FNCB Bank is excited to announce The Great “She Shed” Giveaway. Open to all youth-based, non-profit organizations in the Bank’s service area, the FNCB Bank “She Shed” was most recently used as a temporary drive-thru during construction of our new Main Community Office in Dunmore. FNCB is now donating the building to one deserving organization in our area for use as a concession stand, equipment building or any number of other potential uses.

“This building served us well during the construction of our beautiful new Main Office in Dunmore, but now it’s time for it to have a new home in the community,” said Jerry Champi, FNCB Bank President & CEO. “We are excited to donate it to a deserving organization.”

Specifications:

• 16’ x 11’
• 176 square feet
• Fully plumbed restroom
• Wired for electricity and lighting
• Air Conditioned

Giveaway Rules:

The FNCB Bank She Shed giveaway is open to all youth-based non-profit organizations in the Bank’s service footprint. Entries must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., August 30, 2019. Winning organization will be selected by a committee based on need and projected use. For more information, contact Mike Cummings at 570-558-8513 or marketing@fncb.com. Approximate value is $15,000.

The University of Scranton and Penn State Law in University Park have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow Scranton students who meet program requirements to be eligible for admission to the law school after just three years at Scranton.

The “3-3 Accelerated Bachelor/JD Program” will allow Scranton students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Scranton and a juris doctor (JD) degree from Penn State Law in six rather than seven years. After completion of their junior year at Scranton, the program offers eligible students who are accepted to Penn State Law the ability to apply course credits earned in their first year of law school to their bachelor’s degree requirements at Scranton.

To be eligible for the 3-3 program with Penn State Law, students must have earned a minimum of 66 credits at Scranton prior to applying and have completed 75 percent of their 120-credit bachelor’s degree coursework by the time they begin law school. Students must also remain in good academic and discipline standing through matriculation at Scranton and meet other program requirements. Students must meet the eligibility criteria of Penn State Law in order to apply for the program and admission to the law school. Penn State Law will review applications and make the final determination regarding admittance into its JD degree program.

The memorandum took effect at its signing.

Scranton has a Pre-Law Advisory Program that helps students navigate the law school application process throughout their undergraduate years. The program also offers assistance to Scranton alumni who wish to apply to law school. The University offers a concentration in legal studies. Scranton also has 3-3 program agreements with Boston College, Villanova School of Law and Duquesne University School of Law.

In the past four years, more than 130 Scranton graduates have received acceptance into more than 50 law schools throughout the United States, including to some of the country’s most prestigious law schools.

For more information, visit Scranton’s pre-law webpage, or contact Matthew Meyer, Ph.D., pre-law advisor and associate professor of philosophy at The University of Scranton, at 570-941-5814 or matthew.meyer@scranton.edu.

The DAISY Award is a nationwide program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care given by nurses’ every day. Commonwealth Health Regional Hospital of Scranton is proud to be a DAISY Award Hospital Partner, recognizing one of our nurses with this special honor every quarter.

Regional Hospital of Scranton’s second quarter DAISY Award was presented to Mary Novak, RN, who works in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.

The DAISY (which stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award was started by the DAISY Foundation, which formed in 2000, after J. Patrick Barnes, then 33, died of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), an auto-immune disease. DAISY Award recipients are nominated by their peers, physicians, patients and families, and other staff and administrators.

Anyone can nominate a nurse for the award, which can be done online at the DAISY Award Nomination page of the Commonwealth Health website.

Commonwealth Health Regional Hospital of Scranton congratulates  Barbara Plucknett, M.D. on her 1,000^th robotic–assisted surgical case.  A celebration was held on July 15^th to mark the momentous occasion and to honor Dr. Plucknett’s dedication to her patients and women’s health.

Dr. Barbara Plucknett practices Gynecology with Commonwealth Health Physician Network,  743 Jefferson Ave., Suite 203, Scranton and is an active medical staff member of Regional Hospital of Scranton.  She specializes in Urogynecology using non-surgical and surgical techniques to correct complex structural bladder and pelvic floor issues women may experience.

Dr. Plucknett is skilled in minimally invasive robotic-assisted surgery, incorporating this advanced technology into her surgical practice since 2009. Minimally invasive robotic-assisted surgery enables a surgeon to perform intricate and delicate procedures through very small incisions with precise movement. The surgical patient may benefit by quicker recovery, shorter hospital stay with less bleeding, less risk of infection or scarring and a faster return to normal daily activities.

Call 570-344-9997 for an appointment with Barbara Plucknett, M.D.

Most major insurances are accepted, including Geisinger Health Plan.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced the availability of $1 million in grant funding to Pennsylvania small businesses and farmers for energy efficiency, pollution prevention, and natural resource protection projects through the Small Business Advantage grant program. New to the program this year is the opportunity for small business owners to install solar hot water systems for their business operations.

“Pennsylvania is committed to assisting those small business owners who want to become energy efficient, increase their profitability, and help the environment,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “This funding will support projects designed to reduce operating costs and boost competitiveness, while simultaneously protecting the environment.”

Eligible projects include adopting or acquiring equipment or processes that reduce energy use or pollution. Examples of eligible projects are HVAC and boiler upgrades, high-efficiency LED lighting, solvent recovery and waste recycling systems, and auxiliary power units deployed as anti-idling technology for trucks.

