Shadoe Daniels, 2019 Marywood University graduate from the Physician Assistant Program, is currently serving on the frontlines of COVID-19 relief at the Elmhurst Hospital, Queens, N.Y. Prior to his relief deployment, he was working in the emergency department (ER) at the Wayne Memorial Hospital, Honesdale, Pa., and for Commonwealth Health.

Mr. Daniels is serving as the lead physician assistant for Krucial Staffing in the main COVID19 unit at Elmhurst Hospital. He has been working 12-hour days for 14 days straight and explains that he has seen some very seriously ill people. Upon his arrival at Elmhurst, Daniels determined that the first obstacle that needed to be addressed was the shortage of staffing. Without the proper staffing, Mr. Daniels and fellow healthcare workers wouldn’t be able to adequately treat patients. After addressing the staffing shortage, the next obstacle that presented was one that required ingenuity, resourcefulness, and the ability to make do with materials on hand.

When word was received that non-rebreather masks would become unavailable overnight at Elmhurst Hospital, Daniels and others on his team knew they needed to improvise and quickly fashion a device that would deliver the life-saving oxygen needed by many of the patients that healthcare workers were seeing.

The quickly fashioned, life-saving non-rebreather masks were made with other medical materials and worked remarkably well on all of the patients that required non-rebreather equipment. Quickly, other hospital departments were asking how the mask was made so they too could use them on their patients. On the advice of a resident, Daniels made a YouTube video with step-by-step instructions on how to recreate the life-saving device youtube.com/watch?v=M2XSmsGEPi4&t=146s.

Mr. Daniels explains, “Without this very essential equipment, patients will quickly deteriorate and need more invasive measures to be taken. If we can keep the patients full saturated with oxygen, then we won’t need to resort to those more extreme measures.”

While the shortage of non-rebreather equipment was temporary, as Elmhurst Hospital was able to get a supply of the devices, many of the healthcare workers still preferred the ones made by Daniels and his team, as patients were reporting that they were receiving the supply of oxygen better with them.

Mr. Daniels continues his work at Elmhurst Hospital working around the clock to lead his team and to deliver the best patient care possible. He credits his resourcefulness to the critical thinking skills obtained during his training as a physician assistant at Marywood University; his 14 years serving as a paid EMS (Emergency Medical Services) worker; and his 16 years serving as volunteer firefighter at Texas #4, Honesdale, Pa.

Mr. Daniels said, “I feel like I’ve seen it all. I’ve had exposure through all of my training and had a good base and solid foundation. With each training, I was adding to my toolbelt of knowledge, so I knew I could effect positive change at Elmhurst, as I was ready to immediately begin working to alter situations for positive outcomes.”

Mr. Daniels is unsure how long he will be in New York City, and admits that he recently “hit a wall.”  He said, “After working 14 straight days and seeing so many ill patients—actually seeing fear on the patients’ faces—I’m hoping that I’m easing that fear for them, by giving them the best care possible.”

Mr. Daniels offers this advice to all who read this article, “This is real. This is not the flu. Listen to social distancing, wear a mask, and stay home.” Uncomfortable with being labeled a hero, Mr. Daniels said, “The true heroes are the doctors, physician assistants, and nurses that have been on the frontlines from the beginning—they’ve been through the worst of it.”

Mr. Daniels graduated from Honesdale High School and earned his physician assistant degree from Marywood University in 2019. He is a pre-hospital physician assistant, one of only three in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Emily, have three children, and live in Honesdale, Pa.

The ASM Global Live managed Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Twp., announced today, World Health Day, an initiative that will help recognize and thank local healthcare professionals at arena events beginning this Fall. The “Healthcare Heroes Suite” will honor local healthcare professionals that are on the front lines fighting against the spread of COVID-19 in our community and around the world.

“Over the past 5 years, Mohegan Sun Arena along with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have partnered to donate over 2,300 suite level tickets to Penguins hockey games to say thank you to members of our community that have served their country and community as part of the ‘Salute to Service Suite’ program”, said Steve Poremba, Director of Marketing at Mohegan Sun Arena. “The ‘Healthcare Heroes Suite’ will provide our venue with an opportunity to show our appreciation and gratitude to another service sector of our community that put the health and well-being of others ahead of their own.”

Mohegan Sun Arena will begin seeking nominations online from our community beginning Sunday, May 10^th, the beginning of National Hospitals Week. Each recipient will receive tickets to a select upcoming event in a luxury suite at Mohegan Sun Arena beginning in October, or once it is safe to host public events at our facility.  Nominations and more information can be found on our website at www.MoheganSunArenaPA.com/HealthcareHeroes.

