Health & Wellness News

Our daily list of useful information, chosen to inform and enhance your day, includes news you can use and then some!

The Lehigh Valley will host a marathon for the first time since the pandemic started. Registration will open this month for the St. Luke’s D&L RaceFest.

Lehigh Valley Health Network was victimized in a cybersecurity attack last month. The network said it refused to pay a ransom. Now, patient information and photos have been posted on the dark web, according to LVHN.

Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced $52.5 million in grants intended to prevent suicide. Named for Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox, the suicide prevention grant program is now in its second year. Its goal is to fund community-based organizations that work with veterans and their families. Last year, the VA gave awards to three groups in Pennsylvania, including more than $530,000 to St. Luke’s Penn Foundation in Carbon County. Eighty recipients won awards nationwide in the program’s first year. Grant applications are due by May 19 with awards expected to be announced in September. Selected organizations will receive funding for 2024. More information on how to apply is available at mentalhealth.va.gov.

Drug shortages seem to be a big issue in the wake of the pandemic. Children's pain medication and other prescriptions have been hard to get in the past few months because of supply chain issues.

The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 8, would remove out-of-pocket costs and require 100% coverage for preventative breast cancer screenings and genetic testing. Proponents say it would be the first of its kind in the nation.

Starting Monday, March 6, Lehigh Valley Health Network will no longer require coronavirus face masks for the public inside hospitals and health care facilities in areas not associated with patient care.

Musician James Casey talks to a Lehigh Valley company about his fight with colon cancer. He is using his platform to tell others about the importance of getting screened.

Toastique, whose founder is a Lehigh Valley native, is finally coming to Bethlehem.

Many school nurses say the pandemic made them feel burned out, stressed out, and exhausted. Now, some are working to catch up on work that didn't get done during that time.

Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, missed votes in Congress this week as a result of her condition. Her office's communications director made the announcement on social media.

Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s hospital just expanded its inpatient pediatric unit from 30 beds to 50. The expansion comes on the heels of a severe respiratory season.

A Lehigh Valley organization is teaming up with a local health network in an effort to boost access to the vaccine in communities that may need it most.

Some Lehigh Valley healthcare providers are scrambling to see if they can still hold vaccine clinics next week because of a statewide shortage of Moderna shots.

Healthcare providers across Pennsylvania will have to follow new rules from the state on vaccine distribution or face serious consequences.

More than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Pennsylvania so far. To celebrate the hard-won milestones, some social media users have been sharing photos of their vaccination cards.

COVID-19 cases at Northampton and Lehigh County jails are dwindling after months of concern about high case numbers. But lockdowns will remain in place.

Marshmallow lovers can rest easy today. After coronavirus caused a nine-month hiatus the locally-made Peeps are making a comeback.

In the wake of concerns about getting vaccines from the state next week, Lehigh Valley Health Network says it’s keeping its vaccination appointments for next week, as it feverishly lobbies the state for more doses.

Lehigh Valley Health Network may not get the vaccine shipment it was counting on for next week. Network leaders are scrambling to find out where the doses are for scheduled shots.

As folks across the Lehigh Valley are struggling to get vaccines, a Facebook group has popped up to help find direction.

Pennsylvania has received more than 2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine but, fewer than a million residents have received their first shot.

Concerned residents held a vigil outside the Lehigh County Jail in Allentown over the weekend with signs and candles to remember an inmate and correctional officer who recently died from COVID-19 and to raise awareness of what they say are dangerous conditions inside.

Lehigh Valley community members say the situation inside the Lehigh County Jail is bleak. Activists say COVID-19 conditions are causing harm to inmates and employees. And they plan to make their voices heard this weekend.