June 3 was a special day for St. Luke’s and its longtime leader, Richard A. Anderson, who marked his 40th anniversary as head of the Network.

Anderson, the longest-tenured health care executive in the United States, has served as President & CEO of St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) since 1985, overseeing St. Luke’s evolution into one of the larger health systems in Pennsylvania and western New Jersey.

In 1985, St. Luke’s was a single hospital in Bethlehem with an operating budget of $63 million.

Today, SLUHN’s revenue surpasses $4 billion.

With more than 21,000 employees, the Network comprises 15 hospital campuses and more than 350 outpatient locations in 11 counties. Its operations include the largest trauma network in Pennsylvania.

Under Anderson’s leadership, SLUHN established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only regional medical school campus in partnership with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

It also continues to operate the nation’s oldest school of nursing, established in 1884.

With more than 2,700 students studying in more than 100 medical disciplines, St. Luke’s has become the Lehigh Valley’s leader in medical education.

During Anderson’s tenure, St. Luke’s has received hundreds national awards and recognitions for quality, including Leapfrog Safety Grade straight A’s at 11 St. Luke’s acute care hospitals, CMS five-star ratings at 10 hospitals, and Premier’s 100 Top Hospitals for 11 consecutive years, including 2021 when St. Luke’s University Hospital in Bethlehem was recognized as the No. 1 Teaching Hospital in the United States.

Anderson was the 2024 recipient of the Steven Schroeder Award for Outstanding Healthcare CEO, awarded by Leapfrog, the national patient safety advocacy group. One of the health care industry’s most prestigious individual honors, the Schroeder Award recognizes a hospital or health system CEO who has demonstrated courageous and ethical leadership in addressing the twin issues of affordability and quality of health care.

Leah Binder, President and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said of Anderson: “He has dedicated his career to putting patients first and truly leads by example. As a result, St. Luke’s is a beacon of excellence showing the lifesaving power of great leadership.”

In 2010, in recognition of Anderson’s leadership and accomplishments, St. Luke’s Board of Trustees voted to name its then-newest hospital, built on a 500-acre tract of land in Bethlehem Township, The Richard A. Anderson Campus.

Anderson received a Master of Public Health in Healthcare Administration from the University of Pittsburgh and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Illinois, where he was a three-year varsity “I” letter winner for swimming and a recipient of the George Huff Award for Proficiency in Athletics and Scholarship.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 21,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350-plus outpatient sites.

With annual net revenue of $4 billion, 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 hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.

In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school campus. It also operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 52 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 500 residents and fellows.

In 2022, St. Luke’s, a member of the Children’s Hospital Association, established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to children.

SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency, and patient satisfaction.

St. Luke’s is a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital.

The Network’s flagship University Hospital earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from Fortune-PINC AI 10 years in a row, including in 2021 when it was identified as the No. 1 Teaching Hospital in the United States.

In 2021, St. Luke’s was also identified as one of the 15 Top Health Systems nationally.

Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record system for 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: https://www.slhn.org/