Local pharmacies need protection

August 15, 2019

I write as president of a cooperative company comprised of independent community pharmacies, typical of the community pharmacies throughout our commonwealth. For more than a century, independent, community pharmacists have served generations of families all across Pennsylvania, providing their patients with the best in pharmacy care. Pharmacists and their staff care deeply for our local communities and take tremendous pride in the service they provide each and every day. Today, we find our pharmacies are under threat due to a variety of factors that require state legislative ...

Ensuring quality care important: Legislature needs to pass House Bill 853

August 13, 2019

By Dr. Ralph McKibbin There is nothing I enjoy more as a health care provider than seeing a patient make tremendous progress with their health. And as you might imagine, there is nothing more devastating than watching a patient’s health deteriorate when his or her treatment plan is turned upside down. You may not have heard of the term “non-medical switching,” but it’s an insurer-driven practice that puts money before patients and can have detrimental effects for Pennsylvanians. Commercial health insurance companies in Pennsylvania are free to abruptly remove coverage for ...

Hospitalists provide invaluable roles

June 29, 2019

I am writing in response to your series of articles regarding the shortage of primary care physicians in our area. I am speaking on behalf of the Lexington Hospitalist group at UPMC Altoona. We are addressing a few statements made by the primary care providers (PCPs) featured in your articles. While most of your readers are familiar with hospital medicine specialists (hospitalists), to some it may be a new concept. Hospitalists have become a standard in U.S. hospitals. There are 50,000 hospitalists in the U.S. The specialty was first introduced in 1996, and 80 percent of ...

Trump doesn’t run government in fear

June 23, 2019

How exciting. The presidential sweepstakes are in high gear, and from an Orlando, Florida, extravaganza, the 2020 voting procedures will be the most exciting ever and will be a knockdown/drag out. Good. Without any doubt events of Tuesday night are a continuation of the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. He baffled the in-crowd and their lackeys in all quarters by reaching the hearts and minds of Americans. Despite the past two vicious years by the losers to undercut, create a coup attempt to remove him, the 45th president is well on his way to another four-year term in the ...

‘God bless greatest generation’

June 6, 2019

Today’s the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France in World War II — codenamed Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious assault and the largest sea, air and land operation in history. On Tuesday June 6, 1944, 150,000 American, British and Canadian troops supported by over 5,000 ships and 11,000 airplanes landed at Normandy, France on five landing beaches codenamed Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold and Sword. After years of meticulous planning and seemingly endless training, for the allied forces, it all came down to this: The boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, ...

Clean water plan needs your voice

June 3, 2019

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says the latest clean water blueprint is the “best and perhaps the last chance to restore water quality” to the bay. After decades of volunteer efforts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2010 mandated D.C. and the five states in the watershed to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment reaching the Bay. Pennsylvania is particularly targeted, largely because the Susquehanna River contributes half of the Bay’s water. The blueprint was developed to achieve reductions by 2025. The final planning stage, the Phase 3 Watershed Implementation ...