#Geisinger

[political-us]

[wat3rm370n]

Stories about healthcare in the Altoona area of Pennsylvania.

There’s a reddit thread in R/Pennsylvania about healthcare in rural south central PA region, and it’s not a pretty picture painted.

Reddit comment from R/Pennsylvania, Saturday, December 21, 2024, FaithlessnessCute204 • 3d ago • not a healthcare story directly but i got to talk to a DCNR ranger that was quitting the other year because a big part of his job had become doing welfare checks on people that moved from harrisburg/allentown/state college up into the mountains and then couldnt cope medically with the 2 hr drives for medical issues. dude found like 4 people dead on his route alone the year i talked to him.

DCNR rangers are law enforcement park rangers who work in Pennsylvania state parks and forests.

It’s not always that great in Scranton Pennsylvania to be honest. My own plan is so limited that though I have Geisinger insurance, not all Geisinger providers and facilities are even covered in my plan. They sent me a letter saying that I was a second class citizen basically, and marked as such - they said my insurance card was color coded to alert healthcare providers of my limited network. I’ve often had to drive 1-½ hours to Danville to see specialists without a 4-6 month wait. At least some specialist appointments can be done via telehealth at a distance. This is why ending telehealth for Medicare sounds like an outrageous situation that’s fortunately been postponed, but will still need to be addressed before the deadline at the end of March 2025. There’s concern that if Medicare stops telehealth, private health insurance companies will follow suit.

My letter to reps:

Telehealth services via Medicare must not expire. Telehealth service should be a permanent option for all patients, and covered by all insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid. Access to in-network healthcare providers isn’t always easy, especially for people living in rural areas.

Please feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.

[mrmichael55]

Creating a Home

Hello from my morning group breakfast meet up. As per usual, I am at BK waiting on the group (not necessarily the waiting,but being here) to assemble where we create or solve local and world problems (you have probably observed these groups of older males sitting around having their morning coffee). This group has evolved both in location and in attendees. It is not uncommon to get a rundown of…

[mindblowingscience]

No matter where you travel around the world, men in any given human population tend to be taller than women. Now researchers have uncovered a key genetic mechanism behind this anatomical contrast. Combing through three large public health databases, a team led by scientists from the Geisinger College of Health Sciences in Pennsylvania found 1,225 adults with unusual chromosome combinations.

Continue Reading.

[preblesboys]

*curled up in fetal position tears streaming down my face*

Just finished Johnston Blakeley’s book. No I’m not okay thanks for asking.

I knew full well how it was going to end and it still hurts! The more painful twist is how there were unknown sightings of the Wasp that people didn’t think important enough to mention around the time period of its’ disappearance.

The most popular “last siting” was by Swedish Captain J. G. Molen of the brig Adonis. Two American midshipmen Stephen Decatur McKnight and James Lyman who were formerly of the USS Essex were on his ship on parole to England. They encountered Johnston Blakeley and the Wasp and the American midshipmen joined Blakeley.

This story wasn’t told until after Stephen Decatur made inquiries about his missing nephew around six years after the war when the Swedish captain unaware of the missing Wasp presented his logbook. This was included in David Porter’s Journal of the Cruise of the USS Essex second edition.

Another siting I’ve read from Johnston’s book is a clip from a newspaper article from The New Hampshire Gazette dating 1815

The Norfolk Va Beacon of November 22 contains the following paragraph: “A young gentleman in this borough, who has a brother, a lieutenant on board the Guerriere, and another midshipman aboard the Wasp, received a letter yesterday from his mother in King’s Creek, near Williamsborough, in which she announces a reprint of a letter from her son a lieutenant on the Guerriere informing her that he had heard from the Wasp; that she was on the coast of the Brazils.” (This source where this comes from is most respectable, yet it ought to be received with some caution by anxious friends.)

The brothers were Robert (of the Guerriere) and William (of the Wasp) Randolph. Robert Randolph was in with Stephen Decatur during the second Barbary War in 1815. How likely is this? Well the officer printed a “denial” in the Pittsburgh Mercury because the Wasp craze was starting to flare up again.

With British correspondence, multiple ships have been saying that they sited or were chased by “a hostile corvette” or “strange ship” close to the coast of Spain to the Canary Islands. Ultimately it was accepted that the Wasp shipped wrecked somewhere but, the question was “where?”

There are many, theories and among them is the Barbary Coast and if the crew didn’t perish, was sold into slavery by the Arabs as an English whale ship Spring Grove had such a fate in 1824. The crew was rescued from bondage.

The imagination runs wild as this is one of the greatest American naval mysteries. It has been asked why Johnston Blakeley didn’t sail back with his prize ship Atalanta into Savannah GA and the easiest answer was in search of more prey. The entire war he was stuck in one port or another and this was his first and only chance to participate. In doing so, he became one of the most successful American Captains in the age of sail on a cruise that we know since David Geisinger the midshipman who took the prize Atalanta home wrote “3 months and 5 days destroying 12 English merchant vessels with cargo valued up to TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND POUND STERLING and whipped two of his Britannic Majesty’s sloops of war comparatively speaking lost nothing.”

