{"id":149487,"date":"2026-05-18T22:48:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/?p=149487"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:48:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:48:51","slug":"st-lukes-college-of-health-sciences-opens-with-inaugural-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/?p=149487","title":{"rendered":"St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences Opens with Inaugural Class"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><b>Photo caption, L-R: Joel Fagerstrom, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer St. Luke&#8217;s University Health Network ; Carol Kuplen, retired President St. Luke&#8217;s University Hospital Bethlehem; Richard A. Anderson, President &amp; CEO St. Luke&#8217;s University Health Network .<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<div><em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">\u200b\u200b<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<p>St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network celebrated the opening of St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences on Monday, May 18.<\/p>\n<p>The College, which operates on the campus of St. Luke\u2019s University Hospital in Bethlehem, offers the following programs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Radiography (Associate Degree)<\/li>\n<li>Respiratory Care (Associate Degree)<\/li>\n<li>RN to BSN (Bachelor\u2019s Degree)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition to its degree-granting programs, the College offers various general education courses.<\/p>\n<p>The inaugural student class includes approximately 150 students across all programs and courses with 73 starting during the summer session and the remaining beginning this fall. One of these students is Brianne Swope, who is enrolled in the RN to BSN program and is a graduate of St. Luke\u2019s School of Nursing.<\/p>\n<p>Brianne began her journey as a volunteer before working in a nursing home from 2007 to 2020. While completing her prerequisites for the School of Nursing, she applied for a position with \u00a0 St. Luke\u2019s Mental Health to get her foot in the door. She ultimately completed the School of Nursing program with full tuition reimbursement.<\/p>\n<p>Since graduating, Brianne has continued her career in mental health at St. Luke\u2019s Penn Foundation. She is grateful for the flexibility of the online RN to BSN program, which allows her to pursue her education while working full time. Brianne plans to remain with St. Luke\u2019s after completing the RN to BSN program and hopes to continue working in mental health\u2014a cause especially close to her heart.<\/p>\n<p>Approval to establish St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences was granted in October 2025 by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, marking a strategic step that will shape the future of health care education and workforce development in the Lehigh Valley and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a historic milestone for the Lehigh Valley,\u201d said Mary Grace Simcox, EdD, RN, first president of St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences. \u201cThe launch of St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences reflects a bold commitment to strengthening our health care workforce by providing an affordable, local pathway to high-demand careers complete with guaranteed clinical placements, hands-on learning, small class sizes and clear opportunities for professional advancement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Respiratory Care and Radiography classes will be held at the Priscilla Payne Hurd Education Center, while the RN to BSN program will be offered fully online with a curriculum designed to support adult learners seeking non-traditional college experiences. Students will also have access to simulation and skills labs, study areas and library resources.<\/p>\n<p>St. Luke\u2019s longstanding partnerships with regional colleges and universities will continue while the new College expands the Network\u2019s ability to address workforce shortages in critical health care roles by broadening access to education. Even with these strong partnerships, the need to establish an institution of higher learning is critical, Simcox said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the health care and social assistance sector is projected to experience the largest job growth of any industry between 2024 and 2034, driven by an aging population and persistent workforce shortages. Meeting this demand requires strong, accessible education pathways that support individuals at every stage of their professional journey.<\/p>\n<p>St. Luke\u2019s has long been a leader in medical education, operating the oldest School of Nursing in the country, providing the only four-year medical school through The Temple St. Luke\u2019s School of Medicine, and offering more than 60 Graduate Medical Education programs to prepare the next generation of physicians and advanced practitioners.<\/p>\n<p>For more information or to apply, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.stlukescollege.org\/\">www.StLukesCollege.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u200b<strong>About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1872, St. Luke\u2019s 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\u2019s biggest employer.<\/p>\n<p>The Network\u2019s 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\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.<\/p>\n<p>Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation\u2019s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 550+ residents and fellows.<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked St. Luke\u2019s #1 \u2013 ahead of Houston Methodist and Mayo Clinic, two of the nation\u2019s most prestigious institutions \u2013 as the nation\u2019s top health system for quality, safety and patient experience. This objective recognition, based on public data reported to the government, reaffirms St. Luke\u2019s preeminent position as THE BEST OF THE BEST among the most respected health care systems in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>St. Luke\u2019s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2026, the Network earned straight A\u2019s from Leapfrog across all of its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 11 years in a row, including in 2021 when its flagship University Hospital was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL 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\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.<\/p>\n<p>Information provided to TVL by:<br \/>\nGary Blockus<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo caption, L-R: Joel Fagerstrom, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer St. Luke&#8217;s University Health Network ; Carol Kuplen, retired President St. Luke&#8217;s University Hospital Bethlehem; Richard A. Anderson, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/?p=149487\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences Opens with Inaugural Class<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[5717,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bethlehem","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sl518.jpg?fit=672%2C372&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149489,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149487\/revisions\/149489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/149488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}