2009-07-02 00:11:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter came to town Wednesday morning to talk about the $5 million in federal stimulus money going to Red Rose Transit Authority. ...
2009-07-01 00:01:00
TOM KNAPP
Lancaster County officials hope to spend a little money to save a lot.County commissioners Tuesday approved an efficiency study of the Mental Health/Mental Retardation and Early Intervention offices to "ensure that individuals diagnosed with mental retardation are served as effectivel......
2009-06-28 00:19:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has reached an $80,000 settlement with Lancaster landlord Tony Papadimitriou for his failure to disclose known lead-paint hazards to tenants in his city-owned properties. Settlement terms dictate Papadimitriou must pay an $8,000 fine to the EPA and th......
2009-06-28 00:13:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
Darren Parmer is passionate about his work. In response to a question about the impact lead paint can have on children, the city's certified lead-risk assessor leans forward in his chair and begins, "Now you got me going" before delivering a rapid-fire answer. His response......
2009-06-25 11:05:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Swine flu continues to spread around the world and in Lancaster County, which now has 30 confirmed cases, mostly in children and teens. Now at a pandemic level globally, the virus is spreading faster than seasonal influenza in some areas of Pennsylvania. The number of confirmed cases grows almo......
2009-06-22 11:29:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Lancaster General's profits went down $27 million in 2008, but it still made more than the combined profits of the other three hospitals in the county. And the other three hospitals all increased their profits from 2007 to 2008. Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center made money for......
2009-06-22 00:04:00
JENNIFER TODD
Thanks to the "pooling" of resources, a summertime favorite has returned to Buchanan Park.After a two-year hiatus, swimmers can once again cool their heels in the park's wading pool, thanks to the generosity of some local groups.Although the pool opened last week, an o......
2009-06-22 00:01:00
The swine flu is now a pandemic. Should we cancel vacations? Quarantine our children? Begin wearing surgical masks?No. The declaration by the World Health Organization does not mean the flu bug is more lethal, simply that it cannot be contained. At last report, the H1N1 flu had been found ......
2009-06-22 00:01:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Nancy Pawling loves interacting with seniors at Landis Homes Retirement Community, something she has done for more than 35 years.For her work as a certified nursing assistant and personal care attendant at the retirement community, Pawling has received the PANPHA Caregiver of the Year in N......
2009-06-20 00:43:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Erica Holley has been through more in her first few months than most of us experience in a lifetime.She was born March 26 at Ephrata Community Hospital with an enlarged arm, then referred to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where she endured two months of testing.Her parents, Meli......
2009-06-18 11:11:00
CINDY STAUFFER
First, Lancaster General talked about putting an outpatient medical center on 60 acres of land it owns at routes 322 and 222. Then, Lancaster General and Ephrata Community hospitals talked about joining forces, and erecting a hospital on the property. Now, Lancaster General is talking abou......
2009-06-18 00:07:00
P.J. REILLY
Manheim Township Ambulance Association is leading a countywide mission to prevent heart attacks from becoming fatal.The organization on Monday plans to apply for a $540,000 grant from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to launch the Heart Safe initiative.Through Heart Safe......
2009-06-16 10:52:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
The only disability in life is a bad attitude. — Scott Hamilton
Inside this staged train, chugging into the future, the actors playing passengers — who also happen to share some form of disability — convey a simple philosophy. "Enjoy the Ride."......
2009-06-16 00:01:00
"Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 1256) to protect the public health by providing the Food and Drug Administration with certain authority to regulate tobacco products."After 45 years of tryin......
2009-06-13 00:21:00
DIANA MARTIN
When Laurie Salimbeni attended her first Relay for Life four years ago, it held a special meaning for her.She had been diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer only a week earlier.At the time she was nervous, unsure about how her own encounter with cancer would turn out.But thi......
2009-06-12 04:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Pam and Tim Boronow got way more than they expected when their second daughter, Noel, was born. Pam had just finished giving birth — or so she thought — when she felt the urge to push again. Out popped Noel's identical twin sister, Gloria, surprising everyone in the deli......
2009-06-11 12:55:00
TOM MURSE
Cities such as Lancaster are in dire financial straits, but there are ways the state can help, local officials told a Senate panel on urban affairs and housing today. "The city of Lancaster and many, or likely all, of the third-class cities in Pennsylvania have been under significant financial ......
2009-06-11 00:08:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Millersville University computer science professor Roger Webster is creating surgical simulation equipment that could revolutionize how traumatic eye injuries are treated.Webster is building the hardware and software for microsurgical simulation, an application that would help train surgeo......
2009-06-10 00:37:00
ROXANNE TODD
Reading, writing and arithmetic were part of Toni Rivera's recipe for a successful education. So was a new heart.Rivera, who graduated Tuesday evening from Solanco High School, is looking ahead to a career in nursing.Her past has done a lot to shape her dream of helping others....
2009-06-09 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Cheryl Yerkes and her family have a sense of humor about breast cancer. They've named their team for the Relay for Life — an annual 24-hour walk/run American Cancer Society benefit to celebrate survivorship and raise money for research — "Team Boobie." And befo......
2009-06-08 00:01:00
Patti S. Spencer
In 1986 Congress passed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, which we commonly refer to as COBRA. This law requires most employers with group health plans to offer employees the opportunity to temporarily continue their group health coverage if the coverage would end becaus......
2009-06-08 00:01:00
Patti S. Spencer
In 1986 Congress passed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, which we commonly refer to as "COBRA." This law requires most employers with group health plans to offer employees the opportunity to temporarily continue their group health coverage if the coverage woul......
2009-06-07 00:18:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Pick up the phone, said Dr. Lawrence Bonchek, and you can figure out that there's a doctor shortage in Lancaster. Getting an appointment with a specialist can take months. Bonchek, a retired heart surgeon, knows a woman whose tests for breast cancer came back positive — and couldn'......
2009-06-07 00:14:00
PAULA WOLF
About three weeks after Lancaster County's first confirmed case of the H1N1 virus — more commonly known as swine flu — the state Department of Health has reported five more cases here. On Friday, Lancaster Catholic High School notified parents and staff that one of its students was ......
2009-06-06 01:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster Catholic High School officials notified parents and staff Friday that a student was diagnosed with swine flu.In an automated call to parents Friday afternoon, Thomas Fertal, the school's acting principal, said Lancaster Catholic learned Friday afternoon that the student had a......
2009-06-04 00:38:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Students at Donegal middle and Riverview elementary schools are starting summer vacation a day early today after district officials closed their schools because of swine flu concerns.No Donegal students have been diagnosed with H1N1 influenza, commonly called swine flu, but elevated absenc......
