Hospital volunteers and workers observe holiday traditions to help boost the spirits of Pennsylvania kids undergoing exhausting treatments in unfamiliar environments.
SHAMOKIN — Central Susquehanna Opportunities, Inc. (CSO) successfully distributed 12,000 hygiene bags to local school districts across the region. The bags, provided at no cost to families, were distributed in September to help alleviate the additional financial burdens that often accompany the back-to-school season. These kits contained essential hygiene items that support the well-being of students as they returned to school.
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s 2023-24 Legislative Session closed Dec. 1 and the next session, while officially underway, doesn’t fully begin until lawmakers are sworn into office Jan. 7.
The Daily Item
HARRISBURG — A new study projects that as Pennsylvania’s population grays, the number of rural residents with Alzheimer’s and related disorders will continue to grow beyond the care network capacity needed to support them.
Teen drug use hasn’t rebounded from its drop during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. That's according to the results from a large annual national survey released Tuesday. About 67% of 12th graders this year said they hadn’t used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes or e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days. That’s the largest percentage seen in an annual national survey. Among 10th graders, 80% said they hadn’t used any of those substances recently. That's also a record. The only significant increase occurred in nicotine pouches.
DANVILLE — Staff, patients and families celebrated the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital’s 30th birthday Monday.
LEWISBURG — The Lewisburg YMCA, in partnership with the Union-Snyder Agency on Aging Inc., is offering a new session of the Arthritis Foundation’s Walk With Ease program. This free initiative is open to local residents ages 60 and older and is designed to reduce arthritis-related pain and improve overall health.
The British government has indefinitely banned puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria after independent experts found there was an unacceptable safety risk in prescribing the medication. The decision announced on Wednesday effectively bans a common approach to medical gender transitions for youths. The blockers can suppress or pause puberty and provide someone with gender dysphoria more time to consider options. The ban will be revisited in 2027. The British ban goes against standards adopted by medical institutions elsewhere, including the American Medical Association.
DANVILLE — The AIDS memorial quilt was displayed at Geisinger Medical Center on Tuesday, marking the first time the quilt has traveled to the region, organizers said.
