’s Penn Foundation marks 5 years of expanded mental health care following merger
St. Luke’s Penn Foundation is celebrating five years since its merger with St. Luke’s University Health Network, highlighting expanded access to integrated mental health and addiction treatment services across eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Since joining the health network in 2021, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation has grown to operate 35 inpatient and outpatient programs at more than 30 locations, making it the region’s largest fully integrated network of mental health and addiction treatment services, according to St. Luke’s.
“Over the past five years, we have expanded our reach, enhanced the quality of our services and strengthened our ability to meet the growing mental health needs of our communities,” said Wayne A. Mugrauer, who served as president of Penn Foundation before the merger and continues to lead St. Luke’s Penn Foundation today. “As part of the Network ranked #1 in the nation for quality, safety, and patient experience, we are able to provide fully integrated mental health and medical care that improves outcomes and enhances the lives of the people we serve.”
St. Luke’s said mental health has remained a strategic priority for the health network and has consistently been identified as a top community need in its Community Health Needs Assessment. In 2018, the network tripled its number of inpatient mental health beds and later opened the Lehigh Valley’s first Level IV medical detoxification unit at St. Luke’s Sacred Heart in Allentown.
Over the past five years, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation has expanded several key services, including Mobile Engagement Services into Lehigh and lower Bucks counties, launched the Victory for Veterans program, opened a Mental Health Walk-in Center in Lehighton, expanded school-based counseling through the Your Emotional Strength Supported! program and increased Employee Assistance Program services.
The organization also opened a new outpatient office in Tamaqua, expanded its Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program, launched Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry fellowship programs, transitioned to a unified electronic health record system and consolidated its services under the St. Luke’s Penn Foundation Mental Health Services brand.
“The last five years have been transformative,” Mugrauer said. “Through new programs, expanded locations, integrated care models and strategic investments in access, we’ve been able to reach more individuals and families than ever before. From veterans and youth to people facing addiction, mental illness or a mental health crisis, our focus remains on ensuring that high-quality care is available whenever and wherever it is needed.”
