After one year as part of St. Luke’s University Health Network, Easton Hospital is no longer losing money as it had for years under previous owners, according to St. Luke’s officials.

“St. Luke’s laid the groundwork for a great turnaround,” Easton Campus President Linda Grass said, noting that in February the hospital posted its first positive operating margin in years.

“Admissions are up 23 percent since the acquisition, and ER visits were 30 percent higher than planned in the first year,” Grass said.

Diagnostic services reopened.

Patient waiting areas and other public spaces are being refurbished.

This fall, an adolescent behavior health unit is to open.

Between now and the end of 2022, the emergency department is targeted for additional growth.

“Easton is rapidly overcoming the challenges it had faced for many years and, since the acquisition, patients, physicians and staff express optimism about the future direction of the Easton Campus,” said Easton Hospital Medical Staff President and Director of Emergency Medicine Joseph Faccio, DO.

Since January, several operating rooms and gastrointestinal (GI) procedural rooms were modernized and reopened. Vascular surgery, interventional radiology and pulmonary testing programs were returned.

A physician group that specializes in GI medicine joined St. Luke’s and now performs colonoscopies and other interventions in the new procedure rooms.

In response to the critical needs during the pandemic, St. Luke’s launched a monoclonal antibody clinic at Easton to treat COVID-19 patients and has infused more than 1,500 patients.

A new molecular laboratory that provides rapid COVID-19 test results in as little as 24 hours was opened this year.