Last year, around 200 small businesses were awarded more than $947,000 in grants for their projects. Natural resource protection projects may include planting riparian buffers, installation of streambank fencing to keep livestock out of streams, and investing in agricultural stormwater management projects, with the goal of reducing sediment and nutrient loads in our waterways.

“We are excited to expand the program to help lower energy bills through the use of solar energy,” McDonnell said. “Encouraging businesses to embrace alternative energy projects helps clean our air, reduce greenhouse gases, and give small business owners a sense of satisfaction on making smart choices.”

Pennsylvania-based small business owners with 100 or fewer full-time equivalent employees are eligible. Projects must save the business a minimum of $500 and 25 percent annually in energy consumption, or pollution-related expenses.

Businesses can apply for 50 percent matching funds of up to $7,000 to adopt or acquire energy-efficient or pollution prevention equipment or processes. Only costs incurred between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, are eligible.

Applications will be considered on a first come, first served basis, and will be accepted until fiscal year 2019-20 funds are exhausted or April 12, 2020, whichever occurs first. All applications must be submitted through the commonwealth’s Single Application for Assistance website. Printed, faxed, and mailed applications are not accepted.

The complete grant application package, which includes step-by-step instructions and instructional videos for completing the online application, is available by visiting the DEP Small Business Ombudsman’s Office website.

To contact the Small Business Ombudsman’s Office, call 717-772-5160 or email epadvantagegtrant@pa.gov

The Wright Center for Community Health was recently awarded a grant from Moses Taylor Foundation to expand its geriatric service line and further develop a geriatric curriculum and fellowship in partnership with The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education.

Bolstered by this funding, a community-based coordinated primary care team, comprised of a physician, certified registered nurse practitioner and medical assistant, will visit patients who live in Lackawanna County to provide healthcare services. A physician performs the initial visit and a certified registered nurse practitioner handles ongoing routine healthcare visits in the home. A social worker will be available to conduct assessments of the patient’s living environment and provide case management and social referral services.

 A name synonymous with excellence in oncology now has a home on two Geisinger hospital campuses in northeast Pennsylvania.

Since 1992, the Henry Cancer Center at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre has provided high-quality care to patients. The center has grown to offer advanced, comprehensive and state-of-the-art services, and Geisinger leadership announced recently that the Henry Cancer Center name has been shared with the cancer clinic at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton.

Frank M. and Dorothea Henry made a philanthropic gift 27 years ago to open the Henry Cancer Center at Geisinger Wyoming Valley. This donation, an extension of their involvement with the local chapter of the American Cancer Society, continued their family commitment to cancer research and treatment.

At the flagship center, patients have access to a variety of cancer specialists, including psychologists, social workers and nurse navigators, under one roof. The goal is to regionalize that well-rounded program by cultivating the same strengths in Scranton.

“We are delighted with the involvement of the Henry/Marquart family. We’re also grateful for the generous support of ESSA Bank, Springhill Foundation and the Robert Y. Moffatt Charitable Trust and are pleased to announce the renaming of our cancer clinic at Geisinger Community Medical Center,” Geisinger Cancer Institute Chair Rajiv Panikkar, M.D., said. Hematologists/oncologists, palliative medicine physicians and surgical oncologists see our patients in Scranton, and we are developing programs and bringing more services here to make the highest-quality cancer care even easier to find.”

Henry Cancer Center, GCMC, Scranton

• Opened October 2016
• $2.1 million, 6,500 square-foot expansion
• 7 exam rooms, 11 infusion bays, heated infusion seats and privacy screens for patient comfort
• Services include chemotherapy, blood transfusions, intravenous medication administration, therapeutic phlebotomy, hydrations and supportive therapies

Henry Cancer Center, GWV, Wilkes-Barre

• Home to region’s largest team of fellowship-trained cancer specialists
• Latest care options including clinical trials and genetic testing
• Home to Geisinger’s Brain and Spinal Tumor Institute
• 24 chemotherapy and infusion chairs, 4 private treatment rooms, 19 exam rooms, on-site laboratory, procedure room, healing garden, social areas for patient camaraderie and support, plentiful natural light
• Services include intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT); bone marrow transplant pre-care and follow-up care; brain and nervous system; 3D conformal radiation therapy; high- and low-dose brachytherapy; partial breast irradiation; outpatient chemotherapy services and on-site access to inpatient services and testing for easy transfers to higher care; blood transfusions; infusions; infusion therapy; hematological procedures and malignancies (including leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease and multiple myeloma); medical oncology; stereotactic radiosurgery; IGRT; lymphedema management; dedicated CT simulator, CT and PET/CT imaging; on-site clinical trials; on-site cancer genetics counseling; orthopaedic oncology; patient care coordinator to manage patient access and coordinate treatment planning; physical therapists; nutrition specialists; counseling and support groups; radiation oncology; disease specific, weekly multidisciplinary clinics for breast, GI, lung and brain/spine

For more information on the Henry Cancer center, visit https://locations.geisinger.org/details.cfm?id=170. For more information on the Geisinger Cancer Institute, visit https://www.geisinger.org/patient-care/institutes/cancer-institute.