Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Integrating Cultural Competency Initiatives at Lehigh Valley Health Network

Based in the Pennsylvania cities of Allentown, Bethlehem and Hazleton, Lehigh Valley Health Network includes three full-service hospitals across five campuses, a children's hospital, 12 community health centers and a 1,100-member physician group. Community members are integral partners as Lehigh Valley Health Network addresses health care disparities and delivers equitable care. For example, several innovative programs have been developed to provide culturally sensitive services to the local Latino population, which has nearly doubled in Allentown between 2000 and 2010 (approximately 24,500 additional people). Through their program Las Palabras (The Words), 63 community members have completed professional medical interpreter training and to date have provided more than 2,700 hours of interpretation for LVHN patients. LVHN also created Centro de Salud LatinoAmericano to serve as a bilingual and bicultural physician practice in internal medicine. Caring for more than 1,600 patients, Centro de Salud emphasizes chronic disease screening and management.