2009-06-03 01:13:00
LORI VAN INGEN
A retired psychologist with Alzheimer's disease addressed a group of health care workers to give them an inside look at life for a dementia patient.•••"Hi, my name is Richard. I have Alzheimer's disease."...
2009-06-03 01:06:00
LORI VAN INGEN
When most people think of spring, they think of flowers and trees blooming and grass growing.But Dr. Mark Titi thinks about an increase in patients coming to the Allergy and Asthma Center on Marietta Avenue. This time of year, more people need help to relieve itching eyes, runny and conges......
2009-06-03 00:28:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board will receive $1 million in federal funds to help at-risk young parents obtain education and skills training.The money is part of nearly $10 million in grants, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday, that will be made available to help parents......
2009-06-02 01:21:00
DIANA MARTIN
Ted Rupp put on his sweat pants, laced up his sneakers and lined up on the track for the 100-meter race. At the sound of the air horn, he was off.Two minutes later, he walked across the finish line — with the help of a cane — and won a gold medal.Rupp, at 93, was the old......
2009-06-01 00:17:00
BRIAN WALLACE
State environmental tests have determined that the air around Locust Grove Mennonite School is safe, contradicting a newspaper report that labeled the school "a toxic hot spot."The state Department of Environmental Protection conducted 96 hours of testing in February at the East Lampeter T......
2009-05-28 00:36:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County commissioners are listening to the chatter in Harrisburg about the state's 2009-10 budget.What they're hearing has them worried."The goal of Senate Bill 850 is no tax increases, and I think that notion is a fallacy," Commissioner Craig Lehman said.......
2009-05-27 11:04:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Lancaster County Prison has developed a new code of ethics for correctional officers, with hopes that it will help elevate performance. A number of inmates in recent years have charged that guards abused them, but officials emphasize that the new standards are not a direct response to specific ......
2009-05-27 01:22:00
DIANA MARTIN
Large shards of glass sparkle green, purple and blue in the windows. Mason jars filled with colored glass line the shelves. Rainbows are sponge-painted on the walls.Lindy and Philip Malin of Lancaster are in their studio, Rainbow's End, where the couple has helped to transform somethin......
2009-05-26 11:00:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Al Karcheski discovered in February that he has diabetes. Since then, the 64-year-old retired high school teacher has had to learn how to eat fewer carbohydrates, stay on top of his blood sugar levels, increase his exercise and get his feet and eyes regularly checked . It's a lot to ab......
2009-05-21 01:38:00
JEFF HAWKES
I reach Michael Wagner by phone.His voice is clear, but there's a lag, which is understandable because I've contacted the Peace Corps volunteer while he's sitting under a tree beside a thatched-roof hut in the middle of Africa."It's probably 100 degrees right no......
2009-05-20 00:01:00
You've heard the warning, delivered tongue-in-cheek, not to grow old. You'll lose your hearing, you won't be able to read the newspaper without holding it at arm's length. And those aches and pains in the morning, well … .Last Tuesday, Americans heard another warning......
2009-05-19 01:14:00
JEFF HAWKES
As President Barack Obama puts health care reform on the front burner, at least one observer thinks the White House has learned from mistakes that doomed the Clinton administration's efforts.In a talk to a Lancaster audience, Andrew Webber, head of the National Business Coalition on He......
2009-05-16 01:54:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
State health officials have reported Lancaster County's first confirmed case of swine flu, along with 39 other confirmed cases in the state.As of Friday, the state Department of Health also was reporting another 10 probable cases in Pennsylvania.Confirmed cases of swine flu, als......
2009-05-16 01:36:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Jim Murray has worn a lot of hats throughout his lifetime.The 70-year-old worked in the St. Louis Cardinals baseball organization, led the Philadelphia Eagles as general manager for more than nine years, served in the Marine Corps Reserve, co-founded the first Ronald McDonald house in 1974......
2009-05-16 01:17:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
With excitement, curiosity and perhaps a hint of nervousness, they strutted out of the chauffeured red convertible, she in a green gown, he in a tuxedo.For Tiffany Perez, a 21-year-old Penn Manor High School student with Down syndrome, prom night Friday was simply magical.Back in ea......
2009-05-14 00:58:00
TIM STUHLDREHER
A woman was so intent on falsely passing herself off as a pediatrician that she drew blood from her boyfriend's 6-year-old niece and recommended medical treatments, Ephrata police said Wednesday.Angelica Kamp, 29, was charged Wednesday with simple assault and unauthorized practice of m......
2009-05-14 00:33:00
MICHAEL YODER
A Lancaster Township woman accused of an attack on her husband that allegedly led to his death Saturday is now facing charges from the incident.Tonya Lynese Potter, 41, of 1240 E. Orange St., was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault for allegedly attacking her husband, Robert Potter, 48......
2009-05-13 00:26:00
P.J. REILLY
Adam, Eric and Greg Wier are about as close as three brothers can get.They like the same music, playing the fantasy game Warhammer 40,000 and spending a day on the gun range shooting targets.They hope to one day be professors at a small, liberal arts college.They've lived......
2009-05-12 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
As their 5-month-old daughter Colleen lay in a hospital crib, tethered to machines, Burt and Sue Goodrich faced the cruel prospect that she might not live beyond her first year. Even if she did, doctors doled out a dire prognosis: She most likely would never walk or talk, and she'd ......
2009-05-12 01:27:00
MICHAEL YODER
Janet Pearson returned to her home Saturday morning after finishing the third shift at Lancaster General Hospital to find the horrific site of a mass of police and ambulances in her neighborhood.Not knowing what happened, Pearson approached the 12-year-old son of her neighbors, Robert and ......
2009-05-10 00:21:00
MICHAEL SCHWARTZ
When the economy sneezes, even the hospital gets the sniffles. Lancaster General Hospital finished its fiscal year with a surplus of $113 million, down from last year's record $136 million. "Things have changed dramatically in the past year," said hospital President and CE......
2009-05-09 01:24:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County might have its first case of swine flu.The state Department of Health reported Friday that there is one "probable case" of swine flu in the county."We treat a probable case as if it's a confirmed case," Holli Senior, deputy press secretary fo......
2009-05-08 05:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Ray Eby expected to while away his retirement years touring Civil War battlefields and fly-fishing at his cabin along Cedar Run. He always pictured Donna, his wife of 46 years, on the battlefield, by the creek, beside him. Instead Ray finds himself in a noisy dining room crowded with a maz......
2009-05-08 00:24:00
TOM KNAPP
Jeff Kepner, the former Lancaster man who on Monday received a new pair of hands during nine hours of surgery, was feeling pretty good Thursday, his surgeon said."He's doing great," Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee said Thursday evening. "He's awake, he's alert, he's talk......
2009-05-06 11:00:00
CINDY STAUFFER
George E. Miller came here about a year ago, to lead Lancaster Regional Medical Center and Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center. Acknowledging he was the latest in a line of administrators at the sister hospitals owned by Health Management Associates, Miller said when he......
2009-05-06 01:28:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A Lancaster day care center closed by state officials Monday due to a flea infestation hopes to reopen today.Owl Hill Learning Center, 536 N. Queen St., was shut down Monday by the state Department of Public Welfare."We received an anonymous complaint about fleas," Stacey ......
2009-05-06 01:04:00
TOM KNAPP
The first recipient of a double hand transplant in the United States is in critical but stable condition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.UPMC spokeswoman Amy Dugas said Tuesday that the innovative surgical procedure, which started at 8:30 a.m. Monday, was finished in just un......
2009-05-06 00:01:00
The debate over the swine flu breaks down into two categories:• Either government(s) didn't do enough to alert people and prevent the spread of the disease; or,• Concerns about the spread and virility of the flu were overhyped.I......
2009-05-05 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
As a young child, Tommy Everts seemed unreachable, even to the people who loved him the most. "He didn't make eye contact, and he didn't want any kind of affection," says his mom, Sugey Cruz-Everts, a lawyer and assistant dean of admissions at Franklin & Marshall Colleg......
2009-05-05 00:42:00
TOM KNAPP
Jeff Kepner has lived for a decade without his hands or feet.Now, in the first bilateral hand transplant ever attempted in the United States, surgeons are trying to give Kepner a new lease on life."Everything is going along fine," his stepmother, Pat Kepner of Manheim Town......
2009-05-05 00:01:00
In the wake of federal judge Edward Korman's ruling that the Food and Drug Administration allow women as young as 17 to buy Plan B — the "morning after" pill — critics have called the ruling politically motivated.That's an interesting twist, because it was the......
2009-05-04 18:14:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction — Sandy Mauer's name was misspelled in the article below, posted on LancasterOnline Saturday, about the cancellation of a student trip to Sano City, Japan.•••Sw......
2009-05-01 11:12:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Lancaster General is getting a new name and a new look. The health care system will be called Lancaster General Health. It also will have a new logo, an orange, blue and green star. The star will replace the familiar blue-and-white image of two hands forming the outline of a person's figur......
2009-05-01 00:47:00
BRIAN WALLACE
As more cases of swine flu are confirmed, prompting the closing of schools in New York, Illinois, Texas, California, Ohio and other states, Lancaster County school officials are treading a fine line.On one hand, they want to provide their students, parents and staff members with the most a......
2009-04-30 19:56:00
CLAUDIA W. ESBENSHADE
It's gardening time again, and many people are taking to their yards and flower gardens — including senior citizens.There are special precautions that should be taken by older people when they garden, said Jerry Rush, a physical therapist with CPRS Physical Therapy in Lancaster....
2009-04-30 00:48:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Local politicians and medical professionals are not high on a proposal coming out of Harrisburg.State Rep. Mark Cohen, a Democrat representing Philadelphia County, has introduced a bill that would permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes."As time goes on, citizens and g......
2009-04-30 00:43:00
P.J. REILLY
At 5 p.m. Tuesday, the two-month period during which interested buyers could submit bids for the county-owned building at 225 W. King St. ended.Lancaster County commissioners Chairman Dennis Stuckey at the board's weekly meeting Wednesday morning asked acting county Controller Walt Rog......
2009-04-30 00:23:00
BRIAN WALLACE
State Rep. Mike Sturla has introduced legislation that would revamp Pennsylvania's special-education funding formula.The Lancaster city Democrat is co-sponsoring House Bill 704, which would replace the current funding formula with one based on the 2007 "costing-out" study com......
2009-04-29 01:04:00
P.J. REILLY
Reinholds hog farmer Scott Augsberger isn't concerned about his animals coming down with the current strain of swine flu that has the World Health Organization on the verge of declaring a pandemic."I'm not really worried about my hogs getting sick because, from what I've r......
2009-04-29 01:01:00
MICHAEL YODER
The swine flu outbreak has caused uncertainty and alarm all over the world, and mitigating those concerns in a large institution where people live close together can be daunting.As the world comes to grips with the potential pandemic, Millersville University has started its own flu prepare......
2009-04-29 00:51:00
MICHAEL YODER and P.J. REILLY
Mask manBob Wertz has been selling medical supplies at Lancaster Surgical Supply for decades, but he has never seen anything like what has happened this week. In the last two days Wertz said he has sold nearly 900 surgical masks to customers concerned about the spread of s......
2009-04-28 00:38:00
P.J. REILLY
As of 3 p.m. Monday, there were no confirmed cases of swine flu in Pennsylvania.And county and state officials hope it stays that way.But what if an epidemic does break out in Lancaster County? Are we prepared to deal with it?Randy Gockley, the county's emergency manageme......
2009-04-23 10:27:00
JANET KELLEY
With a little juggling of schedules and treatment rooms, two local health- care groups have come up with a new plan to provide more dental care for Lancaster County residents without insurance. Beginning next month, SouthEast Lancaster Health Services and the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic will ......
2009-04-23 01:03:00
MICHAEL YODER
When Lourdes Zenea came to Miami from her native Cuba, she brought only the clothes she was wearing, a suitcase of books and a bottle of shampoo.She didn't know where she would live or work, but, worst of all, she had no idea when she would see her family again.Now Zenea, a Lanc......
2009-04-22 00:01:00
MADELYN PENNINO
When Dr. Paul Farmer attended a world conference on AIDS in Africa many years ago, much of the argument was about whether it was worth it to try to save the lives of Africans infected with HIV.Disgusted, Farmer, a medical anthropologist who teaches at Harvard University, vowed to never att......
2009-04-21 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Rafael Rojas was already suicidal when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. But he says the true prospect of death actually saved his life, sparking a spiritual rebirth. "It's ironic that in the months leading up to the diagnosis, I was spending a lot of time thinking about d......
2009-04-21 01:36:00
JEFF HAWKES
Think our health-care system is in need of an overhaul? Have any ideas to fix it?You could win $10 million!The X Prize Foundation announced the contest last week. The big bucks will benefit a community of 10,000 people who improve their health by 50 percent over three years.F......
2009-04-20 11:32:00
CINDY STAUFFER
This just in: We're fat. In fact, 61 percent of us are overweight or obese, according to a 2008 survey of Lancaster County residents by a non-profit group. To break it down, 36 percent of us are overweight and 25 percent of us, or one in four, are obese, according to the survey. &......
2009-04-17 02:03:00
GREG CALDWELL
Steven Rheault could be considered a mystery man with two separate lifestyles.The first is his successful career during the week as a local dentist, while the second is one that sees him head away every winter weekend to showcase his career as one of the best skiers in the country and a na......
2009-04-16 11:00:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Lancaster County has 117,000 people who are not adequately served by a primary care doctor. And 14 percent of us are considered "medically disenfranchised," meaning we lack regular care. Those figures were compiled in a recent study by a Scripps Howard News Service analysis that ......
2009-04-16 05:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Sometimes Kate Maloney lies awake late at night, wondering what will happen when the unemployment checks run out. But she never worries about putting food on the table. Come summer, Maloney, her husband — who is currently unemployed — and four friends will have a steady supp......
2009-04-12 00:06:00
DENNIS LARISON, Business Editor
Wally Otto and LaRue McManus of ConnectCare3 are confident they can help employers hold the line on the cost of health insurance by providing extra services for people with critical or catastrophic illnesses. "Approximately 3 percent of the insured population are responsible for over 25 pe......
2009-04-11 00:24:00
LORI VAN INGEN
As 46-year-old John Talbot lay in his bed Friday, his body ravaged by an aggressive form of cancer, 40 co-workers and church members were busy helping around his house.They built a new shed for the New Providence family, cut down trees, fixed up the yard and took on other household project......
2009-04-11 00:21:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Lancaster General's Blood Donor Center is getting ready to move from the downtown hospital to the Health Campus.Regular donors will be notified by Lancaster General about the May 4 move, which will open up precious lab space at the downtown hospital.Lancaster General spokesman J......
2009-04-08 18:28:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
The baby Brie Stoltzfus was carrying would not live long after he was born. That much was certain.Brie and her husband, Michael, listened to the doctor explain how their son's bones hadn't grown enough to allow his lungs to develop and the baby's heart was not healthy.Th......
2009-04-08 11:53:00
CINDY STAUFFER
You likely dodged the achy, barking cough, high-fever bullet this winter. Flu season is winding down and it was a relatively mild one here, across the state and across the nation. Thank this year's flu vaccine. Health officials design it the year before, based on an educated guess at ......
2009-04-08 11:00:00
TOM MURSE
The folks who run retirement homes across Pennsylvania have insisted for years that their workers use sanitizing gel on their hands. The alcohol in it kills germs. "Not one resident in five years' time has had the flu," says Ron Barrett, the executive director of the United Zion R......
2009-04-08 00:31:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
As a public official, Roy Baldwin got involved in a number of health initiatives.On Tuesday, he focused on just one: helping reduce the number of overweight children."The problem with obesity in children is that sometimes the kids who need the most help are hard to reach,"......
2009-04-07 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Kandie Sensenig makes no secret of how she dropped 73 pounds. But many people may have never heard about the program Sensenig credits with changing her life. It's TOPS, the 39-year-old explains. In this case, TOPS stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly. Founded 60 years ago, ......
2009-04-03 00:01:00
Smokers just got burned.The single largest tobacco tax hike ever hit them this week. New taxes on every form of the plant raised the price of some items by 2,000 percent. Tobacco companies upped prices to offset the anticipated drop in profits even before the taxes kicked in.If you&......
2009-04-02 10:32:00
AD CRABLE
It's been almost 10 years since doubts about the real dangers of radon gas began nagging Dr. William K. Grosh, then a family doctor in Akron. "I had talked with some of our local oncologists and radiologists and was surprised to learn that in spite of high levels of radon in the Readin......
2009-04-02 01:04:00
MICHAEL YODER
A Manheim Township doctor is facing more charges stemming from a scheme in which he allegedly defrauded Medicaid and health insurance companies of more than $3 million.Dr. Saroj Kumar Parida, 49, of 760 Goose Neck Drive, was charged Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Medi......
2009-04-01 11:32:00
JANET KELLEY
The Lancaster County doctor "potentially flooded" health insurance companies with millions of dollars in fraudulent medical bills, prosecutors said. He allegedly submitted claims to health insurance companies for services never rendered and illegally collected thousands of dollars in ......
2009-04-01 10:27:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Local hospitals are in the midst of a massive, complex process to computerize their records, everything from patients' medical histories to their X-rays to their doctors' bedside notes made during hospital stays. The process is taking place at hospitals across the nation, at the proddin......
2009-04-01 01:16:00
PATRICK BURNS
Most smokers have felt already the new $7-per-carton federal tobacco tax that officially takes effect today.But retailers today will add the soaring tax to other products such as cigars and RYO, or "Roll Your Own" tobacco, which goes from about $1.10 to almost $25 per p......
2009-04-01 00:19:00
TOM KNAPP
Lancaster General Hospital is investing $2 million in Columbia Health Center, officials said Tuesday, with a 10,000-square-foot renovation project that is expected to bring a new level of medical service to the community.Borough zoning officer Jeff Helm said LGH, which owns the former Colu......
2009-03-28 01:10:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Expanded dental care is coming to SouthEast Lancaster Health Services, thanks to more than $9 million in stimulus funding for Pennsylvania community health centers. The center at 625 S. Duke St. had planned eventually to reorganize its dental staff to accommodate more patient visits. But with F......
2009-03-27 10:49:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Abundant Amish farmland and the tourist towns of Intercourse and Paradise lie within the boundaries of the Pequea Valley School District. But what remains relatively unknown, and often unnoticed, are the many families living in poverty, Superintendent Patrick Hallock said. Pequea Valley......
2009-03-27 01:26:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The nuclear accident at Three Mile Island was "a really hard, cold slap in the face for the industry" and a call to increased safety.That's the feeling of Tom Kauffman of the Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Energy Institute, a policy group that promotes the benefits of nuclear......
2009-03-26 00:01:00
Who says you can't get something for free? Last week, Lancaster County Commissioners announced they will make discount drug prescription cards available for every man, woman, child and pet for free. The cards will enable customers to save money on thousands of prescriptions.Sound too good ......
2009-03-25 10:43:00
CINDY STAUFFER
When the Water Street Rescue Mission asked folks what the mission does, 94 percent knew it provides shelter and meals for the homeless at its South Prince Street headquarters. But only 28 percent knew the mission also offers pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes in Lancaster and......
2009-03-24 10:04:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Mel Ruth was a 110-pound Navy enlistee reject when he discovered a passion that would sculpt his entire life — even his community. When the Navy said Ruth had to weigh in at 115 pounds, he started pumping iron. "It was like sculpting my body," says Ruth, who grew up in L......
2009-03-23 00:01:00
PATTI S. SPENCER
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 50 million people care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year. The value of the services family caregivers provide for "free" is estimated to be $306 billion a year. T......
2009-03-20 01:00:00
P.J. REILLY
The opportunity to buy discounted prescription drugs soon will be made available to every Lancaster County resident.The county commissioners on Thursday announced a plan to make free discount prescription drug cards available to all county residents beginning in June.The cards can b......
2009-03-20 00:10:00
In his short tenure, Pope Benedict XVI has made a habit of verbal missteps. Witness his statements in 2006 when he blamed the Holocaust solely on a "ring of criminals." Jewish leaders and historians criticized the speech, leading to a Vatican correction two days later in which the pope condemned ......
2009-03-18 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
A tisket, a tasket, how much sugar is weighing down your Easter basket? In this season of sweets — Easter is the second most sugar-coated holiday, behind Halloween — Americans consume more than 700 million marshmallow Peeps, 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies and 16 billion jell......
2009-03-17 09:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Susan Davis reached for the lengthy list of questions she'd carefully written down for her new oncologist. She watched incredulously as he rolled his eyes and backed his chair away. That single uncaring gesture unleashed the gamut of emotions — rage, shock, fear — the no......
2009-03-16 11:02:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
After 55 years of marriage — most in the big farmhouse where they raised 13 children — Ray and Ruth Frey live eight miles apart. Frey remembers his wife as a pretty young waitress, jolly and laughing, belting out gospel tunes and playing the accordion around a campfire. But in ......
2009-03-13 17:49:00
TAYLOR BUNDY, 18, Freestyle
www.toneteen.comThe Point: ToneTeen claims to be "the kid's and teen's resource for health and fitness." This site breaks down dieting, exercise and healthy lifestyle choices......
2009-03-12 00:01:00
You're not feeling well. So you make an appointment, go to the doctor's office and, in the midst of providing insurance information, you are asked to sign a legal form stating you will not criticize the doctor or the practice online.Would you sign it?That scenario is beginni......
2009-03-11 00:01:00
By overturning strict limits on federal funding for stem cell research, President Barack Obama has made good on his promise to "restore science to its rightful place."It is a long overdue announcement that bases scientific decisions on facts, not ideologies. To ensure that, Obama......
2009-03-10 10:52:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Since Bulova Technologies LLC abruptly closed its downtown Lancaster plant in mid-December, former employees have worried about lost wages, medical benefits and severance pay. They no longer have to worry about the first two, according to former Bulova CEO Steve Gurba. "Bulova Technol......
2009-03-10 01:13:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday a $31 million package of emergency measures to protect needy Pennsylvania families from the stormy economy. ...
2009-03-10 00:02:00
Buried inside the $787 billion stimulus bill is a $1.1 billion appropriation that — in the long run — could have more impact on how Americans live than all of the rest of the spending.The money sets up a program for researchers to compare how various drugs, medical devices and ......
2009-03-09 08:53:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Kathy Wolff was DOA at age 26, her spine severed by a bullet. In an agonizing tug of war between life and death, emergency-room staff fought ferociously to save the vibrant respiratory therapist. Wolff's life shouldn't have been in the balance. She was young, healthy, engaged to......
2009-03-09 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The ship has struck rocks and is taking on water before it even sails out of harbor.Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to have a commission study the viability of merging the state's 501 school districts into 100 regional territories had all the makings of a long-term Democratic Party plat......
2009-03-08 00:06:00
DENNIS LARISON, Business Editor
Maybe it's the influence of St. Patrick or just the color of the season, but this year's Spring Into Wellness conference is taking on a decidedly green cast. In addition to sessions on employee wellness, the conference will feature a keynote speech by Jill Buck, founder of the Go Green ......
2009-03-05 01:31:00
MICHAEL YODER
A Lancaster County neonatologist stands accused of defrauding three insurance companies of more than $2 million in falsely reported claims.Dr. Saroj Kumar Parida, 49, of the 700 block of Goose Neck Drive, Manheim Township, was charged with three felony counts each of insurance fraud and de......
2009-03-04 07:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Think of them as compassionate cooks hungry for better health — even a healthier planet. Vegetarians — and particularly vegans, who avoid eating all animal-based products — may be motivated to go meatless to help prevent animal cruelty. "We don't eat anything ......
2009-03-04 01:56:00
JENNIFER TODD
Millersville University is committed to helping its students and faculty kick butt.More accurately, butts.At the start of the spring semester, the college launched a tobacco-cessation program that offers individual and group services to people who want to quit smoking or using tobac......
2009-03-04 01:18:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Lancaster Barnstormers are pitching a new Web-based path by which charities, youth groups, churches and other nonprofits can score funds.The Barnstormers' latest fundraising plan could yield up to $4.50 for each ticket sold in a charity's name for games at Clipper Magazine Stad......
2009-03-03 10:58:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Dr. Thomas Fromuth used to wield a pen and a prescription pad in his office. The obstetrician/gynecologist now uses a hand-held computer to prescribe medications for his patients. He's electronically prescribing, or e-prescribing, transmitting a prescription directly from his computer ......
2009-03-03 07:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Kim Eichinger has set the course, and 92-year-old Glenn Davis is ready to stay the distance. Davis, a resident at Country Meadows Retirement Community, Lancaster, nimbly maneuvers his walker around a set of multicolored plastic cones set up inside the 1380 Elm Ave. campus. Then, putting......
2009-03-03 00:50:00
TOM KNAPP
Bulova Technologies LLC, once a pillar of downtown Lancaster's industrial community, has won the first round in a series of federal suits filed on behalf of 40 laid-off employees.A federal court ruled Thursday that the assets of CEO Stephen L. Gurba can't be seized and held against......
2009-02-28 00:40:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
State officials said recent air-quality tests gave reason to doubt USA Today's claim that many schools are "toxic hot spots."The state Department of Environmental Protection has cast doubt on a newspaper's report that labeled hundreds of schools in America — includi......
2009-02-25 18:41:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
In the beginning stages of dementia, the 80-year-old woman who recently moved to a retirement community couldn't understand why her children wouldn't come and take her back home.They had promised they would, she insisted."What's going on?" Stephen Klotz, valida......
2009-02-25 07:01:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Latino culture revolves around friends, family and food. Unfortunately that food is often fried. But traditional Latino-style cooking can be healthy — and still taste great. Lancaster General dietitians modify high-fat and salt-laden recipes from local contributors in the fre......
2009-02-25 07:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Inside the reproduction 1800s stone hearth at the Landis Valley Museum tavern, sausage fries in cider over open flame. Fire licks at a griddle full of Mush Muffins, which rise to the occasion. To help introduce the release of the second edition of the "Landis Valley Cookbook: Pennsylvan......
2009-02-25 00:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts said Tuesday night he favored much of President Barack Obama's first speech to a joint session of Congress, in which the Illinois Democrat laid out much of his first-term agenda. ...
2009-02-24 09:57:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Bristles come up in restless anticipation. Inside the gym at Park Elementary School, Columbia, six students nervously raise toothbrushes mouthward. A clock set for two minutes glows red overhead. In front of the soon-to-brush bunch is a table covered with water-filled cups. An audi......
2009-02-24 01:01:00
MICHAEL YODER
Sen. Arlen Specter knows the political risks of voting for a bill that goes against party philosophy.His support of the 2009 economic stimulus bill, along with that of two fellow Republican senators — Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine — was a vote he has called "pol......
2009-02-23 11:16:00
CINDY STAUFFER
You might know someone who has gotten the flu by now. But probably not a lot of someones. The flu has arrived in the county, and in the state, where the virus is now "widespread," according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. The Pittsburgh area, Allentown and Bethlehem, ......
2009-02-20 01:17:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Summit Quest Academy, a behavioral facility for problem youth near Ephrata, is closing its doors."We are looking to close our Ephrata facility once we are able to find appropriate placement for all the youths there," said Chris Wolf, Summit Quest's head of operations and deve......
2009-02-18 20:16:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Consider the pressures of college:Getting good grades.Becoming independent.Navigating a new social system.Pressures to drink, use drugs and have sex.Managing a part-time job or many extracurricular activities.Planning a future career.These are just......
2009-02-18 00:46:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If you're a Marx Brothers fan like I am and have noticed how the Republicans in Washington react to anything President Barack Obama proposes, you've probably said to yourself, "Hey! I've seen this movie before!"The movie, of course, is "Horse Feathers," in w......
2009-02-17 07:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Scott Miller's search for a Lancaster County marathon turned out to be the ultimate test of endurance. In November 2007, Miller marked his 50th birthday by running the Harrisburg Marathon. After the race, he looked for a nearby spring marathon to keep up his training. But he found none ......
2009-02-16 00:26:00
PATRICK BURNS
A poll co-conducted by Lancaster-based Taylor Brand Group found that the majority of Pennsylvanians favor the state's smoking ban in restaurants.Commissioned by the Institute for Good Medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the poll found that 55.7 percent of respondents believe ......
2009-02-14 00:47:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A committee of School District of Lancaster board members endorsed a pregnancy-prevention program this week following a lengthy discussion of why middle school students need to learn about safe sex and condoms.Health teachers and district administrators argued that students need factual in......
2009-02-14 00:28:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Fred Owens, a psychology professor at Franklin & Marshall College, is working on a collaborative research project that could become a model for road construction and safety.F&M, along with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the Texas Transportation Institute, has receiv......
2009-02-13 22:36:00
STAFF REPORT
Giant Food Stores and Martin's Food Markets have recalled two Nature's Promise Peanut Products. The items were recalled because each product contains peanuts supplied by Peanut Corporation of America and has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella bacteria.These products a......
2009-02-12 00:37:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster plans to implement a pregnancy-prevention program that has caused a stir in Reading School District.SDL's school board education committee today will review a proposal to expand the middle school health curriculum with teaching units on abstinence and safe ......
2009-02-12 00:18:00
TOM KNAPP
Plans for a professional/commercial office building are being reviewed for the site once occupied by the Golden Meadows indoor and outdoor swimming pool complex.East Hempfield Township Planning Commission on Wednesday briefly reviewed a sketch plan for a 20,000-square-foot office building ......
2009-02-10 10:43:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Epilepsy was like the elephant in the room. Kerri Michnya, diagnosed with a seizure disorder when she was 10, decided it was easier to keep the reality of her disability to herself. She didn't want to risk misunderstanding. But 20 years later, when she became pregnant with her ......
2009-02-08 00:02:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
When Dave Plummer isn't talking suicide jumpers down or helping city police deal with people suffering other emotional crises, he might be found antiquing or at home with his cats. The single, 58-year-old crisis intervention counselor is the first city police liaison for the Lancaster Count......
2009-02-06 20:54:00
STAFF REPORT
A confirmed case of rabies in Mount Joy Township prompted Northwest Regional Police Department to caution residents Friday about "lethargic" pets or wild animals.Police said a pet was bitten by a raccoon Monday in the area of the 300 block of North Milton Grove Road. The raccoon ......
2009-02-06 00:01:00
If you follow Gov. Ed Rendell's road map for dealing with the state's projected $2.3 billion deficit, most directional arrows point downward. But at some intersections, he proposes detours that not only increase funding, but could lead the state in another direction entirely.Citing......
2009-02-04 18:31:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
It's a bra, it's an owl, and it's a fundraiser.This 36 C underwire bra, decorated by Shirley Jackson of Lancaster, is one of several artistic bras local women created to support a breast cancer charity.Jackson, who is a 10-year breast cancer survivor, calls it: Endangere......
2009-02-04 00:20:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Losing their children to cancer hasn't stopped Jamie Eager and Kim Mease from continuing to fight the disease — in fact, they are striking back.Nine-year-old Brandon Loose, son of Eager and Craig Loose, died in October from neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that affects the sympa......
2009-02-03 14:43:00
TOM MURSE
A groundbreaking program in which hundreds of health-care professionals volunteer to treat low-income patients here who don't have health insurance and can't get government help could serve as a model for a similar statewide network. Sen. Mike Brubaker is proposing to match up physicians and ot......
2009-02-03 07:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Kelsey Landis' future is full of exhilarating uncertainty. Where will she live after college? What job will she take? But another, darker question looms over Kelsey's future: Will she get cancer, too? Kelsey has reason to worry. Her mother and grandmother, both cancer sur......
2009-02-01 00:04:00
LAURA KNOWLES
In his travels to West Africa, Dr. Robert Scanlon has seen conditions that would shock most people in the United States. "There is no running water, limited food, no electricity, no medical care and trash that litters the ground. Conditions are so unsanitary and dangerous that people strug......
2009-01-31 00:28:00
TOM MURSE
Even if you're a regular shopper at Stauffers of Kissel Hill, chances are you've never bumped into or heard of Barry Parsons.But you ought to be very thankful he's there.The 45-year-old East Hempfield Township man is the food-safety coordinator for all three Stauffers su......
2009-01-30 21:55:00
STAFF REPORT
Redner's Markets Inc. said Friday it is voluntarily recalling its Redner's Warehouse Markets Sundae Cones, UPC 1598410417, and Redner's Warehouse Markets Round Top Vanilla Cones, UPC 1598404006, due to the expanded recall notice issued by the FDA and Peanut Corp. of America. No illnes......
2009-01-30 00:14:00
LORI VAN INGEN
"Live United" by "reaching out a hand to one, influencing the condition of all" was a theme that resonated with local residents, who increased their donations to the United Way of Lancaster County by 2.6 percent in 2008, according to Robin Stauffer, last year's campaign ch......
2009-01-29 21:59:00
STAFF REPORT
Following notification from its manufacturer, Giant Food Stores LLC has recalled Giant brand Sundae Cones. The item was removed from store shelves because ingredients in the product were from Peanut Corp. of America and has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella bacteria. The product ha......
