Teghan Simonton stories, Page 7
Wolf focuses on economic comeback, bipartisan progress, transparency in ’21 agenda
Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2021 legislative agenda will focus heavily on rebuilding Pennsylvania’s economy from damage caused by the covid-19 pandemic, including targeted investments to businesses, schools and other infrastructure. “I think we need to talk about the barriers our fellow citizens face,” Wolf said. “It’s time to make plans to...
Allegheny County officials expecting improvements to vaccine rolloutVideo
Allegheny County officials said Wednesday they are making plans to take vaccine doses into senior high rises and similar communities, setting up a phone registration and looking for ways to streamline the registration process. The steps take time, officials said, and take a larger and more reliable supply of vaccine....
Vaccine doses coming to Pa. hospitals ‘don’t match up’ to increased demand, health leaders say
Vaccine allocations to Western Pennsylvania hospitals aren’t enough to inoculate all who are eligible, health care leaders said Tuesday. State officials last week expanded phase 1A of the distribution plan beyond health care workers and long-term care residents – to include people older than 65 and people with various health...
Covid contact tracing still challenging in Pennsylvania
Contact tracing remains a challenge in Pennsylvania, officials said Monday. From Jan. 10 to Jan. 16, only 18% of the 46,708 covid cases reported had a case investigation started within 24 hours, according to the Department of Health. An additional 5% had a case investigation started within 48 hours. “We...
How do physicians verify patients’ vaccine eligibility?
Health care workers administering covid vaccines will rely mostly on the honor system to verify that new patients outside of their hospital systems are eligible to get the shot. Pennsylvania officials have expanded eligibility of those who can move to the front of the vaccination line. The top priority group,...
Frustration grows with Pennsylvania’s ‘confusing’ vaccine rollout
In the hours after the big announcement, the region’s health systems were inundated with phone calls and emails to clinics, physicians and call centers. Thousands of people were suddenly eligible to get the covid-19 vaccine. They wanted it fast. But the announcement by Pennsylvania officials — expanding the vaccination eligibility...
Allegheny Health Network suspends vaccine appointments as hospitals struggle with supply
Allegheny Health Network has paused scheduling covid-19 vaccine appointments because of a supply issue, hospital leaders said Friday, as other health systems in the region faced increased demand for the shots. Excela Health officials said they are unable to expand vaccine distribution to people who are not health care workers....
Bernie Sanders memes take over the internet during, after inauguration
Bernie Sanders may not have stolen the show during Wednesday’s presidential inauguration. But he clearly won the internet. At President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a few moments stood out among the festivities: the poem recited by 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the collage of colorful coats worn by all the women involved in...
State gives $4.8 million to train long-term care workers, including $2 million in the region
The Department of Labor & Industry on Wednesday awarded $4.8 million in Direct Care Worker Training Grants to increase quality of services, offer specialty certifications and create more career opportunities for personal care assistants, home health aides and certified nursing assistants in Pennsylvania. “As demand increases for essential services provided...
Allegheny Co. health director says ‘long way to go’ to meet covid vaccine demands
Echoing the concerns of health professionals across the region, the Allegheny County Health Department director said it is not prepared to accommodate Pennsylvania’s expansion of covid-19 vaccine distribution. “I would love to tell you that we can vaccinate all of you who now meet these expanded criteria today,” Dr. Debra...
UPMC covid vaccine clinic targets Pittsburgh’s underserved communities
Spirits were high in the large, bustling room on the ground floor of UPMC Mercy Outpatient Center in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood, as dozens of people received their first covid-19 vaccine dose. “These folks are out there going door to door, trying to implement epidemiological protocols in communities that really...
Western Pa. teachers struggle to get information on vaccine distribution
As the state expands the first priority group for the covid-19 vaccine, educators in Western Pennsylvania are struggling with inadequate and often conflicting messages about when teachers and staff could receive their first doses. Teachers and staff inside school buildings fall into Phase 1B of the federal and state guidelines...
