Cody Yanochko is usually a bit introverted and not always very eager to take part in new activities. The 15-year-old from Lehigh Township is on the autism spectrum.
“When Cody was younger, we had a lot of difficulty getting him to try out anything new, even going to school,” said mom Melanie Turock, DO, an emergency medicine physician with St. Luke’s. “Sometimes the transition to leave mom was very difficult.”
Not so during Camp Via, a 10-week daytime summer program for teens and young adults with special needs between the ages 13 and 21. It runs June 15-Aug. 14.
“This is his second summer doing Camp Via and he loves it,” Dr Turock said. “Every day he is excited to go to camp, and when I try to walk him in, he is so excited that runs to his area. When we pick him up, he’ll tell you how his day went, and every day is always awesome. Because of Camp Via, we’ve seen hm blossom with his social skills.”
Via of the Lehigh Valley organizes Camp Via to prioritize the development of life skills for the campers, doing everything from learning to operate a cash register to volunteering with Meals on Wheels, along with traditional camp agendas like crafts and sports.
In July, St. Luke’s Week at Camp Via included two days at St. Luke’s SportsPlex in Allentown, nutrition education with a certified registered dietitian, and adventure skills at Blue Mountain Ski Resort.
“Camp Via is about helping young people discover their strengths, explore their communities, and prepare for successful, fulfilling futures,” said Lisa Walkiewicz, President and CEO of Via of the Lehigh Valley. “We make learning fun, whether it’s practicing job interviews, building a résumé, volunteering, or developing everyday life skills. At the same time, we connect families with the services and supports they’ll need as their children transition into adulthood, so they feel informed, empowered, and ready for what comes next.”
For more information on Camp Via, go their website at www.ViaNet.org and search on their “What We Do” pulldown at the top.
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 a 2025 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, St. Luke’s achieved the highest quality score of the nation’s recognized top three high performing health systems. 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:
Gary R. Blockus
