Griffith

Breaking new ground

Regional medical advancements hold big promise


Central Pennsylvania and “medical- breakthrough hub” may not be synonymous in the minds of outsiders currently, but if recent developments in the region are any indication of things to come, it soon will be. In the past two years, significant innovation and research has come out of Penn State, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the Geisinger Health System, and there […]

The Pennsylvania Rural Health Model

Aiming to improve health-care delivery in rural areas


Nationwide, rural U.S. hospitals are on life support, and the situation is only getting worse. Rural hospitals in Pennsylvania are no exception; in fact, the state has the country’s third-largest rural population, and nearly 40 percent of its hospitals are in rural communities. In 2016, approximately 41 percent of such hospitals had negative operating profit margins, according to a recent […]

Feinberg

Losing David Feinberg

Why the new Amazon-backed health-care venture will miss Geisinger’s Feinberg


Late last month, when Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan announced the name of the chief executive officer of their new, still-unnamed health venture, many Pennsylvanians likely breathed a sigh of relief. The pick was not Geisinger Health System President and CEO David Feinberg. Feinberg, who had been advising the three companies since January, when they announced their plans to create […]

What minimally rising insurance premiums mean for central PA residents

Pennsylvania is at an all-time low rate of uninsured individuals at just 5.6 percent


In October 2017, President Trump scrapped subsidies to health insurance companies that help pay out-of-pocket costs for low-income individuals, creating alarm that Pennsylvania insurers would need to raise premiums drastically for Affordable Care Act plans. Now, as Pennsylvania prepares to release its individual and small group health insurance plan-rate proposals by insurers on Monday, July 23, the average increases through […]

Closing the gap in Pennsylvania’s primary care shortage

Numerous steps have been taken to alleviate the shortage


In Centre County, Pa., the population to primary care physician ratio stands at approximately 1,380 to 1. Obtained by the Area Health Resource File/American Medical Association, this statistic represents an alarming shortage of physicians, but it’s not a statistic unique to Centre County alone. In 2015, a Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission report stated that the Commonwealth was experiencing a […]

The forefront of Central PA medical care

What sets this for-profit hospital apart from others in the region


Formerly the Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital, the Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, Pa., was acquired by Duke LifePoint Healthcare in 2014, and today, the Conemaugh Health System is the largest employer in Cambria County and much of the surrounding area. Additionally, as part of the acquisition, Duke LifePoint has committed to $425 million in capital investments, positioning Conemaugh Health […]

Saint Francis’ Physician Assistant Program gives ‘100 percent’ to providing primary care

Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 30 percent from 2014–24


The demand for physician assistants is growing across the United States, and in Loretto, Pa., Saint Francis University meets that demand through its physician assistant program. In 2018, all 47 of the university’s Master of Physician Assistant Science graduates passed the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination on the first try, marking the second consecutive year in which the Department of […]

The physics of work/life rhythm versus work/life balance



Work/life balance has been debated so often it has become a tired cliché and lost its significance. Those who prescribe to its existence suggest one must recognize the four life quadrants — work, family, friends and self — and weigh them equally to achieve real balance. Recent developments have pointed to work/life rhythm as an alternative. This concept points more […]

Brewing Up Something Special

A new industry comes to Cambria County


For a while, the brewery business was nonexistent in Cambria County. However, two newly opened breweries are seeking to change that. With Stone Bridge Brewing in Johnstown and Coal Country Brewing in Ebensburg, Cambria County has seen a resurgence of the alcohol industry in recent months. We spoke with the owners of both businesses to discuss the beer industry, entrepreneurism […]

Water quality improves in Bradford County



A recent Penn State study showed groundwater quality in Bradford County — the home of many shale gas drilling sites — has improved since the 1980s. To learn more about the project and what this means for Bradford County residents, we spoke with Dr. Tao Wen, lead author on the research study and postdoctoral scholar at Penn State. Dr. Wen, […]