In its 40th year, Geisinger Wyoming Valley marks new status

PLAINS TWP. — In may seem like Geisinger Wyoming Valley has been there forever, but the constantly expanding facility is marking its 40th year here, and decided to celebrate the anniversary by announcing a new benchmark the hospital has recently attained.

“Geisinger Wyoming Valley received 5-Star status from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), the highest quality and patient safety score bestowed by the organization, putting the medical center among the top 14 percent of hospitals in the country,” according to a media release issued Tuesday.

“As the only CMS 5-Star hospital in northeastern Pennsylvania, we are proud to provide care of unsurpassed quality to residents of the region,” Dr. Karlyn Paglia, chief medical officer, said in the release. “With a full spectrum of services available to our patients and members, we look forward to caring for our community for many more years to come.”

The sprawling medical campus off State Route 115 had humble beginnings in the early days of hospital consolidations. The release notes that in 1981 Nanticoke, Pittston and Wyoming Valley Hospitals merged into what was initially called NPW Medical Center, renamed after Geisinger joined the collaboration upon Nanticoke’s withdrawal.

“What began as a standalone community hospital on East Mountain is now a regional medical center and destination for care with a mission to make better health easier for patients and members in Luzerne County and beyond,” the release said.

Certainly, people who have visited the site over the last few decades would attest to the rapid growth as the main hospital both expanded its own size and became the hub of a network of affiliated primary care and outpatient specialty clinics, growth that continues to expand into other communities and at the main site.

The hospital added the Frank M. and Dorothea Henry Cancer Center in 1992, and that building has been the focus of a major expansion nearing completion at a cost of $80 million. The hospital recently held a ceremonial placing of the final steel beam at the site, raising the metal with an American flag on one side and a fir tree, symbolizing hope, on the other.

The center “is now home to a comprehensive team of fellowship-trained cancer specialists and advanced treatment options like CyberKnife targeted radiation therapy, which was only previously available in major metropolitan areas like Philadelphia and New York,” the release touted. the expansion will “double the center’s capacity for infusion services, create an 18-bed inpatient unit for treatment of complex blood cancers, and make more appointments available to patients.”

Geisinger also set up the Richard and Marion Pearsall Heart Hospital in 2001. In 2008 the then-new Critical Care Building was classified as an Emergency Department with Level II Trauma Center status. In 2011 the Tambur Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit opened, still the only such facility in Luzerne County designed for infants born as early as 28 weeks gestation.

Geisinger Wyoming Valley has received “Magnet Recognition, the highest national honor for nursing excellence” since 2019, according to the release, and is now a “Comprehensive Stroke Center, a hospital capable of treating the most complex types of stokes and neurovascular complications. The stroke program is the most advanced in the region, even treating patients who are flown in from New York.”

To mark both the 40th anniversary and the continuity of services, Geisinger quoted Norreen Diaco, an employee since July 1981 when it was still NPW.

“I grew up with Geisinger Wyoming Valley,” Diaco said. “The people I’ve met and worked with have become family to me. Through the 40 years, I have watched NPW change names and develop from a small-town hospital to a well-known institution. Through all the changes, the small-town, personalized service can still be felt.”