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October 13, 2006
Good Shepherd Dedicates Transformed Allentown Campus
Sculpture of the Rev. Dr. Conrad Raker Is Unveiled and Boston Scientific Founder John Abele Is Inducted into Good Shepherd Hall of Fame

Allentown—Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network today held a dedication ceremony to celebrate the completion of its south Allentown campus, now known as Good Shepherd Plaza, located at 850 South Fifth Street. The $41.7 million campus transformation project includes the new Health & Technology Center, a parking deck, Supported Independent Living Apartments and pathways and gardens in the area where St. John Street used to be located between South Fifth and South Sixth streets.

The campus transformation began in 2002. “This beautiful campus is now making a positive difference – for our patients, residents, neighbors and staff, for the city of Allentown and beyond,” says Sally Gammon, president & CEO, Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network. “This campus transformation resulted in a $41.7 million investment in Allentown, created about 130 new, well-paying jobs and will inject more than $8 million into the local economy annually.”

The campus transformation included a rerouting of traffic around the campus, with widened roads, new curbing, sidewalks, lay-bys (for neighbor parking), traffic lights and cross-walks.

The campus was dedicated during the ceremony by the Rev. David R. Strobel, Bishop, Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

A nine-foot bronze sculpture of the Rev. Dr. Conrad W. Raker holding up a little girl – the centerpiece of Good Shepherd Plaza – was unveiled. The sculpture was inspired by a 1955 photograph of Dr. Raker holding up Bonnie Stallman, who to this day is a resident of Good Shepherd Home at the Conrad W. Raker Center. Stallman, now 57, pulled the drape to unveil the sculpture. The sculpture was created by internationally known artist Karel Mikolas, who devoted more than a year to the piece from concept to completion.

During the ceremony, Boston Scientific founder John Abele was inducted into the Good Shepherd Hall of Fame and presented a talk entitled “Ship in a Balloon: The Story of the Development of Less Invasive Medicine.”

Good Shepherd Plaza
Good Shepherd Plaza encompasses Good Shepherd’s south Allentown campus and is bordered by South Fifth and Sixth streets and Wyoming and Cleveland streets. The campus includes:

Health & Technology Center, a 64,000-square-foot outpatient center. The $20.8 million state-of-the-art building is a health-care destination for people with and without disabilities to find services not available anywhere else in the region. The Health & Technology Center allowed Good Shepherd to consolidate outpatient services, which had been scattered throughout its south Allentown campus, into one convenient location. Most of the programs and services moved into larger, brighter spaces. Services and programs located in the building are:

• Harry C. Trexler Center for Assistive Technology, which includes the RJ Foundation Mobility Center (Wheelchair Clinic and Adaptive Driving Program)
• Orthopedic Rehabilitation
• Hand Therapy
• Day Hospital for people who need multiple outpatient therapies in a single day
• Neororehabilitation
• Pediatric Rehabilitation, including the KNBT Pediatric Assistive Technology Lab
• MS Wellness Program
• Optimal Fitness at Good Shepherd with free weights, cardio equipment and wheel-chair accessible Apex strengthening equipment. Aquatherapy Center with a 1,200-square-foot warm-water pool
• The Imaging Center at Good Shepherd (MRI and CT), which is wheelchair accessible
• The Spine Center (coming November 2006) and Physician Offices
• REHABILITY!^SM Your Optimal Living Store, with more than 3,000 products for people with and without disabilities.
• Shepherd’s Table café, serving Starbucks® coffee

Supported Independent Living Apartments, completed in 2003. A technologically advanced apartment complex with 18 housing units, this facility offers accessible living arrangements for low-income adults with physical disabilities.

7-Level Parking Deck, completed in 2005.

1.7 acres of grounds on the south Allentown campus include pathways for walking and testing wheelchairs and mobility systems, the Jack Izer Amphitheater, the Raker Memorial Sculpture and the Earl and Shirley Mutter Healing Gardens.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital and Administrative Building

Good Shepherd Home at the Conrad W. Raker Center, located at 601 St. John Street.