Lehigh Valley Health Network

Campuses get Gold Plus award

Both the Cedar Crest and Muhlenberg campuses of Lehigh Valley Hospital have received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The hospitals were selected based on their commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines.

The Cedar Crest campus also received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite award for meeting quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

For additional information,visit LVHN.org.

St. Luke’s University Health Network

St. Luke’s Nurse - Family Partnership

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale cited St. Luke’s Nurse-Family Partnership as an example of a program that will help repair the state’s broken child-welfare system and help to protect children.

The AG released a “State of the Child Action Plan” based on research findings and information that he collected last year during his listening tour. Statistics show that the model had a 48 percent reduction in child abuse and neglect as well as financial benefits.

For a report, visit paauditor.gov/Media/Default/Reports/RPT_StateofChild_Action_Plan_051618_FINAL.pdf.

Ticks, bug bites and sting precautions

Nicholas Lumi, St. Luke’s University Health Network physician’s assistant, is recommending extra precautions this summer against mosquitoes, fleas and ticks bites due to the wet winter and ticks not dying off at the usual expected rate. The bug population across the country has tripled from 2004 to 2016, according to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of cases of Lyme disease caused by bites from infected blacklegged “deer” ticks. About one in five ticks carry the risk of transmission. Lumi suggests wearing a tick repellent on the skin and clothing, one that contains DEET, when outdoors.

To remove a tick, use tweezers, grab the tick as close to your skin as you can and pull straight back; or visit an urgent care facility for removal. For bee stings and mosquito and spider bites, treat with topical corticosteroid creams and antihistamines such as Benadryl. Seek immediate medical attention if you have a reaction and have trouble swallowing or breathing.