Pittsburgh artist designed Google Doodle honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday’s Google Doodle was designed to show the duality of history and current events, pointing out similarities and differences in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the one that is taking place today. That’s according to the doodle’s creator. She is artist Noa Denmon, 25, a Pittsburgh native...
Kiski Area officials: State Education Department contradicts themselves with new school guidelines
As the district prepares to enter its second semester, Kiski Area is one of few that has offered in-person and hybrid instruction all school year, Superintendent Tim Scott said — staying consistent amid shifting guidelines from the state Department of Education. During a Wednesday evening school board meeting, Scott and...
Western Pa. hospitals struggle to minimize waste of covid vaccine doses
As they refine a complicated distribution strategy, health care workers in Western Pennsylvania have been forced to give covid vaccine doses to people who are not in top priority groups to avoid wasting precious leftover shots. After long days of vaccinating front-line health care workers, nurses have described calling friends...
Despite pandemic, region sets record for organ, tissue transplants in 2020
Correction: Susan Stuart is CEO of the Center for Organ Recovery and Education. Her name was incorrect in original version of this story. Despite the covid-19 pandemic and all of the hospital restrictions that came along with it, the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) experienced a second record-breaking...
Older adults in Allegheny County will have to wait for covid vaccine, officials sayVideo
People 75 and older in Allegheny County will have to wait longer to get their shots of covid vaccine as county officials await guidance from the federal government. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls and emails from individuals wanting to know when it will be their turn to be...
Fiscal constraints force Pa. to scale back program to help nursing homes battling covid
A shortage of federal funding has caused Pennsylvania to scale back a critical program for assisting long-term care facilities battling covid-19, officials said Wednesday. State officials introduced a new program called Regional Congregate Care Assistance Teams, or RCATs, to support long-term care facilities. It replaces the state’s Regional Response Health...
Pennsylvania officials give update on vaccine distribution
Nearly 17,000 Pennsylvania residents were vaccinated for covid-19 since Monday, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Tuesday afternoon. That puts the statewide total at 311,477 total doses administered across the state. Pennsylvania officials provided an update on the state’s progress vaccinating members of Phase 1A in the federal guidelines, which includes...
Western Pa. teachers grapple with current events lessons after Capitol riot
Going over current events is one of Barak Naveh’s favorite parts of teaching. It’s an honor and a privilege, he said, to be able to help his history students at Pittsburgh Obama Academy understand the world in the context of the past, to show them how history is relevant in...
Woodland Hills considering hybrid plans for students, sends surveys to families
Woodland Hills School District is considering several approaches to bringing students back into the classroom, Superintendent James Harris said Monday. The district, which serves about 5,000 students, sent surveys to families Monday afternoon to gauge how comfortable parents would be with in-person learning. The survey includes questions about the number...
Pitt delays students’ return to campus for spring semester
The University of Pittsburgh has asked students to delay traveling back to campus for the spring term. Citing a possible surge in covid-19 infections following the holidays, administrators asked students to remain at home for the time being in a message from the Covid-19 Medical Response Office on Friday evening....
Apollo teen songwriter finds success in national competitions
Music always came naturally to Jessa Pontier. The 18-year-old Apollo resident said she started singing when she 2 while banging on a toy piano. She could play a real piano by the time she was 6, and taught herself to play guitar around 10 or 11 — never taking any...
More residents, staff of long-term care receive vaccine
More than 194,000 covid-19 partial vaccinations have been administered in Pennsylvania, the state’s dashboard showed Friday — and more than 42,000 of them were in the 11-county Western Pennsylvania region. But tracking distribution to long-term care facilities is a challenge. “Allotments are being determined by the CDC and Operation Warp...
Western Pa. resident shares experience with Moderna vaccine trial
As vaccine rollout gets underway in hospitals and long-term care facilities, participants in the trials that made it possible are coming forward to share their experiences – and to assure members of the public there is nothing to fear. “I just thought, maybe people might have a better understanding,” said...
