St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) has once again earned national recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for its commitment to delivering high-quality, evidence-based stroke care. Hospitals across the Network received 2026 Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus awards, along with multiple Target: Stroke, Target: Type 2 DiabetesTM and Rural Stroke distinctions.
“These awards reflect the extraordinary dedication of our physicians, nurses, therapists, EMS partners and support teams across the Network,” said Daniel Ackerman, MD, FAAN, Section Chief of Neurology and Director of Stroke and Vascular Neurology at St. Luke’s University Health Network. “Every day, they work together to ensure that patients experiencing a stroke receive timely, evidence-based care that gives them the best opportunity for recovery.”
Highlights of the 2026 Recognition
Nine St. Luke’s hospitals earned Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus recognition:
- St. Luke’s Allentown Campus
- St. Luke’s Anderson Campus
- St. Luke’s University Hospital – Bethlehem
- St. Luke’s Carbon Campus
- St. Luke’s Easton Campus
- St. Luke’s Miners Campus
- St. Luke’s Monroe Campus
- St. Luke’s Upper Bucks Campus
- Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital
St. Luke’s University Hospital in Bethlehem received the Network’s highest distinction, earning Get With the Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite, Target: Stroke Advanced Therapy and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognitions.
Eight St. Luke’s hospitals earned Get With the Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognition:
- St. Luke’s Anderson Campus
- St. Luke’s Carbon Campus
- St. Luke’s Grand View Campus
- St. Luke’s Miners Campus
- St. Luke’s Monroe Campus
- St. Luke’s Upper Bucks Campus
- St. Luke’s Warren Campus
- Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital
St. Luke’s Allentown Campus and St. Luke’s Easton Campus earned Get With the Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll recognition.
In addition, Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Luke’s Miners Campus received the Get With the Guidelines® – Rural Stroke Gold recognition, while St. Luke’s Monroe Campus earned the Get With the Guidelines® Rural Stroke Bronze recognition.
“These recognitions demonstrate the strength of our integrated stroke program and our commitment to providing consistent, high-quality care throughout the Network,” Dr. Ackerman said. “Whether a patient is treated at one of our larger regional centers or a community hospital, they can expect the same focus on rapid diagnosis, advanced treatment and coordinated recovery services.”
SLUHN earned these honors by meeting rigorous national standards for stroke diagnosis and treatment, including rapid intervention, adherence to evidence-based clinical guidelines and ongoing quality improvement initiatives. The awards recognize hospitals that demonstrate a sustained commitment to improving patient outcomes and reducing the long-term effects of stroke.
“Stroke care is a race against time,” Dr. Ackerman said. “These awards recognize our continued investment in the people, technology and processes that allow us to deliver lifesaving care quickly and effectively.”
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 highest 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:
Sam Kennedy
