2009-11-08 00:22:00
PAULA WOLF
The bipartisan abortion amendment passed during Saturday's health care debate was co-sponsored by Rep. Joseph Pitts. A Republican who represents Lancaster County and parts of Chester and Berks counties, Pitts teamed with Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, of Michigan, to draft the amendment mo......
2009-11-08 00:19:00
JACK BRUBAKER
As the number of swine flu cases seems to be diminishing here, two of the county's four hospitals finally have obtained H1N1 vaccine for employees who have direct contact with patients. This seemingly backward series of events is a result of insufficient supplies of vaccine nationwide. ......
2009-11-08 00:10:00
PAULA WOLF
Immediately after the Democrats' health care bill was passed, Rep. Joseph Pitts — who opposed the legislation — released the following statement: "Instead of passing health care reform with a united front of Democrats and Republicans, Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose to rej......
2009-11-07 21:07:00
NOAM N. LEVEY and JANET HOOK, McClatchy Newspapers
The House of Representatives moved Saturday night toward a vote on the most sweeping health care legislation in two generations, advancing President Barack Obama's campaign to guarantee health coverage to almost all Americans for the first time. Following a late-innings battle over language......
2009-11-07 07:41:00
TOM MURSE
Ten months ago, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center shelved plans for a new children's hospital because of the tanking economy.It was unable to get bond financing for the project amid a credit freeze at the time.Being forced to hold off, it turns out, will pay off....
2009-11-06 10:50:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-11-06 00:03:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Children are back in school, hospital emergency departments are returning to normal and worried patients are no longer inundating pediatricians with worried telephone calls.The swine flu seems to be on the wane in parts of Lancaster County."This wave has peaked, let's say it that wa......
2009-11-06 00:03:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Oct. 6, 2009 — School District of Lancaster will provide swine flu vaccines from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at McCaskey East High School to SDL students and pupils who attend private schools within the district. Private school stu......
2009-11-05 08:12:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Manheim Township School District plans to begin administering the first of 6,200 doses of swine flu vaccine to its students next week.But unlike the two other local school districts that have received vaccines, Manheim Township will give students H1N1 shots and nasal sprays during the scho......
2009-11-03 10:17:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lampeter-Strasburg School District plans to administer up to 500 H1N1 vaccines to its students Thursday night.District nurses will give free swine flu shots to students from 5 to 7 p.m. at L-S High School Performing Arts Center.The only pupils eligible to receive a shot are those wh......
2009-11-03 07:53:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
As soon as 36-year-old Nicole Shaffer was diagnosed with cancer in one breast, she chose her treatment without batting an eye.The Lititz mother of three immediately opted for a double, or bilateral, mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction.For Shaffer, a nurse practitioner who c......
2009-10-31 10:06:00
DIANE BITTING
Leanne M. Lefever is the student behind the sound for "The Morning Show" on WCVH, the closed-circuit television broadcast at Conestoga Valley High School.Every weekday, around 7:20 a.m., the senior positions herself at a console in the school's TV studio.She controls t......
2009-10-31 05:51:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School administrators and teachers are scrambling to help students make up work in the wake of widespread absences — many related to swine flu — at Lancaster County schools.Schools are actively encouraging parents to take schoolwork home for their sick children and promoting on......
2009-10-30 11:45:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-10-29 09:32:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Casey Coble is annoyed.That's not a word you might associate with a 27-year-old who recently found out he has leukemia.Again.Who discovered that two years of chemotherapy did not tame the cancer beast. Who learned that his best chance of survival is a bone marrow transpla......
2009-10-29 06:17:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The first 500 doses of H1N1 flu vaccines offered by School District of Lancaster are gone, but 1,000 more might be on the way.On Wednesday, 250 elementary school children, accompanied by their parents or guardians, lined up for the flu shots at Fulton Elementary School on West Orange Stree......
2009-10-28 10:08:00
CINDY STAUFFER
A dad from Ephrata called Manheim Township School District. Would the district immunize his daughter against the swine flu even though she doesn't go to school there?A mom of a Franklin & Marshall College student from Richmond, Va., called Lancaster Regional Medical Center. Could t......
2009-10-27 06:12:00
CINDY STAUFFER
People in their 70s and 80s suffer from severe depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety and other mental health problems, sometimes brought on by life's changes.In the past, Lancaster Regional Medical Center has treated these older adults in its mental health unit. But it began to think ......
