Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

HARRISBURG) – The Pennsylvania Department of Education has taken steps to establish Pennsylvania’s first Rural Regional Community College, announced Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25), Senator Bob Robbins (R-50) and Senator Scott Hutchinson (R-21). According to the legislators, the newly created community college is being established with the goal of offering two-year associate degrees, as well as training and certificate programs to underserved areas of the Commonwealth. Curriculum of the college will be determined by the Board of Trustees, based upon the future workforce needs of the designated region of Cameron, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, McKean, Potter, Venango and Warren counties. “I am very excited that groundwork for launching the Rural Regional Community College is now in place,” Senator Scarnati stated. “This will be the first community college to offer greatly needed higher educational opportunities to northwestern Pennsylvania. Thanks to input by edu...

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Today Cole Memorial was named one of the nation's Top Performers on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America. Cole Memorial was recognized by The Joint Commission for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children's asthma, stroke and venous thromboembolism, as well as inpatient psychiatric services. New this year is a category for immunization for pneumonia and influenza. Cole Memorial is one of 1,099 hospitals in the U.S. earning the distinction of Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance. Cole Memorial was recognized for its achievement on the following measure sets: Surgical care and pneumonia prevention. The ratings are based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported t...

U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Howard, today announced that Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport, Potter County, is one of 20 hospitals in Pennsylvania that will receive funding under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP). The funds will support information technology upgrades used for documenting the diagnosis and treatment of patients. “Healthcare delivery to our rural communities can be challenging,” stated Rep. Thompson. “These types of grants level the playing field with our urban counterparts, and will assist Cole Memorial in upgrading their current technologies to meet the changing industry standards and better serve the people of Coudersport and the surrounding communities.” Cole Memorial will receive approximately $7,500 that will be used to support the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10, the new diagnosis and procedure code sets used by hospitals to group and identify patient encounters. ...

COUDERSPORT -- Ed Pitchford, president and CEO of Charles Cole Memorial Hospital, (CCMH) is the recipient of the 2012 American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) Advocate Award for Excellence for providing leadership and advocacy for nurse practitioners in Pennsylvania. Each year, the AANP recognizes a nurse practitioner (NP) and a nurse practitioner advocate in each state. The advocacy award recognizes the efforts of individuals, other than nurse practitioners, who have made a significant contribution toward increasing the awareness and acceptance of the nurse practitioner profession. Patti Thum, CRNP at Charles Cole Memorial’s Northern Potter Health Center in Ulysses, stated that the 2012 State Award for Excellence nomination noted that Mr. Pitchford is supportive of independent Nurse Practioners’ practices and he values their ability as primary care providers, as demonstrated by his recent development of an institutional policy change at CCMH. Additionally, Mr. Pitchford assisted...

For the 19th consecutive year, the Friends of Hanley Library at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will present its annual “Season’s Readings” on WESB’s Live Line program with its host Anne Holliday. The show, which can be heard at 1490 AM, will be broadcast at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 7. Dr. Don Ulin, associate professor of English, will read excerpts from David McKain’s book, “Spellbound: Growing up in God’s Country.” Published in 1988, McKain’s memoir looks back at his turbulent boyhood years growing up in Bradford. According to Pat Donahue, president of the Friends of Hanley Library, “The Friends are grateful to Dr. Ulin for bringing this wonderful holiday event to our region each December and for continuing the tradition begun by Dr. Robert Laing in the 1990s. We always look forward to hearing his selections. We also appreciate that WESB’s Live Line format allows the Friends to reach many listeners in their homes and places of work.” The Fr...

Walt Eisenhauer, physician assistant program director at Lock Haven University, at right, shows Sen. Joe Scarnati, second from left, LHU’s new physician assistant classroom at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital Thursday. Also pictured, are from left, Ed Pitchford, CCMH president and chief executive officer, Scarnati, Dr. Thomas Ormond, dean, college of education and human services at LHU, and Eisenhauer. Thursday’s visit is the first time Scarnati has visited CCMH since announcing funding from the State Department of Education in September 2008. LHU used the funding for infrastructure and capital improvements related to expanding the master’s level PA program into Coudersport and Harrisburg. LHU will welcome the inaugural class of 12 PA students in Coudersport May 17, some with local ties, according to Eisenhauer. He said that LHU had a record number of 800 applicants for the program this year for spots in Coudersport, Harrisburg, Clearfield, and Lock Haven. ( Photo courtesy of Charles Col...