New state health clinic opens in Wyoming County
The Wyoming County State Health Center held its official ribbon-cutting Wednesday afternoon.
The move from their old location to Hunter Highway makes it more centrally located and more accessible for patients.
The state-run clinic offers free vaccines, STL testing, tuberculosis testing and treatment, and much more for people who qualify.
Police looking for suspect in attempted Luzerne County robbery, chase
'The nurses that work here have a vast and incredible experience across all parts of health care, and so they're here to help people,' Department of Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen told 28/22 News.
'It's great because you get to know your community partners, so we're able to help people understand where they can go for services and just keep the conversation flowing,' Community Health Nurse Amanda Moyer said.
The Wyoming County State Health Center is open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and many services are free for those who qualify.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Covid-19 Variant Nimbus Dominant in US as Vaccine Access in Flux
A new Covid-19 variant, officially known as NB.1.8.1 and nicknamed Nimbus, is now the most common strain in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said it is 'aware of increasing detections' of Nimbus in the US, where it monitors spread of the virus through nasal and wastewater samples collected via its airport screening program. Nimbus makes up between 13% and 68% of circulating Covid strains, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services. Estimates from the two-week period ending June 21 show that Nimbus made up 43% of US cases.
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
RFK Jr.'s Planned Campaign On Ultra-Processed Foods To Face Challenges
Unhealthy, ultra-processed foods. Under the direction of its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services is planning a campaign to raise awareness around the harms of ultra-processed foods while empowering people to take control of their health and change their dietary patterns. It will likely face challenges similar to the ones that undermined previous efforts to change Americans' dietary patterns. Though controversy swirls around Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stance on vaccines and a number of unconventional views he holds, the majority of Americans across the political spectrum agree with him on the importance of curbing the use of added sugars and certain chemicals and additives. While the food industry is generally opposed to imposing government restrictions, approximately two-thirds of Americans favor reformulating (ultra)processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes, according to a poll conducted by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. While there isn't yet a consensus definition of what constitutes ultra-processed foods, the Food and Drug Administration is working on one. In all likelihood it will focus on industrially manufactured products with chemically modified ingredients and other additives such as food coloring. Kennedy points to ties between ultra-processed foods and the rise in obesity and diabetes rates. Indeed, connections between ultra-processed foods and a heightened risk of developing diabetes will be the focus of the first wave of Kennedy's national 'Take Back Your Health' campaign. The Department of HHS is inviting public relations agencies to propose strategies for the launch of the campaign. STAT News reports that the call for pitches asks for 'daring, viral messaging to motivate behavior change.' Dietary campaigns aren't a new concept. Even Kennedy's focus on reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods isn't unique. Recent efforts to shift lifestyle behaviors to improve public health include Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' initiative focused on childhood obesity. The former first lady sought to impart the importance of developing lifelong healthy habits from a young age, which meant, among other things, eating more non-processed fruits and vegetables and drinking water rather than sugary beverages. And policy prescriptions to improve nutrition go back much further than the one Michelle Obama initiated. There's been a long history of diet campaigns that began more than a century ago. The earliest focus of dietary guidance was on what comprised food groups in a healthy diet, food safety and storage, as well as ensuring that people get sufficient minerals and vitamins to prevent certain diseases. Over time, as the science of nutrition evolved and became more sophisticated there was a greater recognition of how diet can play a role in preventing disease and maintaining health. The federal government first released Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 1980. This document was based in part on a 1979 Surgeon General's Report and findings from a task force convened by the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, which reviewed the evidence 'relating key dietary factors to the nation's health.' The Dietary Guidelines offered ideas for incorporating a wide variety of foods, including non-processed fresh fruit and vegetables, in people's diets to provide essential nutrients while maintaining recommended body weight. It offered guidance on reducing intake of fat, sugar, cholesterol and sodium, which were seen as risk factors in certain chronic diseases. The guidance documents also incorporated concepts of moderation around alcohol consumption. Since 