The Judith Adele Agentis Charitable Foundation (JAACF) proudly presented a $45,500 gift to St. Luke’s University Health Network during the 2026 High Notes Gala, a signature evening celebrating compassion, community and the power of philanthropy.
Held in support of hospice and palliative care services, the annual gala brought together community leaders, clinicians, donors and supporters dedicated to ensuring that patients and families receive exceptional care during life’s most vulnerable moments.
The Judith Adele Agentis Charitable Foundation (JAACF) was created in 2013 by Bob Agentis in loving memory of his late wife, Judith Adele Agentis, who battled pancreatic cancer. After experiencing firsthand the compassion and dignity provided through hospice and palliative care, Bob was led to transform his grief into purpose. “This foundation was created to make sure no one feels alone or depleted during those final chapters,” said Founder Bob Agentis.
Since formally partnering with St. Luke’s in 2020, JAACF has:
- Contributed more than $100,000 in direct philanthropic support to St. Luke’s hospice and palliative care programs
- Established the Judith Adele Agentis Palliative Care Nursing Education Fund, supporting advanced certification and continuing education for hospice and palliative care nurses
- Helped advance the development of a first-of-its-kind Palliative and Hospice Fellowship in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- Expanded its philanthropic vision in 2026 with the creation of a new endowment supporting GI Medical Oncology research, with a focus on pancreatic cancer
Dr. Erin Bendas, a palliative care physician at St. Luke’s, shared how the gift has a direct impact on members of the community. “Gifts like this ensure that we can provide not only exceptional medical care but also dignity, comfort and presence for patients and families,” Dr. Bendas said.
The $45,500 gift presented at the gala supports these critical programs and reflects the generosity of attendees, sponsors and donors who believe deeply in St. Luke’s mission.
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than $4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley’s biggest employer.
The Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.
Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation’s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 550+ residents and fellows. Additionally, the St. Luke’s College of Health Sciences opened in 2026.
In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked St. Luke’s #1 – ahead of Houston Methodist and Mayo Clinic, two of the nation’s most prestigious institutions – as the nation’s top health system for quality, safety and patient experience. This objective recognition, based on public data reported to the government, reaffirms St. Luke’s preeminent position as THE BEST OF THE BEST among the most respected health care systems in the United States.
St. Luke’s has been named a Leapfrog Group Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. In 2026, all of the Network’s eligible hospital campuses were awarded Medicare’s highest ratings for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. The Network also earned straight A’s for safety from Leapfrog across all of its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 12 years in a row, including in 2026 when the Network was identified as THE #1 MEDIUM-SIZE HEALTH SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy
