Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre expands services

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre underwent considerable renovation this year to expand in-demand care services in Luzerne County. 
Recently completed work nearly doubled the hospital’s emergency room capacity, increasing the number of treatment areas from 10 to 19 and remodeling the ER triage and waiting areas. 

“We quickly outgrew the emergency room after re-opening it in 2018,” said Mike DiMare, administrative director in Geisinger’s northeast region. “This enhancement to our registration, evaluation and treatment areas helps us meet the growing needs of our community.”

In late March, 20 new inpatient beds opened on the fifth floor, increasing Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre’s capacity for medical-surgical care and addressing the need to move patients through their appropriate levels of care more efficiently.

These recent improvements follow a radiology upgrade that began in late 2024 with the addition of a new mammography unit and finished with the installation of a new computed tomography (CT) scanner in July.

“These expansions of emergency medicine, inpatient care and radiology allow us to care for patients at the right time in the right place,” said Karlyn Paglia, M.D., chief medical officer of Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center and Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre. “The quicker we can get our patients treated or admitted, the quicker we can get them safely discharged and back to the comfort of their homes, opening space for the next patients who need hospital-based care.”

The hospital’s new inpatient unit serves a variety of medical-surgical patients. It can accommodate people who are nearly healthy enough for discharge but require additional treatment before they’re ready to go home, such as those who need to finish a course of IV antibiotics or those who are awaiting approvals for their next prescribed treatment. 

About Geisinger

Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the nonprofit system generates more than $8 billion in annual revenues across 163 care sites — including 10 hospital campuses — and Geisinger Health Plan, with more than half a million members in commercial and government plans. Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 500 medical professionals annually and is conducting more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With more than 27,000 employees, including 1,800 employed physicians and 5,200 registered nurses, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers, having an estimated economic impact of $16.8 billion on the state’s economy. In 2024, Geisinger joined Risant Health, a nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.