Healthcare
-
Bucks County COVID-19 Cases Fall by 200 in One Week: Find Out Who’s Recovering Where
The hyper-local fight against COVID-19 — where ZIP Code reporting data illustrate the weekly ebb and flow of the outbreak — shows signs of healthy progress this week. Bucks County communities reported 655 new cases across their various footprints. Last week’s infection rate stood at 857. On April 16, about three weeks ago, the figure was a dire 1,492. Geographically, caseloads are still high among the county’s most…
-
In a Twist of Medical Irony, Langhorne Kidney Specialist Becomes a Kidney Transplant Recipient Himself
Dr. Greg Zollner and Dr. Chris Frankel are two Langhorne nephrology colleagues. But their professional relationship took on a much more personal tone when one donated a kidney to the other, reported Becca Henderson for 6abc. Dr. Zollner found out by accident that he had kidney disease. His office purchased a new piece of diagnostic equipment. A test procedure on himself yielded the startling news. “As soon as…
-
Identifying COVID-19 Impacts on Healthcare Workers and Pennsylvania as a Trauma-Informed State
With the healthcare industry projecting that pandemic-induced PTSD and other psychological impacts are the next health crisis, HR professionals from across industries, as well as healthcare workers and administrators, gathered for “COVID-19 Impacts on Healthcare Workers and PA as a Trauma-Informed State.” The virtual conference was recently held by the Chester County Economic Development Council…
-
COVID-19 Vax Seekers Can Forget the 2 a.m. Online Searches, Appointment Notifications and Virtual Queues
As of last Wednesday, Bucks County COVID vaccine clinics are issuing shots on a walk-in basis. Clinics also will honor appointments that have already been made. But the days of appointment-only access are past. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is being administered in Warwick; all BCCC campuses and the Neshaminy Mall location are using the two-shot Pfizer version. Bucks County resumed administering…
-
Almost 70 Percent of Bucks County Communities Reported New COVID-19 Cases Last Week
Thirty-seven out of 57 Bucks County communities, sorted by ZIP Code, currently indicated higher levels of COVID-19 cases than the week before, according to data from the Penn Live Patriot-News. No community reported a drop. New patients presenting symptoms of a coronavirus infection numbered 1,469, a very slight improvement overall of less than 100 in the figure from a week ago. Communities with…
-
April Is National Donate Life Month. Doylestown Hospital Encourages You to Register as an Organ Donor
Nine minutes is a surprisingly short amount of time. In nine minutes, you can unload the dishwasher (if it’s not too full), clear out your e-mail inbox (if it hasn’t been a while), or call a friend to say hello (if you can manage to keep it short). In those same nine minutes, someone in…
-
Miles for Molars: Doylestown Cyclists Support Dental Services to Low-Income Residents and Veterans
Encore Rides, a Doylestown guided bike tour business, considers community support so integral to its operations, it donates 15 percent of every tour fee to charity. One recent outreach was to Healthlink Dental Clinic. This nonprofit Southampton dentistry office offers free preventative and restorative care. Its client list includes low-income workers and veterans in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. The timing of the day of service was chosen…
-
Levittown Wound-Care Company Strategically Sets Distribution Center Amid Florida’s Retired Residents
Bristol manufacturer Gentell Corporation makes various dressings, gels and cleaners used for wound care. It has opened a distribution center in Boca Raton, Florida, reports John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The location gives Gentell a decided, strategic, geographic advantage. It has close proximity a number of nursing home and other senior-care facilities throughout Florida and the south. “Our goal…
-
Bucks County’s Progress Against COVID-19: Two Steps Forward; One Step Back
The Pennsylvania Department of Health statistics regarding COVID-19 cases in Bucks County show some improvement. But the overall numbers are still grim. As of April 13, 54,881 Bucks County residents — 8.76 percent — have COVID-19. That’s 278 more cases per day than the week prior, the highest rate since the end of January. The pandemic claimed more than 1,000 local lives this week, six more…
-
Four-Year-Old Cancer Patient becomes a Hard-Hatted Half-Pint for an Unforgettable Day
It’s not unusual for a construction foreman to oversee heavy machinery at work while decked out in an orange vest, hard hat and toolbelt. It is unusual when that foreman is four years old, according to Marion Callahan in the Bucks Count Courier Times. “He’ll be talking about this until he’s 20, I think,” said Dana Esposito of watching her son, Nicholas, at the controls of a massive excavator. …
-
Pipersville Cardiac Patient Undergoes Clinical Trial of Heart Device
On March 21, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave thumbs up to a nonsurgical heart valve that ensures the proper direction of blood flow. This boon to babies born with congenital heart defects underwent clinical trial on patients that included a 20-year-old from Pipersville, reports Ali McPherson at WHYY. Jack Hurley played sports and felt healthy. But he suffered from heart disease…
-
“Godzilla vs. Kong” Bodes Well for Citizens vs. COVID
With vaccination rates increasing and parts of pre-pandemic life coming back, there are plenty of signs that things are slowly returning to normal, writes Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal. Among them is the monster turnout for Godzilla vs. Kong opening. The iconic bout recorded the best domestic box-office opening since the start of the pandemic, taking in…
-
How Many of Your Bucks County Neighbors Have COVID-19? A Community-by-Community Snapshot
The good news for Bucks County’s war against the spread of COVID-19 is that cases are dropping off. For the week ending April 8, 300 fewer residents received a positive diagnosis from the week prior. The bad news is that the progress is slow. On average, the number of COVID-19 cases fell only an average of 50 cases across 91 Bucks…
-
New York Times: Bucks County’s COVID-19 Vaccination Rate Has Shot Slightly Ahead of the Statewide Average
Bucks County has moved ahead of the Pennsylvania average in its share of fully vaccinated residents, according to The New York Times. The data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that as of April 5, Bucks County had fully vaccinated 19 percent of its entire population. This is slightly above the state average of…
-
New Therapy for the Olfactory System: Regaining the Sense of Smell Taken by COVID-19
Among the well-known symptoms of a COVID-19 infection is the loss of taste and smell, which may be slow to return in the aftermath. Former COVID-19 patient Matt McBride of Holland is rehabbing his damaged nasal receptors with a specialized therapy regimen, reports Lynne Adkins of KYW Newsradio. McBride’s experience of anosmia — the medical term for the temporary loss of smell — is one of the strongest predictors of the presence of coronavirus in a…
-
“Open the Bod’s Bay Doors, Hal” St. Mary Medical Center Expands Robotic Surgery Program
The success of the robotic surgery program at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne has sparked hospital administrators to double down on the technology and install a second unit, reports the hospital. Call it RoboSurgeon 2. Actually, it’s a daVinci Robot Surgical System, featuring three-dimensional, high-definition visualization and allows for enhanced dexterity and greater precision and control. Robotic-assisted surgery…
-
FDA Clearance for Bucks County Medical Device Company May Steady MS Patients’ Walking
Helius Medical Technology — a medical device company in Newtown — has received marketing clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, clearing its flagship product, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal. The device is a portable neuromodulator stimulator (PoNS). It was approvied for use as a short-term treatment of the gait deficiencies that affect walking in patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms…
-
NYT: Local Pandemic Numbers — Like a Good News/Bad News Rollercoaster — Continue to Rise and Fall
The number of cases has started increasing once again over the last two weeks, keeping Bucks County at a very high-risk level for the coronavirus, according to The New York Times. The number of hospitalized patients has remained about the same while COVID-19-related deaths have increased compared to two weeks ago. The test positivity rate stayed high. In…
Founding Partners
Advertisement
Affiliate Partners