2009-10-27 00:04:00
JENNIFER TODD
Pouting and holding back tears, 6-year-old Alex Cooper held his arm as he walked out of the nurse's office at Carter and MacRae Elementary School Monday afternoon."It was real quick," he said quietly, adding that "it hurt."Within minutes, though, the Wharton ......
2009-10-27 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
LaMar Weaver's crushing headaches vanished after he had surgery to remove a brain tumor.But just as things were getting better, his health insurer hit him over the head."They didn't want to pay," Weaver said. "They said it was a pre-existing condition."...
2009-10-26 00:05:00
STAFF
Parents who plan to have their children get an H1N1 vaccine this week at School District of Lancaster schools are being asked to bring their child's school identification with them to the immunizations.SDL has received 500 doses of the swine flu shots, which it plans to administer to schoo......
2009-10-25 00:13:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY
A small but hardy band of people braved a stiff wind and ominous skies to rally in support of health care reform in Lancaster's Penn Square Saturday. The rally was organized by Social Justice Advocates of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster. Some 30 people from that church, ot......
2009-10-24 00:02:00
CINDY STAUFFER
More than 400 students were absent Thursday and Friday from Hempfield High School.Solanco High School's normal absentee rate had tripled by Friday.Local hospital emergency rooms were crowded with coughing, achy, feverish folks, including a family of seven at Heart of Lancaster R......
2009-10-23 06:04:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Mabel Martin recently got a brand-new kind of cancer treatment, one that directed radiation internally at the spot where a tumor had been removed from her abdomen.Martin, 70, underwent electronic brachytherapy at the Ephrata Cancer Center, the only place in Pennsylvania currently offering ......
2009-10-22 21:57:00
CINDY STAUFFER
A small amount of swine flu vaccine is available at the state health clinic in Lancaster for certain people in high-risk groups.The vaccine is available in FluMist, the inhaled form, at the clinic at 1661 Old Philadelphia Pike. Appointments are required, by calling 1-877-PA-HEALTH.F......
2009-10-22 07:12:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Lancaster General Health has decided to eliminate medical and dental coverage for employees who work fewer than 20 hours a week.The new policy will take effect at the beginning of 2011, according to a letter employees received early this month from Mary Miskey, LGH's vice president of ......
2009-10-21 10:07:00
CINDY STAUFFER
It's a little backward.First the swine flu arrived here.Next the vaccine came.So it begs the question: If you've already had a flu-like illness — with fever, body aches, sore throat, congestion — should you even bother to get the swine flu vaccine?S......
2009-10-21 06:11:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Lancaster General Health's plan for a new medical center in West Earl Township has given a supervisor in a neighboring township second thoughts about "regionalization."Earl Township "would be seriously impacted" by the project, but won't have a say on whether it......
2009-10-20 00:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster has received 500 doses of the swine flu vaccine, which it plans to administer to children next week at two of its schools.SDL is the first school district in Lancaster County to receive the vaccine for H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, from the state Departmen......
2009-10-20 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Voters by a slim margin in 1967 said "no" to starting a county health department.Forty-two years later, that decision has ramifications in the push to vaccinate children and other vulnerable people against the worrisome H1N1 flu.In the dozens of counties like ours that don......
2009-10-17 00:03:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Two Lancaster County residents with meningitis died in the past several days, state Department of Health officials said Friday."One appears to be viral, and one appears to be bacterial," Holli Senior, deputy press secretary for the health department, said.The person with v......
2009-10-16 08:55:00
Everybody's making a fuss over Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, whose vote helped send the Senate Finance Committee's health reform plan to the full Senate."When history calls,'' she said, "history calls.''Amen to that.Few things are as historic as ......
2009-10-16 00:02:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Another hospital is offering doctors the chance to become part-owners.Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center in Warwick Township this week held a presentation for doctors about a joint venture at the hospital.About 20 doctors attended the presentation, said a source who was ther......
2009-10-15 08:37:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Schools are sending letters to notify parents when a handful of students from a school are sick. Officials are tossing around scary words including "pandemic." Patients are wearing masks in doctor's waiting rooms.Are we getting a little too hysterical about swine flu?Y......