2009-01-29 00:51:00
JEFF HAWKES
No columnist would be worth his salt if he didn't from time to time share from the heart.And perhaps I'll do that someday, although it dawned on me as I waited in a gastroenterologist's office Monday that the heart gets enough attention as it is.Ever since the ancients m......
2009-01-29 00:24:00
P.J. REILLY
Medical research shows that moms who visit the dentist when they are pregnant are helping themselves and their babies."Mothers who have dental cleanings have a higher percentage of healthy birthweight children than mothers who don't," said Dan Jurman, director of development ......
2009-01-27 09:28:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Think of it as a GPS for your life. Or maybe a new way to keep those New Year's resolutions. The Circle of Life Coaching Group, a program available through the Samaritan Counseling Center, 1803 Oregon Pike, Lancaster, helps participants evaluate 12 areas of their lives, ranging from......
2009-01-27 09:26:00
CHAD UMBLE
When tough economic times leave nonprofits scrambling to cover immediate expenses, long-term planning can get lost in the mix. With that in mind, the Lancaster County Community Foundation recently awarded $10,000 matching grants to eight local non-profit organizations. The matching g......
2009-01-26 10:24:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Matt and Cindy Gotowski are burdened daily by the grueling, grinding cost of allocating a major share of their income to health care. Their 14-year-old son, Joey, has had more than 25 surgeries, including a small intestine transplant that cost nearly $600,000. "When we get medical bil......
2009-01-24 00:27:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
When Greg Francis and Shawn Stansbery head to Honduras in a few weeks, the two anesthesiology residents will witness interesting medical cases — "like machete wounds."But they'll also mark some personal and professional goals while setting a new standard for residency p......
2009-01-24 00:24:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Longtime Lancaster family physician Anthony Mastropietro took the helm as chief medical officer at Lancaster Regional Medical Center and Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center this week.The appointment became effective Monday and was jointly announced by the hospitals Friday.Mas......
2009-01-23 00:35:00
JENNIFER TODD
Eighteen local businesses have been issued warning letters from the Pennsylvania Department of Health because they may have violated the state's smoking ban.Bars and restaurants are among them, but so are an antiques shop, farming and manufacturing firms and Park City Center.Let......
2009-01-22 11:07:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Lancaster Regional Medical Center saw its number of hospital-acquired infections increase from 2006 to 2007, while the number at other area hospitals decreased or stayed the same during the period, according to a new state report released today. However, the report's author and the hospi......
2009-01-22 10:49:00
TOM MURSE
The customer bought a few packs of Lance peanut butter crackers. Then, at home later, she saw the news: At least 486 people in more than 40 states have gotten sick in the growing salmonella-and-peanuts outbreak. She panicked. And then she called the store. "Can I eat them? Are......
2009-01-22 00:48:00
P.J. REILLY
"Heading Home: The 10-Year Action Plan to End Homelessness in Lancaster County" is an ambitious plan calling for a shift away from sheltering the homeless to focusing on getting them into permanent housing.On Wednesday, Kay Mosher McDivitt was introduced as the county's first......
2009-01-21 11:13:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
About two years ago, George Maag got a flu he just couldn't shake. When he went to the doctor, he discovered he'd lost 10 pounds in seven days. Doctors searched for what else could be wrong. A series of tests revealed that Maag had celiac disease. The autoimmune intestinal ......
2009-01-21 00:51:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Consumers who recently bought raw milk from an Ephrata dairy farm are at risk of salmonella contamination and should discard it immediately, the state Agriculture Department announced Tuesday.Tests of raw milk samples taken Jan. 12 from Conestoga Valley Dairy Farm in Ephrata showed the pre......
2009-01-20 22:23:00
STAFF REPORT
Giant Food Stores and Martin's Food Markets Tuesday announced additional manufacturer product recalls in conjunction with the salmonella outbreak involving peanut butter and peanut butter paste products. Consumers are encouraged to return these items to the store for a full refund.The ......
2009-01-20 10:10:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The Lancaster General Healthy Weight Management Program soon will have a new home. The Healthy Weight Management Center will open this spring on the third floor of a freestanding building on the Lancaster General Health Campus. The building is on the southwestern corner of the campus, alon......
2009-01-11 00:06:00
DENNIS LARISON, Business Editor
Amid a steady whir of elliptical trainers and other exercise equipment at Tim's Fitness Center in Lititz, beads of sweat trickle off reddened faces this time of year as steadily as water dropping from the ice-glazed tree limbs outside. Bankruptcies and corporate layoffs might be dominating ......
2009-01-08 00:03:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
The media got a rare glimpse inside the nearly complete GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals vaccine manufacturing plant in Marietta on Wednesday.Some areas on the tour of the former Wyeth Laboratories will be sterilized and sealed off to the public in coming weeks after the Britain-based company r......
2009-01-06 09:00:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Losing weight sounds so easy. Just exercise more and eat less, right? But anyone who's struggled to shed pounds will tell you it's not that simple. Here, some local weight-loss success stories share their best tips to inspire you in the new year.
M......
2008-12-30 00:25:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Summer may have gone swimmingly at Golden Meadows, but it was the community swimming pool's swan song nonetheless.Owners of the East Hempfield Township swimming pool complex began demolishing the indoor pool building Monday to make way for construction of an office building.Don ......
2008-12-28 16:01:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Doug Trower noticed he wasn't walking normally — his step had a slap to it as he walked from the parking lot to work. It seemed like everyone was passing him by.Granted, he was in his late 60s, but he was the type person to be doing the passing, not the other way around.Th......
2008-12-25 00:05:00
JENNIFER TODD
After nearly three weeks in a Philadelphia hospital, Mimi Weber came home Sunday to a house decorated with lights and a Christmas tree.You get a sense she has never seen anything so beautiful.But these days, the Pequea woman looks at everything in life with a new perspective.......
2008-12-24 00:30:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Blaming a bad economy, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has announced that plans for a $235 million children's hospital are on hold.The decision was announced in a letter sent to staff Thursday.Medical center chief executive officer Harold L. Paz said the decision was......
2008-12-23 10:09:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Maybe they got the flu shot last year, and still got the flu. Maybe, if they had to pay for the shot, they didn't want to fork over the $30 or so cost this year. Maybe they mistakenly thought the shot would make them sick. For whatever reason, some folks are not getting their flu ......
2008-12-23 08:53:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Stephanie Cole sleeps with her baby's receiving blanket. Even though she never held her daughter, Madeline, in the blanket, Cole still finds comfort in its connection to her child. Madeline, who was stillborn two years ago, was placed on the blanket when her photo was taken. Bu......
