Health & Wellness News

Patient advocates protested Wednesday outside Lehigh Valley Health Network's Cedar Crest Campus.

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.

Developer City Center is planning a two-story school featuring about 200,000 square feet of space, with an athletics field, along the west side of the sprawling property.

The Mind Your Brain event is free to people with traumatic brain injuries, their medical provides, and caregivers. It's hosted by Good Shepherd Rehabilitation at DeSales University.

The giant inflatable IUD, named Freeda Womb, is part of a nationwide tour with Americans for Contraception aiming to rally voters around access to birth control.

As cases of a potentially deadly mosquito-borne illness are on the rise, Lehigh Valley health experts are sharing what they see locally. They say there are ways to protect yourself and kill the biting pests.

Join Megan Frank at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. every Friday for Insights with LehighValleyNews.com on WLVR. This week, she's joined by Bethlehem reporter Will Oliver and Digital News Content Producer Makenzie Christman.

Northampton County Council voted 5-4 Thursday to provide free pads and tampons in every county-owned restroom equipped with running water, including men's rooms.

A Lehigh Valley woman thanks her German stem cell donor in-person nearly a decade and a pandemic after the transplant. St. Luke's University Health network helped connect the two.

Among the winners are projects to repaint the basketball court at Building 21; build several community gardens; and plant trees.

Northampton Community College has a new center dedicated to those going into the health care field. The school now offers cardiac sonography and respiratory care training, a state-of-the-art simulation center, and a center for interdisciplinary health sciences workforce development.

Four years into his massage therapy career, Jared Skinner set out to master a relatively "new" technique to the practice — rolfing. It's a 10-step practice on a weekly basis that aims to relieve the body naturally of pain for upwards of five to 10 years. Only 2,000 body workers professionally practice it worldwide.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation is introducing groundbreaking robotic exoskeleton technology in the Lehigh Valley. The device helps people who may have suffered a spinal chord injury, stroke, or other paralyzing conditions walk.

The River Crossing YMCA in the Lehigh Valley is enrolling people for free programs this fall. The programs include health and wellness classes for veterans, those needing mental health assistance, those struggling with diabetes, and 7th grade students.