[shrinkrants]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/01/business/acadia-psychiatric-patients-trapped.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IE4.GDdr.mHUwLumFfDIl&smid=url-share

Acadia Healthcare is one of America’s largest chains of psychiatric hospitals. Since the pandemic exacerbated a national mental health crisis, the company’s revenue has soared. Its stock price has more than doubled.

But a New York Times investigation found that some of that success was built on a disturbing practice: Acadia has lured patients into its facilities and held them against their will, even when detaining them was not medically necessary. . . .

Acadia is at the forefront of a shift in how Americans receive mental health care.

Psychiatric hospitals were once run by the government or nonprofit groups. But both have been retreating from psychiatric care. Today, for-profit companies are playing a bigger role, lured by the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers cover mental health.

Acadia operates more than 50 psychiatric hospitals nationwide, and the bulk of its revenue comes from government insurance programs. More than 20 nonprofit health systems, including Henry Ford in Michigan and Geisinger in Pennsylvania, have teamed up with Acadia to open facilities.

The success has attracted notice on Wall Street. With its stock price rising, Acadia is valued at about $7 billion. Its chief executive, Christopher H. Hunter, was paid more than $7 million last year.

[thebuckblogimo]

More kids means more worry. Was it always so?

October 20, 2023

I attended a luncheon recently put on by the alumni club of the small Catholic school that I attended in Dearborn. I sat at a table with fellow members of my graduating class (1965), and one of the topics we discussed was the number of "large families" when we were growing up.

Among friends from my class alone, the Flanigans had 11 children. The Laczynski family had eight. And the O'Reillys had seven.

I had many friends from other classes who also came from mega familes: The Geisingers had 11 children. Another branch of the O'Reilly clan had nine. And the Academy Award for the biggest family of all at St. Alphonsus (which encompassed grades one through 12) went to the Horrigans with 16 kids (including two sets of twins).

There were children everywhere in those days. In fact, I would put the average number of kids per family in my old neighborhood at five. Which is why classrooms at St. Al's had upwards of 60 students when I started grade school in the early '50s. (Today, 35 kids per class is considered practically criminal.)

I guess our parents took it to heart when the Lord said, "Be fruitful and multiply..."

Now, to the point of all this:

On an absolutely gorgeous day earlier this month, my wife and I received a phone call from our neighbors across the street who asked if we'd like to sit on their boat that evening to enjoy some cocktails and conversation.

"Sign us up," we said. The world was looking sunny and bright as we anticipated kicking back and watching boats return from a day out on Lake Michigan. Until, that is, we started getting phone calls from our kids that afternoon.

The first came from one of our daughters, informing us that another surgery would be required if she hoped to have a second child. Then one of our sons called to report that he'd been experiencing panic attacks. By the time we were into our second beer on the boat, a call came from our other daughter, letting us know that her baby had been diagnosed with cellulitis.

Thankfully, we did not receive a call from our other son who lives near Chicago that day.

Like most fathers, I suppose, I started worrying about my kids on the spot. Upon lying down that night I tossed and turned in bed, continuing to worry. And to think deep thoughts.

I thought about how much my wife and I have enjoyed having four children--a large family by today's standards--and how much we unconditionally love them all. And yet, I reasoned as I attempted to relax, if we had decided to have only two kids, perhaps we would experience only half the worry.

Then I started to think about my folks.

They had five children. It's not entirely clear to me how much they worried about my siblings and me. My Dad was a hands-off parent, leaving most of the responsibility for raising us to my stay-at-home Mom. If there was worrying to be done about us kids, I'm sure she shouldered the load. Her greatest worry, quite frankly, was my Dad--every time he drove home drunk from the bar. Which was often.

In those days, we all walked to school. Played outside into the dark. And took the Tireman bus downtown, unchaperoned. If my folks worried about us doing those things, I was oblivious to it. Except for one of my brothers, we all did reasonably well in school. Plus, other than toncilitis, knee operations and some broken bones, we were all healthy. I think it's safe to say that about the only thing my parents really, really worried about was that, when we were teenagers, I or one of my brothers would get some girl pregnant. Or that one of my sisters would get pregnant.

As regards those supersized families back in the hood, I suspect there were times--although I don't know--that some parents may have worried about how they would feed all those mouths. In the case of the Horrigans, Mr. Horrigan died somewhere along the way when practically all of their children were in school. If anyone had a right to worry, certainly it was Mrs. Horrigan. How could she not? And how in the world, I wonder, was she able to raise 16 kids alone? If she had signigicant help, I was oblivious to that, too.

I only know this for sure: It's true that your kids are your kids for life. And that you're likely to worry about them until the day you die.