2008-12-23 00:43:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Doctors said he wouldn't live.In fact, Darren Frey's health was in such dire condition that doctors said he had better put his affairs in order.And one of those affairs was Dodger, Frey's short-legged, low-slung, doe-eyed, 1½-year-old tri-color Basset hound &mdash......
2008-12-19 01:52:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Most people don't think of the lights from EMS and fire trucks as beautiful, but that changed Thursday evening at Lititz Area Mennonite School.A caravan of almost 50 emergency-response vehicles gathered in honor of Hannah Garman, a child diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and giv......
2008-12-18 11:05:00
TOM MURSE and CINDY STAUFFER
A majority of Lancaster County's 32 nursing homes are performing above average in health inspections, staffing and quality, new federal ratings of all 16,000 facilities nationwide show. But there's room for improvement. Nearly one in four Lancaster County nursing homes is consid......
2008-12-18 00:45:00
TOM KNAPP
Hannah Garman wants to celebrate Christmas in a very big way.But the plucky 4-year-old — she will turn 5 in January — was diagnosed in late October with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor, in her cerebellum.The prognosis, according to her grandmother, Shi......
2008-12-18 00:21:00
P.J. REILLY
Commissioners pass an "austere" budget that will leave the property tax rate at 3.416 mills for 2009.•••Lancaster County commissioners on Wednesday unanimously passed a $272 million budget for 2009 that calls for no increase i......
2008-12-17 01:11:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County commissioners will meet today for the last time in 2008.They are expected to approve a $272 million spending plan for 2009 that calls for no tax increase.But they are not expected to announce the fates of two properties the county owns but the commissioners might se......
2008-12-16 23:53:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Conestoga Valley School Board voted to leave a health care cooperative of county schools at a meeting Monday and is now reviewing proposals from independent insurance carriers such as Blue Shield and Capital Blue Cross.The vote was 6-2 with board members Idette Groff and Rosalind Bacon vot......
2008-12-16 08:50:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Pregnancy is the beginning of a new life — and not just for the baby. Those nine exciting expectant months can also open the door to a new, healthier lifestyle for Mom. Recently unveiled results of a Lancaster General study show that counseling on nutrition, exercise and stress re......
2008-12-16 08:48:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
EASE KIDS' FEARS OF SANTA CLAUS
Not every kid is all smiles when meeting Santa Claus. For some, it can be an overwhelming experience to visit the man with the flowing beard and red-and-white suit. Franklin & Marshall College assistant psychology professor Kris......
2008-12-16 08:46:00
LINDA BUCH
Q. I need some fast workouts to get me through the holidays. I exercise five days a week, but the holiday season makes keeping this schedule challenging. Any ideas? — Lori Goldman, Denver, COLO.
A. It is ironic, but often the very thing that relieves stress and maintains ......
2008-12-16 08:45:00
DR. ANDREW WEIL
Q. Where do you stand on the current debate between buying food from nearby farms, even if they're not pesticide-free, or buying organic, no matter where it comes from?
A. This is a heavily debated topic these days. At issue is whether or not conventionally grown fruits, vegeta......
2008-12-16 00:01:00
We all know that fatigue breeds mistakes.That's why it's so puzzling that medical training has institutionalized a system in which doctors in training, called residents, are required to work long hospital shifts with heavy workloads with little or no sleep.Under current rules, resid......
2008-12-16 00:01:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Susan never locked her medicine cabinet, unaware that what was in it could be abused by her 17-year-old son.Yet the type of cold medicine stored at her home was a tempting drug."One day I found a bunch of cough medicine pills in his bag and realized that he didn't have a co......
2008-12-12 12:20:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Three holiday cheers to people with arthritis who have walked in water —with bells on — making spirits bright at the Arthritis Foundation. Earlier this week, participants in the foundation's aquatic program at Mennonite Home Communities donned wrist-band bells, Santa hats and......
2008-12-11 00:38:00
P.J. REILLY
A new pest is on the rise in Lancaster County.It's aggressive, fond of human blood and known to carry the deadly West Nile virus.It's the Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive species that showed up in the county in larger numbers this year than ever before."There no......
2008-12-11 00:03:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
The eight teenage boys chopping wood at a mountain campsite aren't the kids most people would trust to wield axes.Most of the teens have a file full of diagnoses, from oppositional defiant disorder to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. They used to be on multiple medications to ......
2008-12-11 00:02:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Leaders of a Mennonite-run alternative education camp are at odds with officials at Lancaster County Juvenile Probation over placement of severely emotionally disturbed boys.Bald Eagle Boys Camp wants local boys to come to its year-round, outdoor wilderness camping program in Clinton Count......
2008-12-11 00:01:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Jesse was born prematurely to a mother who used alcohol and cocaine together during her pregnancy. He wasn't handled in the hospital, his father Lonnie Sellers of Terre Hill said, and he got little, if any, attention or cuddling for the first 17 months of his life.By the time Lonnie an......
2008-12-10 00:55:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A cluster of schools near some of the most pristine farmland in Lancaster County may be harboring hidden health hazards, according to USA Today.In a special report running this week, the newspaper identified Locust Grove Mennonite School as one of 435 schools in America that might be expos......
2008-12-09 09:18:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Life doesn't end when you lose a limb. In some ways, Dwight McKay and James Yohn say, their lives got richer, because they are reaping rewards from helping other amputees. McKay, 64, of Lititz, and Yohn, 65, of Manheim, are peer visitors and members of the Amputee Support Team of La......
2008-12-09 01:02:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
It's a parking garage. No, it's a hospital. No, it's the way into the hospital.Actually, it's all of the above.Lancaster General's $65 million creation on North Duke Street is just about finished after more than a year in the works.The Downtown Pavilion po......
2008-12-09 00:01:00
It's called bisphenol A or BPA. It's a chemical added to plastics as a stiffening agent. It's found in some food containers and, in particular, water bottles and plastic baby bottles.Bisphenol A is so ubiquitous that nearly everyone has traces of the chemical in their bodies....
2008-12-05 11:23:00
CINDY STAUFFER
State university officials are considering relaxing parts of an outdoor campus smoking ban, just three months after it was imposed. The move follows complaints from three employee unions. Millersville University already is moving ahead with some of the looser measures, which staff and f......
2008-12-02 10:20:00
CINDY STAUFFER
People can have their blood tested or X-rays taken at the new building across Duke Street from Lancaster General Hospital. They can see a doctor or bed down for the night for a sleep test. Lancaster General employees may work out in a fitness center here, or stop on their way home for a half-ga......
2008-11-25 07:03:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
GET RELIEF FROM BACK PAIN
Got back pain? InventHelp's Disc-Traction, a spinal stretching belt, can help those suffering from chronic or acute back pain. The belt, available in various sizes, comes with a set of isometric exercises designed to reduce and prevent lo......