2009-10-10 00:04:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Children at a Millersville doctor's office are among the first to begin receiving the swine flu vaccine in Lancaster County, and in the state.Manor Family Health Center received 200 doses Thursday of the FluMist swine flu nasal spray, which doctors there are using to immunize children ......
2009-10-10 00:03:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Some local seasonal flu vaccination clinics have been canceled or postponed because of a shortage of the vaccine.The shortage was caused primarily by a switch in production at drug companies from seasonal flu vaccines to swine flu vaccines, officials said.Giant Food Stores has cance......
2009-10-09 10:36:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-10-09 00:04:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Seventeen students at four Manheim Township schools reportedly have contracted H1N1 influenza, commonly known as swine flu.In a letter sent home with students Thursday and today, Manheim Township School District is urging parents to keep their children home from school if they have flu-lik......
2009-10-08 00:07:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The presidency of Barack Obama, what it has accomplished to date and what it has not, was the topic Wednesday for political talk show host and journalist Chris Matthews.The host of MSNBC's "Hardball" and "The Chris Matthews Show" on NBC spoke at Franklin & Marsh......
2009-10-07 00:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Ephrata Area School District has notified parents that a second-grader at Clay Elementary School may have bacterial meningitis.The illness, which can be contagious, can cause brain damage, hearing loss or learning disabilities. It also can be fatal.Parents of the student, whom the d......
2009-10-07 00:01:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
This week we will review big stories in the news, which is where I always turn when I am totally out of column ideas.I see that Lancaster General wants to build a hospital near Ephrata, about a mile from my front door. That would be handy because, currently, my closest hospital is......
2009-10-06 10:23:00
CINDY STAUFFER
As both swine and seasonal flu seasons bear down upon us, let us consider the many ways that viruses can infect us.The facts are both icky — a nice, juicy cough can spray out a whole family of flu viruses — and surprising — the inside of an iguana's mouth is cleaner t......
2009-10-06 10:12:00
BRIAN WALLACE
For Neyda Santiago, the Power Packs Project is "a blessing."The mother of four, whose husband is unemployed, works for the state. Because of the budget impasse in Harrisburg, she hasn't received a full paycheck in months.So when Santiago learned she could receive free ......
2009-10-06 00:17:00
KEVIN FREEMAN
As a little girl, Alex Evans always preferred to hang out with her grandmother instead of her friends.She spent a lot of time at her grandmother's house. The two would take walks and do many things together."It was more like a best friend relationship than a grandmother-gra......
2009-10-05 09:11:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Eighty-three-year-old Louise Black, a feisty, former English professor and actress, has always maintained a rapid, purposeful pace."I started walking when I was 8 months old, and I've walked fast ever since," said the Brethren Village Retirement Community resident.But ......
2009-10-03 06:48:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Young Sydney Bush got to sit next to Lancaster Barnstormers' mascot Cylo on the roller coaster on Friday, something the 6-year-old hopes she'll always remember.It was a night-and-day happier experience for the Rohrerstown first-grader than two others she has had in her still-young ......
2009-10-02 08:28:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Pregnant women, new moms, babies and children now can get fruits, vegetables, whole-grain foods, tortillas, canned beans and other healthy foods under changes to a nutritional program that helps low-income families.The changes are designed to combat childhood obesity, promote healthy lifes......
2009-10-02 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
If you want to vote in the November elections you have until 5 p.m. Monday to register if you do it in person at the county Voter Registration office, 150 N. Queen St.If you're doing it by snail mail, make sure your application is postmarked Oct. 5 or earlier.We have the registr......
2009-10-01 08:50:00
CLAUDIA W. ESBENSHADE
Some people will do almost anything to get others to pay attention to their cause. U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andy Baldwin, of 2007 "The Bachelor" fame, is one of those people. Tomorrow he'll kick off a 420-mile bike ride across Pennsylvania to raise awareness of the health risks associate......
2009-10-01 08:18:00
"Having a job" and "having health insurance" are such entwined notions in the modern America Dream we forget how recent that connection is and how uncertain.As late as 1940, only 9 percent of Americans were covered by private health insurance. The real expansion of work......
2009-09-30 10:34:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Jeff Kepner gabbed with his brothers and snoozed in a chair at his mom's house in Manheim Township over the weekend, ordinary activities for a trip back home to see family.But the 57-year-old former Lancaster resident also showed off his two new hands, which he received in May in Pitts......