[hbhughes]

Michael T. Baur

Michael T. Baur, 57, of Kingston, passed away on Tuesday, July 15th, at Geisinger Wyoming Valley, Wilkes-Barre, while surrounded by family.

Michael was born in Kingston, on July 25th, 1967, son of Francis and Rosalie Boylan Baur. He is a graduate of Wyoming Valley West High School Class of 1985 and earned his bachelor’s degree from Elon University. 

He deeply loved his family, friends, and his dog, Coco. He enjoyed coaching and watching sports, movies and music, but he was happiest when making people laugh. 

He is preceded in death by his beloved cousin, Karen Walski Curtis, and several aunts and uncles.

Michael is survived by his daughter Abigail, Forty Fort; son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, Michael, Samantha, Lennon, and Blakely Baur, Huntersville, NC; parents, Francis and Rosalie Baur, Forty Fort; brother and sister-in-law, Francis and Cheryl Baur, Shavertown; sister and brother-in-law, Michele and Frank Lombardo, Dallas; nieces and nephews, Julia, Ava, Freddie, Lily, and Jake. 

Family and friends are invited from 4 to 6 PM on Sunday, July 20th to the Hugh B. Hughes & Son, Inc. Funeral Home, 1044 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort.

Funeral services will start at 9:30 AM on Monday, July 21st at the Hugh B. Hughes & Son, Inc. Funeral Home with Mass of Christian Burial at 10 AM at St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish, 339 N. Maples Ave., Kingston.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at https://tinyurl.com/3baz9zh6.

[retirementconcerns]

Have you heard? We are given a query that asks to create a simple explanation of an article from Modern Healthcare about Geisinger layoffs in the insurance division. The search results provide additional context about this event. From the search results: [1] directly discusses Geisinger Health Plan eliminating nearly 100 positions as part of a restructuring. The article mentions financial pressures including insufficient reimbursement rates, rising pharmaceutical costs, and high member morbidity in rural markets. The layoffs are specific to the health insurance

[home-inspiration-blog]

Workplace mental health at risk as key federal agency faces cuts

By Aneri Pattani, KFF Health News In Connecticut, construction workers in the Local 478 union who complete addiction treatment are connected with a recovery coach who checks in daily, attends recovery meetings with them, and helps them navigate the return to work for a year. In Pennsylvania, doctors applying for credentials at Geisinger hospitals are not required to answer intrusive questions…

[10bmnews]

Workplace mental health at risk as key federal agency faces cuts

In Connecticut, construction workers in the Local 478 union who complete addiction treatment are connected with a recovery coach who checks in daily, attends recovery meetings with them, and helps them navigate their return to work for a year. In Pennsylvania, doctors applying for credentials at Geisinger hospitals are not required to answer intrusive questions about mental health care they’ve…

[12sknnews]

Workplace mental health at risk as key federal agency faces cuts

In Connecticut, construction workers in the Local 478 union who complete addiction treatment are connected with a recovery coach who checks in daily, attends recovery meetings with them, and helps them navigate their return to work for a year. In Pennsylvania, doctors applying for credentials at Geisinger hospitals are not required to answer intrusive questions about mental health care they’ve…

[wat3rm370n]

Geisinger to nurses: "Work sick!" Geisinger to patients: "You're getting covid and any other infectious diseases the nurses come to work with!"

Letter to the editor is a letter from state lawmakers to the CEO of Geisinger Healthcare System. Maybe they'll have more luck than I did when I wrote asking for reasonable accommodation. They wrote back blathering about how they care about "patient experience" - but don't seem concerned with patient safety.

Regional legislators concerned about health care negotiations - Mar 13, 2024 In addition, the healthcare professionals at the Geisinger Community Medical Center campus are rightfully frustrated that the hospital zeroed out the Extended PTO time (employees’ sick time) for every member of the new bargaining units. Further, the proposal to eliminate all sick time for RNs and nurse anesthetists as well is an unacceptable way to treat these dedicated professionals.

Here's a pdf file of the rep letter published in the Times-Tribune in Scranton, PA in case it's behind a paywall. https://wat3rm370n.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2024-0313-times-tribuneGEISINGERrepsletter.pdf

[knightsinnpaxinos]

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https://www.knightsinnpaxinos.com/hotels-in-paxinos-pennsylvania-faq.html

[valleyledger]

SLUHN Hospitals Again Earn Straight A Grades for Safety

The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, today released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, again awarding A’s to every eligible St. Luke’s acute care hospital. The 11 campuses – Bethlehem, Allentown, Anderson, Carbon, Easton, Monroe, Miners, Sacred Heart, Upper Bucks and Warren, as well as Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital – were among a select group of hospitals…

[usa2025store11]

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2025 Limited Edition Hockey Jersey

Product link:https://flavorhauted.com/product/wilkes-barre-scranton-penguins-2025-limited-edition-hockey-jersey/

Store link:https://flavorhauted.com/

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