![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/REG-L-ReadingHospitalEmergDeptGroundbreaking-01-01.jpg\")
Dr. Charles Barbera, president and CEO of Reading Hospital, speaks Wednesday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a project that will expand Reading Hospital\u2019s emergency department. (DAVID MEKEEL \u2013 READING EAGLE)<\/p>\nDr. Charles Barbera made a simple request.<\/p>\n
Standing underneath a white tent erected on the lawn outside Reading Hospital\u2019s emergency department Wednesday morning, the hospital\u2019s CEO and president asked anyone in the crowd to raise their hand if they thought the department had enough space.<\/p>\n
His question was met with laughter, and not a single raised hand.<\/p>\n
Barbera, who started his tenure at Reading in the emergency department, wasn\u2019t surprised. He knows, as pretty much anyone who\u2019s visited the department knows, the space is tight. Too tight.<\/p>\n
Soon, that won\u2019t be the case.<\/p>\n
Barbera spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for an extensive expansion of the emergency department.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday marks an exciting new opportunity for Reading Hospital and emergency care in this community,\u201d he said, calling the ceremony a momentous occasion.<\/p>\n
Dr. Charles Barbera, president and CEO of Reading Hospital, speaks Wednesday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a project that will expand Reading Hospital\u2019s emergency department. (DAVID MEKEEL \u2013 READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
The project, which is expected to begin construction in the spring and last 14 to 18 months, will add 20,000 square feet to the department. The bulk of that will be used to create a large waiting room and reception area as well as a new pharmacy and phlebotomy center.<\/p>\n
The project is being funded through a transformational gift from the Post family and will include a rebranding of the department to the John and Maryanne Post Center for Emergency Care.<\/p>\n
An exact figure for the donation was not provided, but it is part of a $70 million fundraising campaign that kicked off in September. The campaign is also looking to raise money for upgrades to Reading\u2019s intensive care, neonatal intensive care and cancer units.<\/p>\n
The emergency department expansion will allow the hospital to grow with the increasing need in the community, said Dr. Brian Lahmann, chair of the department of emergency medicine.<\/p>\n
Lahmann said the current space can\u2019t accommodate the sheer volume of emergency patients the hospital sees each day.<\/p>\n
He said the department saw 369 patients Tuesday. During the peak afternoon and early-evening periods, it averaged 20 patients per hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve been in our ER, you know it gets really busy and really congested,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/REG-L-ReadingHospitalEmergDeptGroundbreaking-01-02.jpg\")
Dr. Brian Lahmann, chair of the department of emergency medicine at Reading Hospital, says a project to expand the emergency department will help staff accommodate the volume of patients seen there. (DAVID MEKEEL – READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Those patients coming to the emergency department are likely facing one of the most difficult days of their life, Lahmann said. And they need all the support they can get.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re here,\u201d he said. \u201cTo take care of our patients and take care of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The space limitations sometimes make that a challenge, Lahmann said. For example, if a child comes in needing care, often only one parent can accompany them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not who we are or what we\u2019re about,\u201d he said, adding that the expansion will help to address those hurdles. \u201cIt is really investing in our people, our space and our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kate Thornton, president of the Reading Hospital Foundation, which is leading the funding campaign, spoke about the experience of patients arriving at the emergency department.<\/p>\n
She said they\u2019re often scared and sometimes alone and unsure of what to do. The expansion will allow for hospital staff to properly help them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be able to meet the needs of every single patient that walks through those doors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Thornton thanked the Post family for its generosity, pointing out that it\u2019s by no means the first time the family has supported local families.<\/p>\n
The Posts, the family behind Post Precision Castings in Strausstown, have long been benefactors for Catholic education as well as substance abuse recovery through financial support for the Caron Treatment Centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, they\u2019re bringing that same care for families to the Reading Hospital emergency department,\u201d Thornton said.<\/p>\n
John Post Jr. spoke on behalf of his family.<\/p>\n
He said his parents, John, who passed away in June, and Maryann have long known of the hospital\u2019s important role in the community.<\/p>\n
Ever since the family arrived in Reading in the 1930s, he said, the hospital has supported the vitality of the manufacturing sector in which the family thrived.<\/p>\n
And while much of the manufacturing has disappeared, the hospital has not.<\/p>\n
\u201cReading Hospital has endured the great test of time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/REG-L-ReadingHospitalEmergDeptGroundbreaking-01-03.jpg\")
John Post Jr. shares a few words about his family’s decision to donate to help fund an expansion of the Reading Hospital emergency department during a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the project. (DAVID MEKEEL – READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Post spoke of his mother\u2019s fondness for the hospital, where she has been involved with volunteer programs since the 1990s.<\/p>\n
As a child, Post recalled, he and his sister were called into service as well, pushing the candy striper cart up and down the hospital\u2019s halls over summer breaks.<\/p>\n
Post said he met so many amazing people during that time, people who have left a lasting impact on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an experience I will never forget,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Post said his family has watched Reading Hospital evolve from a small, community facility into a major regional medical center. And after their experience during the late days of his father\u2019s life, they realized just how important it is that the hospital be allowed to continue to grow.<\/p>\n
Post said the staff never hesitated to take an extra step for his father, to take extra time to make sure the family had all the information and support it needed.<\/p>\n
Now the family is trying to repay that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn large part, this is a deep expression of gratitude,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is our way of saying thank you for the compassion and altruism that are displayed here every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Stern, president and CEO of Tower Health, said the Posts\u2019 gift will allow Reading Hospital to continue those efforts.<\/p>\n
The emergency department is already the busiest in Pennsylvania, he said, and is likely to only get busier over the next decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make sure Reading Hospital is ready to meet those needs for years to come,\u201d he said, adding that the Posts\u2019 gift will go a long way to making that happen. \u201cThe next chapter of Reading Hospital starts today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Charles Barbera made a simple request. Standing underneath a white tent erected on the lawn outside Reading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-306642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}