2009-09-30 08:39:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Before parents can confront their children about drug abuse, they need to recognize the signs their kids are using drugs.But many parents don't know what to look for.That's where "Drugs 101: What Parents Need to Know" comes in.The drug education program seek......
2009-09-29 10:34:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
A newborn baby lies crying on a hospital bed.Nurses and specialists peer down at her, monitoring her heart rhythm and her breathing.Her arms and legs move slightly.The baby's breathing becomes shallow. She gasps for breath. Her lips turn blue.The medical workers ne......
2009-09-29 08:13:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The state will get its first shipment of swine flu vaccine in the coming days, but it will be a small one and likely limited to healthy patients.But hang on — millions more doses of the vaccine are on their way, and soon.Pennsylvania will be allowed to place its first order We......
2009-09-29 06:08:00
P.J. REILLY
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts was bombarded Monday night with emotionally charged complaints, ranging from health care reform and the government's rising debt to a fellow congressman calling President Barack Obama a liar on national television.And, for the most part, the crowd agreed with Pitts&......
2009-09-29 00:03:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Correction Oct. 15, 2009 — The article below said Ephrata Township refused to provide water and sewer lines to the proposed site of a new Lancaster General Health medical facility in West Earl Township. That is incorrect. The Ephrata Townshi......
2009-09-26 00:16:00
TIM MEKEEL
In the back of a thick document released by county planners last week is buried an eye-catching nugget: Franklin & Marshall College will be launching a College of Nursing and Medical Sciences. The new nursing college will be part of the massive redevelopment of the Dillerville Yard ......
2009-09-25 00:14:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Maraly Rosario's switch from King Elementary School to La Academia Partnership Charter School last year had an unexpected side effect: a 20-pound weight gain. While attending King, Maraly had recess every day and gym class every week, and she worked out as a member of the school's ch......
2009-09-23 08:10:00
TOM MURSE
The federal government has painted its first current, town-by-town portrait of the uninsured in America, and it's not a pretty picture here in Lancaster County.More than 65,000 county residents lacked health insurance coverage last year, according to the new U.S. Census Bureau snapshot......
2009-09-21 00:03:00
AD CRABLE
For the second time this summer, an area in East Hempfield Township will be sprayed to control mosquitoes that could be carrying the West Nile virus.The County West Nile Virus Mosquito Control Program said that, weather permitting, spraying of a non-hazardous insecticide will take place fr......
2009-09-18 08:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Pennsylvanians can now buy hypodermic needles without a prescription, a change that research shows reduces the spread of AIDS and other viruses among users of illegal drugs.Public health activists hailed the state Board of Pharmacy's lifting of the restriction as a way to lessen risky ......
2009-09-18 06:12:00
LORI VAN INGEN
More than 1,000 children received stuffed animals collected in memory of 6-year-old Kyle Wintersteen."We wanted to say a big 'thank you' " to the community for their donations, family friend Annmarie Hoctor said.Wintersteen, who would have been a first-grader at La......
2009-09-18 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
A few notes, quotes and anecdotes from the week in local politics.Pitts not convincedPresident Barack Obama, speaking about health care reform on prime-time TV last week, forcefully denied that his plan would cover illegal immigrants or spend taxpay......
2009-09-17 10:24:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Out here, past signs advertising guinea pigs and homegrown tomatoes, past the line of willow trees, up around the bend and a little north of Churchtown, a nurse sits with an Amish couple at their kitchen table, talking to them about staphylococcus aureus bacteria."They get that in the......
2009-09-17 10:17:00
P.J. REILLY
Nearly 3 million swine flu vaccinations are expected to be available in Pennsylvania by the end of October.Who gets them first and where they will be administered in Lancaster County are issues with which the state Department of Health is still grappling."We want to make sure t......
2009-09-15 07:07:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Lancaster Realtor Carole Kirchner couldn't close this deal quickly enough.After her divorce, she wasted no time in selling her wedding rings to a gold buyer.Her ¼-karat engagement ring was worth some $2,000. She got around $200.But money wasn't the object....
2009-09-15 06:11:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Local colleges are sending in meals to students who may have the swine flu, relocating their healthy roommates and taking other steps to keep the sick kids from spreading the virus around campuses.The flu has hit local colleges with varying degrees of intensity, ranging from 76 cases at Fr......
