Pa. health department ready to give covid vaccines to young children
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said Saturday that providers across the state are prepared to begin providing covid vaccines for young children starting early next week. The announcement comes shortly after the approval of two vaccines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and emergency use authorization from the...
Westmoreland health care providers, employees combat staffing shortages from pandemic
The local health care industry had its challenges before a pandemic swept around the world two years ago. As summer 2022 approaches, human resources directors and department managers are finding it even more difficult to find the people who can provide basic services. It’s especially tough for small facilities such...
FDA advisers endorse 1st covid-19 shots for kids under 5
The first covid-19 shots for U.S. infants, toddlers and preschoolers moved a step closer Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up to vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids. The outside experts voted unanimously that the benefits of the shots outweigh any risks for...
Monroeville VA clinic expected to serve up to 10,000 veterans annually
Veterans Affairs officials are certainly proud of the work done at their flagship hospital in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. But they’re also well aware of the drawbacks elderly veterans face when walking up the aptly-named “Cardiac Hill” to their appointments. “There are a lot of steep hills, and in bad weather...
UPMC breaks ground on $1.5B hospital project in Pittsburgh’s Oakland
UPMC said Tuesday its $1.5 billion project to build a 17-story hospital in Oakland is the largest health care construction project going in Pennsylvania — and the largest in Pittsburgh’s history. “It will be the beating heart of life-changing medicine,” UPMC President and CEO Leslie Davis said of the planned...
FDA advisers back Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for older kids
NEW YORK — A government advisory panel Tuesday endorsed a second brand of covid-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens. The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts voted unanimously that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective enough to give kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would...
WHO convenes experts to decide if monkeypox is an emergency
GENEVA — The World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee of experts to determine if the expanding monkeypox outbreak that has mysteriously spread outside Africa should be considered a global health emergency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he decided to convene the emergency committee on June 23...
UK reports 104 more cases of monkeypox, mostly in men
British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease. The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or...
U.S.: Pfizer covid-19 appears effective for kids under 5
WASHINGTON — A review by federal health officials finds that Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine appears safe and effective for children under 5, the only group not currently eligible for vaccination. The review issued Sunday by the Food and Drug Administration is a key step toward a decision on vaccinations for babies,...
Marathon U.S. hearings to decide fate of covid shots for young children
Parents anxious to finally vaccinate their youngest children against covid-19, strap in: A lot is set to happen over the next week. On Wednesday, both Moderna and Pfizer will have to convince what’s essentially a science court — advisers to the Food and Drug Administration — that their shots work...
Climate-driven flooding poses well water contamination risks
ST. LOUIS — After a record- setting Midwestern rainstorm that damaged thousands of homes and businesses, Stefanie Johnson’s farmhouse in Blandinsville, Ill., didn’t have safe drinking water for nearly two months. Flood water poured into her well, turning the water a muddy brown and forcing Johnson, her husband and their...
Upper St. Clair doctor develops workout bench with injury prevention in mind
While attending Upper St. Clair High School, Joel Klein was an exemplary athlete, earning a total of six varsity letters in baseball and basketball, and serving as team captain in both sports. After he graduated, Klein continued to play baseball at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, when he could. “I was injured...
Moderna says updated covid shot boosts omicron protection
Moderna’s experimental covid-19 vaccine that combines its original shot with protection against the omicron variant appears to work, the company announced Wednesday. covid-19 vaccine makers are studying updated boosters that might be offered in the fall to better protect people against future coronavirus surges. Moderna’s preliminary study results show people...
FDA advisers back Novavax covid shots as new U.S. option
American adults who haven’t yet gotten vaccinated against covid-19 may soon get another choice, as advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday backed a more traditional type of shot. Next, the FDA must decide whether to authorize the vaccine made by latecomer Novavax, a protein vaccine that’s made...
Excela Health’s proposed merger with Butler likely a bulwark against competitors, experts say
The landscape of health care in Westmoreland, Butler and Clarion counties could soon be changing in the wake of last week’s announcement that Excela Health and Butler Health System have inked an intent-to-merge agreement. It is likely an effort by both systems to better position themselves as a player in...
Second chance: Unwanted tattoos can be lasered off or covered up
Kimberly Corrigan was never religious growing up and had only been to church twice. But when she was 18, she had a little too much to drink — and got a tattoo of the Virgin Mary on her left forearm. The tattoo would become an eyesore for the now 35-year-old...
‘Probable’ case of monkeypox in Philadelphia likely 1st in Pennsylvania
A “probable” case of monkeypox in Philadelphia is likely the first case to be reported in Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Thursday it has “identified a Philadelphia resident who is a probable monkeypox case based on preliminary testing at the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Bureau of Laboratories.”...
White House: 1st shots for kids under 5 possible by June 21
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Thursday that children under 5 may be able to get their first covid-19 vaccination doses as soon as June 21, if federal regulators authorize shots for the age group, as expected. White House covid-19 coordinator Ashish Jha outlined the administration’s planning for the last...
Africans see inequity in monkeypox response elsewhere
OSUN, Nigeria — As health authorities in Europe and elsewhere roll out vaccines and drugs to stamp out the biggest monkeypox outbreak beyond Africa, some doctors acknowledge an ugly reality: The resources to slow the disease’s spread have long been available, just not to the Africans who have dealt with...
Excela, Butler health systems announce merger, creating region’s 3rd hospital giant
A third Southwestern Pennsylvania health care conglomerate is in the works, as Excela Health and Butler Health System on Wednesday announced an intent to merge. “We believe strongly that our new partnership will extend our intellectual and financial capital,” John Sphon, Excela Health chief executive officer, said in a prepared...
Highmark reports $150M net loss in 1st quarter, citing market volatility, inflation
Highmark Health reported a net loss of $150 million in the first quarter of 2022, driven by losses from the company’s stock market portfolio and increased costs at the company’s large hospital system, Allegheny Health Network. Financial reports released by Highmark showed the company brought in $6.4 billion in revenue...
WHO: Monkeypox won’t turn into pandemic, but many unknowns
LONDON — The World Health Organization’s top monkeypox expert said she doesn’t expect the hundreds of cases reported to date to turn into another pandemic, but acknowledged there are still many unknowns about the disease, including how exactly it’s spreading and whether the suspension of mass smallpox immunization decades ago...
Increased covid-19, labor costs eat into UPMC’s 1st-quarter income
UPMC reported a sharp decline in operating and investment income during the year’s first quarter, with the health care giant pointing to continued financial challenges from covid-19 and increased labor costs, according to an earnings report released Thursday. The report showed that UPMC had nearly $6.1 billion in total operating...
Here’s why scientists aren’t ‘crazy scared’ about monkeypox
The monkeypox outbreak has captured the attention of an anxious public that’s struggling to emerge from the covid-19 pandemic and is on high alert for the next virus that might upend our lives. Fortunately, professionals are a lot calmer about monkeypox than the armchair pundits. “In the last couple of...
Spiritual health: Pittsburgh’s UPMC Mercy celebrates a milestone of patient care
The metal cross is affixed above the hospital president’s door, and it’s not just a decoration. The crucifix symbolizes the religious well-being of patients. In addition to them being cared for by medical doctors and nurses at UPMC Mercy, they receive a level of care not measured in a prescription...