Today, all of us at Mohegan Sun Arena join ASM Global Live, the world’s leading provider of innovative venue services and live experiences, to honor healthcare workers around the globe, on World Health Day.

This year, the performance of a lifetime goes to all those on the front lines…the brave nurses, doctors, healthcare workers, hospital staff and first responders.

With everything going on with Covid 19, WRC wanted the healthcare workers in the Emergency Rooms in our communities to know we appreciate everything they are doing right now to try and keep our community safe. The idea of delivering care packages seemed like the best way to do this. The care packages also allowed us to support some of our local businesses- Electric City Bakehouse, Purple Pepper Deli and Zummo’s Cafe in Lackawanna; and Hot Pies and Iron Horse in Susquehanna. Supporting each other is always important but right now more than ever it is imperative.

It was wonderful seeing everyone’s eyes light up when delivering the packages which made having to wear a mask and gloves and sanitize worth it.

Misericordia University’s College of Arts and Sciences was recently awarded a Humanities Connections Planning Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to develop an interdisciplinary program in environmental studies.

Misericordia University’s $33,964 grant award is part of the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor that was announced in April. Overall, NEH awarded $22.2 million in grants to 224 humanities projects in the United States. Established in 1965, NEH is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the country. The federal agency serves and strengthens the republic by “promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans” by awarding grants for “top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers,” according to NEH.

NEH grants are typically awarded to cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars. For a complete list of national grant recipients, please go to https://bit.ly/neh2020​. Additional information about NEH can be found at www.neh.gov.

At Misericordia University, the grant will be utilized to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum for a major and minor in environmental studies that considers the environmental legacy of the anthracite mining industry and the realities of today’s natural gas industry in northeastern Pennsylvania, and more. Work will begin in June to develop a Bachelor of Arts degree program that will enroll students beginning in the fall semester of 2021.

“The environmental crises of the 21^st century cannot be addressed with technical solutions alone. They require us instead to question the concepts that structure our relationship to the world – human and animal, nature and culture, private and public,” said Humanities Connections Planning Grants Project Co-Director Melanie Shepherd, Ph.D., professor and chairperson of the Department of Philosophy at Misericordia University. “These questions are the province of the humanities, and their urgency for our world becomes clearer in this age in which our best scientific research tells us that human habits toward the world are slowly destroying it.”

The major and minor academic programs in environmental studies will enhance the role of the humanities in the curriculum by offering a unique degree program rooted in collaboration among the departments of biology, chemistry, English, history, philosophy, physics and religious studies. In addition, the programs will include team-taught courses, experiential and community-based learning opportunities, interdisciplinary electives in ecology and the environment, water, climate, and food and agriculture. Service-learning programs also will be established with community partners, such as the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation and others.

The curriculum will include, but is not limited to Environmental Studies 100: Environment and Society; Environmental Studies 200: Issues in Sustainability, and Environmental Studies 400: Environmental Research Design. Environmental Studies 100 will be a course taught by one humanities and one science faculty member in order to allow for a collaborative and interdisciplinary introduction to the program and the team-teaching methods.

“We are designing an environmental studies curriculum that will prepare students to connect scientific and humanistic thinking,” Dr. Shepherd said. “We want to develop students’ abilities to think philosophically, historically, and imaginatively in addition to mathematically and scientifically in order to grasp and respond to complex environmental problems.”

The Misericordia University Humanities Connections Planning Project Committee includes Heidi Manning, Ph.D., dean, College of Arts and Sciences; co-project director Cosima Wiese, Ph.D., professor, biology; Allan W. Austin, Ph.D., professor, history, and Joseph Curran, Ph.D., professor, religious studies.

For more information about Misericordia University, please call 570-674-6400 or visit www.misericordia.edu.

Your input is needed to help shape the region for the next 20+ years!  Please take the survey for the Lackawanna – Luzerne Comprehensive and Long Range Transportation Plan update.

Click here to Take the Survey!

Joint Lackawanna – Luzerne Comprehensive Plan and Long Range Transportation Plan

We have started project’s engagement activities that will provide valuable data needed to complete the Joint County Comprehensive Plan and Long Range Transportation Plan. You are encouraged to participate in the various planning activities by responding to the community survey and by attending anticipated public meetings. The Plan focuses on the future of the region until the year 2040.