2009-09-13 00:11:00
JO-ANN GREENE
No one's blood pressure was in danger of skyrocketing at Lois Herr's town hall meeting on health care. The 2010 Democratic candidate for the 16th Congressional seat hosted a measured, agreeable, two-hour discussion with about 65 county residents at the Lancaster Public Library Saturd......
2009-09-12 08:03:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Realizing they can't prevent an outbreak of the virus known as swine flu, Franklin & Marshall College officials are focusing on limiting the number of cases.And, as of last week, there were at least 22 likely cases of influenza on campus. The college officials are "assuming pe......
2009-09-12 06:02:00
TOM MURSE
Deal? What deal?Gov. Ed Rendell quickly put the kibosh on a $27.9 billion budget framework hashed out by three of the four legislative caucuses and unveiled Friday morning. ...
2009-09-11 13:03:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-09-11 08:13:00
CINDY STAUFFER
If you get the seasonal or the swine flu this fall or winter, you might not get anti-viral medications unless you're very sick or in a high-risk group.The state this week released the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's recommendations for the use of the medications, commonly called......
2009-09-11 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Welcome to the post-Labor Day edition of Politically Speaking, the first since the unofficial start of the fall campaign season. Time to check in with our pols and parties and ask: Whose stock is rising and whose is falling?Let's start with the obvious.FALLING: ......
2009-09-08 08:38:00
CLAUDIA W. ESBENSHADE
Childhood illnesses can be frustrating to pin down, even for doctors. A stomach pain can be caused by a multitude of illnesses ranging from constipation to gas pains to appendicitis. Ruling out the latter is one that emergency room doctors see almost on a daily basis and find it one of the most c......
2009-09-08 08:34:00
CLAUDIA W. ESBENSHADE
Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical emergencies in the emergency room, it is also one of the hardest to diagnose, according to physicians.The ailment, which is an inflammation of the bowel and can cause serious illness if undiagnosed, is the focus of a study to find markers in ......
2009-09-07 09:30:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Lancaster General Health, the county's largest employer, operates by far the largest of Lancaster County's hospitals, serving a population area of nearly 1 million.Its profits in 2008 topped $100 million. It made more money than all but two other hospitals in Pennsylvania.Is......
2009-09-07 00:01:00
STAFF
Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....
2009-09-07 00:00:00
LORI VAN INGEN
In 2006, Charlie Trumbo was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma at the base of his tongueDoctors told Trumbo that he would have to have a feeding tube inserted if he chose to have the form of skin cancer surgically removed.Trumbo instead underwent radiation and chemotherapy treat......
2009-09-05 09:33:00
TIM MEKEEL
From a financial perspective, this real estate deal is hard to figure.But it's being called a transaction that's more about people than numbers.Lancaster General Health sold Maple Farm Nursing Center this week to Garden Spot Village for $1.67 million, courthouse records show......
2009-09-04 10:19:00
CINDY STAUFFER
How bad will the swine flu be in schools this year?Will schools close if they reach a certain absenteeism rate?Will schools vaccinate students?If they do, how will they refrigerate potentially thousands of vaccines until they are distributed? Who will actually give the vaccin......
2009-09-04 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
After two town hall meetings, it is clear that U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts' opposition to the health care reform proposals put forth by the Obama administration is based on one fundamental, underlying belief:The crisis has been overblown."This is about a 10 million-person problem,&......
2009-09-04 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvanians are a sour lot, a new statewide poll shows.And, really, can you blame us?We live in the only state in the nation operating without a budget, and there's no sign of an end to the stalemate, which is in its third month.A majority of us are also skeptical of P......
2009-09-03 08:01:00
P.J. REILLY
Two city organizations were awarded a total of $29,000 Wednesday from the Better Lancaster Fund for separate projects aimed at helping young children. Southeast Lancaster Health Services — a nonprofit organization that provides health care to the poor — was awarded $22,395 for it......
2009-09-01 09:33:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
To protect people in the event of a nuclear emergency, the state Department of Health is distributing free potassium iodide tablets starting today.The tablets are for people who live or work within a 10-mile radius of any of the state's five nuclear power plants.Tablets previous......