1980, revisions made to the Dietary Guidelines every five years have reflected updates to the science, incorporating systematic reviews to inform nutrition-related policies, programs and recommendations. Recent versions, for example, recognize that diet-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some types of cancer are increasingly prevalent among Americans and pose a major public health problem. Given its focus on disease prevention and health promotion, the information in the Dietary Guidelines is used to develop and revise federal nutrition education materials designed for the public as well as advice on what to include in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps). Federal campaigns to improve diet have faced challenges in producing the desired results, perhaps none better exemplified than behavioral (non)responses to alter fat consumption followed by revisions to the Dietary Guidelines. Scientific studies dating from the late 1940s showed a correlation between high-fat diets and high-cholesterol levels, suggesting that a low-fat diet could prevent heart disease in high-risk patients. This reflected itself in the early editions of the Dietary Guidelines. Experts who touted a low-fat diet said it would help people stay lean and healthy. But ironically, in the same decades that the low-fat approach gained traction, Americans got fatter, leading to what many call an obesity epidemic. And the rate of diabetes surged. The problem is multifactorial and relates as much to lack of exercise as it does diet. And nutrition scientists concur that trans and saturated fats should be avoided, which is consistent with a low-fat strategy. Nevertheless, it's been hypothesized that reducing total fat led to consumption of more refined carbohydrates and less healthy (saturated) fats. Experts have said for some time that not all fats are bad—in fact, some are healthy and key to a balanced diet that can contribute to better weight management. These conclusions were already embodied in the 2000 update to the Dietary Guidelines, which noted the adverse effects of low-fat diets and changed the guidance from low to moderate fat. Moreover, the 2015 edition of the Dietary Guidelines has now lifted the limit on dietary fat altogether, with the exception of restrictions on trans and saturated fats. Nonetheless, obesity prevalence in the U.S. has continued to increase. Is lack of visible messaging of the guidelines partly to blame? Or are guidelines being ignored by the public? Or is there too little attention being paid to the need for less caloric intake and more daily exercise? It's hard to tell. But what this does demonstrate is the set of challenges facing Kennedy as he prepares to broadcast his campaign against ultra-processed foods. Aside from opposition from stakeholders in the food industry, success will hinge on how effective his 'bold, edgy' crusade is in altering ingrained dietary habits.
News24
10 hours ago
- News24
Russel Rensburg: This is how SA could respond to US aid cuts
South Africa still lacks an action plan after the withdrawal of US aid for HIV and related health services. But when funds do arrive, how will they be managed? Russell Rensburg suggests the answer may lie in the District Health Programme Grant. The government's extended silence on how it plans to solve the funding crisis created by the withdrawal of US aid has thrown much of the health sector in South Africa into severe despair. It has been five months since the withdrawal of the aid, amounting to about R7 billion per year. It covered salaries for 15 000 health workers, of which 8 000 are community health workers, 2 000 are nurses, and 300 are doctors working in 27 of South Africa's high HIV priority districts. As a result, volumes of high-risk populations have lost access to care, while overstretched healthcare workers are facing increased pressure amid ongoing staff shortages. Recently, the Global HIV Treatment Coalition and a bevy of civil society organisations wrote a strongly worded letter to the government, demanding action on a fully costed emergency plan. They accused the state of not taking concerted action. They are not wrong: The government has still not made a clear plan available to the public, although there is consensus on the urgent need to strengthen the emergency response. Plans have been developed internally in the national Department of Health, and a national technical support unit has been established in the office of the health department's director-general to support the integration of services. It is understood that several provinces are being supported to develop provincial transition plans that can be translated into concrete action. But ongoing discussions with National Treasury have made little meaningful progress to close the funding gap. Treasury has indicated that any new funding will either be part of the adjustment budget or an emergency allocation. At this stage, it is still unclear how much money, if any, will be allocated. There is another challenge that is yet to be considered. When the funding does arrive, there will need to be consensus on how the money is co-ordinated, incubated and managed. Here the answer may already be in our back pockets in the form of the District Health Programme Grant. The grant is a mechanism for funding the country's public health efforts, particularly relating to HIV, TB, and other communicable diseases. As an existing instrument, this grant programme could help address issues linked to the funding gap and lay the foundation for the sustainable integration of