LVHN expands neurology care and research

Lehigh Valley Health Network has created an institute to expand neurological care, a field that has seen significant growth in recent years.

In a news release Thursday, LVHN said the Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute was made possible by a “significant” gift from the Fleming Foundation, established by the late businessman and philanthropist Richard Fleming. He was a long-time chairman of LVHN’s Board of Trustees.

The gift is the largest single endowment in the foundation’s 32-year history.

“This will help ensure that already leading-edge neurological and neurosurgical care becomes even better,” said Dr Steven Lewis, the institute’s physician-in-chief and head of neurology at LVHN. “When people anywhere in the country think of outstanding places for clinical neurological and neurosurgical care, LVHN will be on that list.”

LVHN President and CEO Brian A. Nester said establishing an institute is not a superficial naming exercise.

“It’s real progress,” he said. “Institutes are hubs of innovation, research and clinical education, with the singular aim to enhance and improve patient care, all close to home.”

Clinical research plays a significant and increasing role within neuroscience at LVHN, where 15-20 neurologic clinical trials are in progress at any one time.

LVHN serves about 32,000 neurology patients and about 18,000 neurosurgery patients annually, a number that has grown significantly in recent years.

Establishing the institute “will allow LVHN to significantly expand its neuroscience team over the next several years as patient demand continues to escalate,” the release said. “Needs are great in all the subspecialty areas of neurology.”

Dr Walter Jean, the LVHN endowed chair of neurosurgery and chief of the institute’s neurosurgery section, said the establishment of the institute is a seminal moment for the network. The Morning Call