2009-08-31 00:11:00
P.J. REILLY
Work crews from the state Department of Environmental Protection and Lancaster County's West Nile virus program plan to spray an insecticide targeting mosquitoes in East Hempfield Township this evening.Parts of the township are being targeted because high populations of mosquitoes, whi......
2009-08-29 06:48:00
TOM MURSE
The setting was a tad more intimate: a small, warmly lit auditorium.The emotion, however, was just as raw.Some 175 people from this Chester County community jammed into an elementary school here Friday night, and many directed sharp words at their congressman, Republican Rep. Joe Pi......
2009-08-28 10:34:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
The enemy is coming, and local colleges are getting their battle plans ready in a hurry.Their weapons: extra tissues and sanitary hand gel.The enemy is H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu. As government and health officials work on making a vaccine against the flu available by ear......
2009-08-28 09:43:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
The Community Action Program of Lancaster County was hoping for federal stimulus money that "benefited the most number of people" and "resulted in broad community improvement."And the Lancaster agency was indeed able to secure more than $1 million in new stimulus funds,......
2009-08-28 06:03:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts was cheered by opponents of President Barack Obama's sweeping health-care proposals at a spirited — and occasionally testy — town-hall meeting here Thursday night.But the Republican lawmaker also faced tough questions from many of the 400 people in the c......
2009-08-28 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Elizabethtown Area Water Authority on Thursday announced its water had been deemed clear of contamination by the state Department of Environmental Protection.And at 12:30 p.m., the authority ended its advisory that customers should boil their tap water before drinking it.The advisor......
2009-08-27 08:42:00
TOM MURSE
Jason O'Malley was preparing to graduate from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1999 and had sent out at least a hundred résumés.The 1995 McCaskey graduate loved politics and dreamed of working on Capitol Hill, so he sent an application to the office of U.S. Sen......
2009-08-27 00:07:00
P.J. REILLY
Water samples from Elizabethtown Area Water Authority have indicated the system is clear of contamination, but a boil-water advisory remains in effect until Friday, officials said Wednesday.Tests results on a second set of water samples that were taken Wednesday are expected this evening....
2009-08-26 00:04:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, who was criticized for holding a teleconference on health care reform instead of meeting with a skeptical public, has scheduled a town-hall meeting here Thursday night.The forum will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Conestoga Valley High School, 2110 Horseshoe Ro......
2009-08-25 06:03:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The nation has broken the promise of the American Dream, that the next generation will have the opportunity to do better than the present one, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak told a small crowd in Penn Square Monday afternoon.Sestak said that's why he is running for the U.S. Senate a......
2009-08-25 00:01:00
P.J. REILLY
Elizabethtown Area Water Authority on Monday announced its 4,400 customers should boil their water before drinking it.And that advisory is going to stand until at least Friday, said John Caldwell, authority manager."That's when we will have our test results back," Cald......
2009-08-24 08:00:00
Lancaster New Era
President Barack Obama puts the number of uninsured Americans at roughly 47 million, a big number intended to bolster his arg......
2009-08-22 15:30:00
CASEY KREIDER and GIL SMART
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2009-08-22 00:02:00
DIANE BITTING
When the swine flu began to break out across the globe a few months ago, Kristina M. Shultz of Mount Joy watched with keen interest. Why? Someday, this 18-year-old hopes to be an epidemiologist, a professional who studies and tracks the spread of diseases, such as swine flu. Shultz, w......
2009-08-19 09:10:00
Watching the news footage of town hall meetings, one might get the impression that Americans are perfectly happy with a health insurance system that denies them benefits for pre-existing conditions, argues with their doctors over which drugs to prescribe, sends dunning letters long after bills have ...
2009-08-18 09:33:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
When Hospice of Lancaster County hands out surveys about services received, one response stands out. "People often say they wish they'd used us sooner," said Joan Groh, Hospice community relations representative."Sometimes there's more of a fear of Hospice than an un......
2009-08-18 09:21:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
They wound up "meeting somewhere in the middle."After a lengthy debate Monday night over plans for a new CVS Pharmacy next to the Lancaster General Health campus — with much of that debate about the size of the store's signs — East Hempfield Township and the devel......
2009-08-18 08:14:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts has long opposed the public health care option sought by President Barack Obama, saying any government-run plan would undercut private insurers.But on Monday, Pitts said he also dislikes the administration's alternative to the "public option" — nonpr......
