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Staffing at UPMC can be improved

Letters to the Editor

I saw on the news about the 40% shortage of nurses. I’d like to take this moment to say, hire more CNAs. Give them their own union if they haven’t got one. Train them to have the ability to switch IV meds and fluids. If they hired medical assistants on the floors, they would be able to free up the nurses. Hire them on for a year with a signed contract. You have your RNs who give meds to people, you have LPNs who do the small jobs then have lower-level CNAs. With you having CNAs and medical assistants, it would free up the RNs to be able to focus on the things they went to ...

SNAP decrease unconscionable

Letters to the Editor

SNAP Benefits decreased by from $244 to $64 because of changes in federal rules. My daughter is disabled, she has stage IV metastatic breast cancer. She couldn’t take an Uber to protest because she can only travel by ambulance. How dare the federal government do this to her? Was this what was in the Big Terrible Bill? They made the law, now they need to live on what we live on. Nancy Behrendt Altoona

Ignoring recalls may result in real tragedy

Editorials

About 12 million vehicles were recalled from 2015-24 for safety defects that could result in air bags not deploying. The recalls were well-publicized. In fact, many vehicle owners, upon learning about a recall, were unhappy about the fact that a trip to the service department outside of routine maintenance would be necessary. Still, most owners were satisfied that service department visit could someday prevent a catastrophic situation for them and also for passengers, if their vehicles were involved in a crash. It made sense to schedule the service as soon as possible. But now it ...

Monuments now will be dust later

Other Commentaries

With only three years left in his presidency, Donald J. Trump does not want to be forgotten, not ever. Like an emperor of olden days or a 20th-century tyrant, he is engraving his name on both old and new monuments wherever he can. At the beginning of December, he had his name carved on the headquarters of the United States Institute of Peace to render it the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace. Clearly, the current administration has no sense of the absurd. According to a federal judge, Trump’s team ousted the staff of the institute using “the force of guns and ...

Mourning the loss of common civility

Letters to the Editor

As I write this letter, I am grieving the loss of civility and appropriate comportment that is affecting America. It seems that there is nothing that Donald Trump feels are off limits for his puerile and vile commentary. Film producer Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered and DJT was quick to post on social media that it was because of his liberal beliefs. What has happened to the consoler in chief? Think of how past presidents took moments like this to console not only those directly affected by tragedy, they also would console a grieving nation. DJT evidently feels it ...

US has much to celebrate

Other Commentaries

I’ve been shocked that Americans are in such a grumpy mood as reflected in all the public opinion polls. What a paradox: At the same time, we have peace and prosperity, including more income, more wealth, more of almost everything that we want to buy (yes, except for housing), Americans seem to think we have an “affordability crisis.” In 2025, the median household income in the United States has risen to more than $86,000 a year — an all-time high. Every income group and every ethnic group is richer today than ever before. Hispanics now have a median household income above ...