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.

The state plans to set up overflow sites and send medical staff to overwhelmed areas.

The bureau gives about 100 shots a day and is also willing to travel.

Plans are to resume in-person classes on Jan. 31.

Health care professionals want to make sure the COVID patients who most need the medications will get them.

Precautions remain the same: wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated, avoid crowds.

The situation is worsened by staffing issues caused by hospital personnel getting sick.

Improvements have been made, but the rate still lags behind other developed nations.

More than 5,000 Pennsylvanians died from overdoses last year.

Wintertime and the post-holiday doldrums can contribute to the condition.

Skyrocketing COVID-19 case counts and beefed-up demand for testing prompted the extra hours.

The omicron variant is fueling skyrocketing case counts across the U.S. -- and child hospitalizations are nearing record numbers.

Folks are waiting in line for hours at testing sites across the Lehigh Valley.