2009-08-16 00:01:00
GIL SMART, Smart Remarks
Sen. Arlen Specter visited Lebanon last week to get screamed at. And screamed at he was. The town hall meeting at the Lebanon campus of HACC: Central Pennsylvania's Community College, like so many other forums across the country this summer, degenerated into shrieking outrage over the prosp......
2009-08-15 09:39:00
CINDY STAUFFER
More than 135 local doctors are becoming part-owners of Lancaster Regional Medical Center in an unusual joint-venture deal to be finalized this month.The doctors are paying Regional $8.2 million and will hold about a 10 percent ownership in the College Avenue hospital, according to an inte......
2009-08-14 10:22:00
CINDY STAUFFER
This year's first flu shot, against the regular seasonal illness, will be available earlier than usual, within the next several weeks.You should get it. And you should start to wash your hands regularly, if you're not already in the habit.After that, things get a little fuzz......
2009-08-14 10:16:00
BERNARD HARRIS
On Tuesday in Lebanon, Sen. Arlen Specter stood face to face with angry constituents at a town hall meeting on health care.In an interview after the meeting, Specter said he placed himself squarely before the people attending the forum because he felt that would make them less likely to sc......
2009-08-14 09:46:00
AD CRABLE
Lancaster County has fewer illegal roadside dumps than most counties, but a survey has turned up 16 of them here.The illegal dumps here contain an estimated 73 tons of tires, construction and demolition debris and other bulky waste items, according to Pennsylvania CleanWays, a nonprofit gr......
2009-08-14 13:40:00
PAUL FRANZ and GIL SMART
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2009-08-12 10:34:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Look, Christopher McDougall knows it sounds bizarre and downright hippieish.It looks like it, too, truth be told.Just take a gander at the 6-foot-4-inch McDougall, padding down Peters Creek Road in rural Peach Bottom in nothing but running garb and his size-13 bare feet.That&......
2009-08-12 10:13:00
BERNARD HARRIS
On the same day that Barack Obama defended his health care proposals in New Hampshire and Sen. Arlen Specter faced an angry crowd of opponents of the president's plan 27 miles away in Lebanon, Lancaster City Council members were asked to pick sides in the national health care debate.Je......
2009-08-11 10:16:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Millersville University officials hope that if students have an accurate picture of alcohol use by their peers, they will behave more responsibly if they drink."A lot of students make responsible choices when it comes to alcohol, and we're trying to get the word out," said Ja......
2009-08-11 07:36:00
P.J. REILLY
The Patients First bus tour swung through Lancaster Monday afternoon to denounce government intervention in the nation's health care system.The colorful bus, bearing the slogan "Hands Off My Health Care," parked along Race Avenue near Buchanan Park. On hand to greet it were a......
2009-08-08 10:36:00
GREG CALDWELL
Chris Campbell contributed so much to the Franklin & Marshall College community before his unexpected death, and now his family and his soccer team have honored him by building a soccer complex in South Africa.The Chris Campbell Center opened last December in Khayelitsha Township on th......
2009-08-07 00:12:00
RYAN ROBINSON
A 70-year-old patient died Wednesday after jumping through a closed window in his eighth-floor room at Lancaster General Hospital, according to city police.The man fell onto a roof four floors below, police said.The patient was with medical personnel at the time of the 4:30 p.m. inc......
2009-08-07 13:00:00
PAUL FRANZ and GIL SMART
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2009-08-06 00:12:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County commissioners plan to build a new county morgue and crime laboratory on Spring Valley Road in East Hempfield Township.They announced Wednesday they hope to begin constructing the "forensic center" next year on a two-acre tract owned by Lancaster General Health as......
2009-08-05 11:46:00
STAFF
Lancaster County Commissioners this morning announced they have found a home for the long-awaited county forensic center and morgue. The commissioners plan to lease a two-acre tract on Spring Valley Road in East Hempfield Township from Lancaster General Hospital. The undeveloped property is wedged b...
2009-08-04 10:49:00
JACK BRUBAKER, The Scribbler
Dear Dr. Scribblerprez:
President Buchanan's gravesite is a disgrace and is an embarrassment. It needs a complete landscape makeover and regular maintenance. Perhaps The Scribbler can shed light on this topic and can arouse some enthusiasm in improving the gra......