Project Background:

The Plan provides an overall framework for local municipal plans and provide guidance on issues that transcend local boundaries, such as highways, public transportation, flooding, trails, growth trends, redevelopment trends, shopping needs, impact of large developments, overall housing needs, natural systems and economic growth. The Plan’s vision, guiding principles, policies and actions help to provide guidance and a workplan for the County for the next 20 years. This includes decisions about how land is used or developed, and public facility investment decisions related to those planned land uses or developments. The Plan is amended at least once every ten years. Therefore, it is not a static tool and is expected to change over time. The goals and policies of the Plan will hopefully be implemented locally through land use regulations and decisions including municipal zoning codes and maps, service agreements, redevelopment plans/master plans, and potentially development agreements. The Counties also refer to the plan to inform non‐land use decisions, scope projects and assess alternatives, guide municipal public facility investment choices, and support regional and local grant applications, among other things. Other public agencies, like transit companies or watershed and trail groups and others, may reference the plan when determining consistency of a local project. The Plan is a community tool that is often used for advocacy and to track regional and local accountability. Municipalities are encouraged to use the plan to monitor local planning and decisions and to:

• Advocate for projects and programs to be included in the annual budget.
• Review, evaluate, and comment on proposed legislative projects.
• Review, evaluate, and comment on Plan‐related projects and programs.
• Review, evaluate, and comment on site‐specific land use reviews that are subject to Plan review.
• Support or appeal approved land use reviews and legislative projects.
• Serve as background information when applying for grants, funding, or other programs.

Click here to Take the Survey!

You can take part in #GivingTuesdayNow by supporting the Hospice of the Sacred Heart Memorial Fund on Tuesday, May 5^th.

#GivingTuesdayNow is a new global day of giving and unity that will take place on May 5, 2020 – in addition to the regularly scheduled Dec 1, 2020 #GivingTuesday – as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. The day is designed to drive an influx of generosity, citizen engagement, business and philanthropy activation, and support for communities and nonprofits around the world.

At a time when we are all experiencing the pandemic, generosity is what brings people of all races, faiths, and political views together across the globe. Generosity gives everyone power to make a positive change in the lives of others and is a fundamental value anyone can act on. It’s a day for everyone around the world to stand together and give back in all ways, no matter who or where we are.

“The COVID-19 world crisis is unprecedented and every healthcare organization has been affected in one way or another. Proudly, our clinical team is made up of warriors… doctors, nurses, social workers and others dedicated to our mission of providing comfort, care, hope and choice to patients and their families while guiding them through the end of life journey,” said Diane Baldi, CEO, Hospice of the Sacred Heart.

People can show their generosity in a variety of ways during #GivingTuesdayNow, whether it’s helping a neighbor, advocating for an issue, sharing a skill, or giving to causes, every act of generosity counts. The global movement will emphasize opportunities to give back to communities and causes in safe ways that allow for social connection even while practicing physical distancing.

“As a global community, we can mourn this moment of extreme crisis while also finding the opportunity to support one another. We each have the power to make an impact with acts of generosity, no matter how small, and to ensure the sustainability of organizations and services that are crucial to the care and support of our communities,” said Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday. “#GivingTuesdayNow is a chance for us to stand united and use grassroots generosity to show that we are all in this together, beginning to end. Even as many face financial uncertainty, generosity is not about size. From calling an elderly neighbor to chat to offering translation help; from showing gratitude to our healthcare workers to donating to your local food bank, every act of kindness is a beacon of hope in this crisis. We all have something to give, and every act of human consideration and kindness matters.”

Those interested in joining Hospice of the Sacred Heart’s #GivingTuesdayNow efforts can visit www.hospicesacredheart.org and click on “Donate”.

For more details about the GivingTuesday movement, visit the GivingTuesday website (www.givingtuesday.org), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday) or follow @GivingTuesday and #GivingTuesdayNow on Twitter. For youth interested in joining the movement, visit GivingTuesdayKids.org for inspiration and project ideas.

As teams across the country await the start of the 2020 season, clubs from the International League have banded together to form an online competition on PS4 using MLB The Show20. Play begins this week with 10 teams participating.

The RailRiders eIL season begins tonight against the Buffalo Bisons.

Each team will play one series a week; one game each as themselves against the computer version of their respective opponent, and one game man vs. man using their Major League affiliate against the representative of their opponent. Teams can broadcast their games on their own streaming site of choice. The RailRiders can be found on Twitch.tv with the tag SWBRAILRIDERS.

The remaining eOpening Week features Charlotte battling Norfolk, Lehigh Valley against Louisville, Syracuse taking on Pawtucket and Durham against Rochester.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s games will be played by Michael Harvey, the team’s Director of Group Sales. Michael is an avid gamer and plays Rocket League at an expert level, but is planning on providing top tier competition on the RailRiders behalf.

Standings will be kept throughout this competition and the best records will advance to an ePostseason.

The best way to track the RailRiders play in this virtual IL is by following Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For more information, visit swbrailriders.com.