On Thursday Feb.12, 2026 the Lehigh Valley Hospital released their plan to reopen the Dickinson City branch on February 13, just nine days after a fire broke out. The Emergency Room is expected to reopen operations at 7 a.m. and the Operating Room at 9 a.m.
This milestone is being attributed to the dedication of the community, as 400 workers worked around the clock to restore operations. This is reiterated in a quote from Joseph G. Cacchione, MD, CEO of Jefferson, the hospital’s parent company, “This milestone speaks to the unwavering dedication and teamwork of our Jefferson colleagues, and the strong partnership we’ve had with local and state partners throughout this recovery.”
The fire itself took place on Wednesday, Feb. 4 with firefighters on scene at 9:40pm and remand on scene till Thursday morning. With first responders coming from a 50 mile radius. 77 patients were evacuated from the hospital and transported to other hospitals in the area with no new injuries reported.
The fire itself didn’t take place in the official hospital building. It took place in the secondary building that was once known as the Scranton orthopedics building. The fire chief stated that the alarm had to be upgraded upon arrival because more resources were needed to evacuate patients and hospital staff. The fire didn’t make it into the main building itself, but it had excessive smoke and water damage due to the fire’s closeness.
The hospital has reopened. It is still not running at full capacity at this time. As they continue to repair all damages caused by the fire to make the hospital safe for patients.
Unfortunately, this has not been the only fire to occur this year so far there have been roughly 15 fires in the Pa. area. Last year alone there were 2,133 fires, with 153 reported deaths and highest number of deaths for any state that year.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2026/02/05/lehigh-valley-hospital-fire-patients-evacuated/
https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-hospital-fire-lehigh-valley-ea092bc53a3bbe2e1a24dcd893e3414c
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2026/02/70-patients-relocated-from-pa-hospital-damaged-in-fire.html
