Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton has started a $7.7 million renovation to add a 7,100 SF Level II NICU with seven beds. The unit will treat premature newborns as young as 32 weeks gestation and is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Construction crews are converting third floor space at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton into a Level II neonatal intensive care unit, a $7.7 million project that began in late May and is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Spanning 7,100 SF, the unit will contain seven neonatal specialty care beds positioned next to the hospital’s Childbirth Center and postpartum unit. Plans also call for dedicated workspace for clinical teams along with a lounge serving families and visitors.
Level II units occupy a middle tier in the neonatal care hierarchy, treating infants born at 32 weeks gestation or later and weighing roughly 3.3 pounds or more. Newborns at this stage frequently require feeding or respiratory support for a period before they can thrive independently, and their conditions typically resolve with treatment. Higher acuity cases in the Geisinger system are handled at the Level III unit at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre and the Level IV unit at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, and the Scranton unit is designed to operate in coordination with both.
For the Lackawanna County market, the project reduces the distance families must travel when a newborn needs specialized care. It follows a series of recent capital improvements at the Scranton campus covering inpatient care, postpartum care and diagnostic imaging, with additional renovations for postpartum beds and emergency department capacity in progress. Geisinger operates 10 hospital campuses and more than 130 care sites across central and northeastern Pennsylvania. The project details were announced by Geisinger in a July 8 news release.