activities previously funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar). Why the District Health Programme Grant could work The District Health Programme Grant presents an ideal mechanism that can be used to strengthen governance and ensure that the funding, plans and activities down to a district level align with national campaigns and priorities. But the grant would need to be amended to ensure that there is improved management of the conditionalities so that the funds invested meet its purpose. Conditional grants are funds allocated to provinces with a primary purpose of ensuring that national priorities are implemented consistently across the country. They facilitate targeted service delivery, equity, accountability and performance monitoring. The District Health Programme Grant, which currently has a budget of about R25 billion, already has a large HIV component, so additional funding for both the HIV and TB services that are needed could easily be allocated to this grant. And if the health department amended the grant mechanism to allow for the contracting in of service providers, such as the Pepfar implementing agents, which are mostly local NGOs previously funded by the US government, the country would be able to use the capacity built up over time in these organisations to strengthen the delivery of HIV and TB services. The concern, however, is accountability. In the current set up of the grant, provinces have the ability to act more autonomously and the grant conditionalities are poorly managed. However, for the system to be more effective, there needs to be a greater emphasis on co-operative engagement where two-way reporting between national and provinces can take place. Amending the grant to include stronger accountability mechanisms would help the health department to co-ordinate and manage it better. The clock is ticking The funding gap comes at a time when the health department has launched two ambitious campaigns to tackle HIV and TB. The Close the Gap campaign aims to enrol a record number – an additional 1.1 million – of people living with HIV on lifesaving antiretroviral medicine this year. Along with teenage girls and young women, the initiative prioritises an estimated 600 000 men who know their status but are not on treatment. This campaign aligns with the country's strategy to END TB by 2030. This year, the health department also hopes to accelerate TB case finding by scaling up testing to 5 million TB tests to reduce the high rate of infections and deaths. The linkages between the campaigns make sense. TB is the leading co-morbidity for people living with HIV. HIV is also the leading contributor to TB mortality, accounting for an estimated 55% of TB deaths, according to the World Health Organisation's data on TB in South Africa. The campaigns are evidence-informed and well considered. ALSO READ | Phillip de Wet: South Africa massively benefitted from foreign aid – and the age of aid is over But the ambition is not matched by budgets that can support and ultimately enable its success. In addition to the R7 billion Pepfar funding gap, there is a funding gap of at least R600 million in TB to sufficiently fund the required five million tests needed for the campaign. Funding pressures at the provincial level are also constraining the scaling up of the capacity required to administer the tests. A recent analysis from the South African National Aids Council (Sanac) situation room which evaluates the HIV response every month as part of the Close the Gap campaign suggests that while there are increases in the number of people being initiated on HIV treatment, the pace is not fast enough to mitigate the losses the country experiences in retaining patients in care. This has resulted in negative growth in many high-prevalence districts. Similarly, in the first TB provincial managers programme meeting co-ordinated by the National TB programme, reports on the poor performance against the testing targets belied the underlying frustrations many are experiencing. South Africa has made incredible progress in expanding access to healthcare in the last 30 years. These include significant declines in maternal mortality, decreases in the under-5 mortality rates, and significant declines in the incidence of TB. Much of this success, particularly in the last decade, is the result of the mass rollout of lifesaving antiretroviral treatment to about 6 million of the estimated 8 million people living with HIV in the country. But the abrupt withdrawal of US aid has put at least some of this progress under threat. As we look to the mid-year adjustments budget, we don't just need new money to plug the gap, we also need a sensible framework for spending that money. Channelling the funds through a tweaked District Health Programme Grant is a financial solution that will both provide some quick relief and that will mitigate the impact that the funding gap will have on universal health coverage more broadly in the long run. - Russel Rensburg is director of the Rural Health Advocacy Project and project director for the TB Accountability Consortium. *This piece was published by Spotlight – health journalism in the public interest. Sign up to the Spotlight newsletter. *Want to respond to the columnist? Send your letter or article to opinions@ with your name and town or province. You are welcome to also send a profile picture. We encourage a diversity of voices and views in our readers' submissions and reserve the right not to publish any and all submissions received. Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.