2009-08-02 00:14:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
At SouthEast Lancaster Health Services, Executive Director Jim Kelly worries that some patients aren't getting the care they need simply because there's no place to put them. At Lancaster General Hospital, patients may wait two to three months for a clinic appointment. "We had......
2009-07-31 08:38:00
TIM MEKEEL
It won't be a miracle cure.But it will bring some relief to low-income Lancaster County residents needing better access to medical or dental care.In a major expansion, SouthEast Lancaster Health Services this week bought a vacant office building at 333 N. Arch St. for $2.4 milli......
2009-07-29 10:01:00
DIANA MARTIN
Tyler Chapman and his kindergarten classmates smiled for a photo Monday at T.J. Rockwell's restaurant in Elizabethtown."French fries!" the Bainbridge Elementary School children yelled at their camera-wielding parents before returning to fried food and a game of tag.Kin......
2009-07-27 04:49:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
When it comes to your skin, summertime isn't always living easy.It just might give you the itch … and leave a mark.Intense sunlight, hot and humid temperatures, poisonous plants and biting insects can cause a rash of problems."Ah yes, the dreaded summer rash,&......
2009-07-26 00:09:00
JON RUTTER
The "jobless recovery" trumpeted in the headlines sounds sort of promising. However, said Samuel J. Bressi, president and CEO of the Lancaster County Community Foundation, "In the street, it's not so good." That's why the foundation is proceeding this month with......
2009-07-26 00:09:00
PAULA WOLF
The number of people infected with the H1N1 virus continues to climb in Lancaster County, with the state Department of Health reporting 51 confirmed cases as of Thursday. There's also one probable case of the virus here. On June 11, the World Health Organization declared H1N1 — commo......
2009-07-23 08:01:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County commissioners on Wednesday reluctantly voted to sign an agreement to administer some mental retardation programs on behalf of the state."This is a lose-lose across the board, and if there's one silver lining in this, it's the fact that, if we did not sign this......
2009-07-22 16:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Correction — The article below, posted on Lancaster Online Wednesday, about the Lancaster County commissioners misquoted Commissioner Craig Lehman. Lehman said, "It's not a good situation, but I think the right thing to do for the i......
2009-07-21 08:03:00
CINDY STAUFFER
One of Lancaster County's largest maternity practices is moving its deliveries to Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, leaving Lancaster General Hospital after several decades.OBGYN of Lancaster will begin delivering babies exclusively at the Warwick Township hospital starting O......
2009-07-21 08:02:00
BERNARD HARRIS
SouthEast Lancaster Health Services, which operates free or low-cost clinics in the southern part of Lancaster city, is planning to answer demand for its medical care by expanding to a site in the city's northwest.The Lancaster City Zoning Hearing Board on Monday granted the nonprofit ......
2009-07-21 00:11:00
TOM MURSE
A young mentally ill Columbia man who took a family hostage and claimed God had instructed him to kill someone apologized to his traumatized victims in court Monday."I am so sorry for what I did to you. I wish I could take away your fear. I don't want you to be afraid of me," 27-year-old N......
2009-07-16 08:01:00
KATY HOPKINS
Lindsee Simpson has always been a fighter.Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth, the 17-year-old also deals with diabetes and Arnold-Chiari malformation, a brain defect that required two surgeries.She fought through her years at Garden Spot High School, which were largely defined ......
2009-07-15 10:08:00
There's no polite way to say this: Our children are fat. According to the report "F as in Fat," released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one in three Pennsylvania children is overweight or obese. Just as troubling is the report's fin......
2009-07-14 08:01:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Flu sickened 25 teens and staffers recently at a summer program at Franklin & Marshall College.The 23 teens, ages 12 to 16, and two staff people were isolated from the program after they suffered flu-like symptoms.Most of them went home early from the Center for Talented Youth&#......
2009-07-14 00:01:00
Health care in Pennsylvania is a weighty matter. Literally.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health care costs attributed solely to obesity cost Pennsylvanians $4 billion between 1998 and 2000, the latest years for which data is available. Those costs have grown ......
2009-07-08 10:03:00
P.J. REILLY
Less than a year after it opened, Family Center of Gap's adult day-care center has closed.Rodney Smoker, director of operations for the center on Brackbill Road in Salisbury Township, said the day care for people age 60 and over quit operating June 30 because of a lack of use.&q......
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......
