Essential Public Radio

Income Up for Pennsylvania Hospitals

Emily Farah — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:30:00

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) released data today showing income for Pennsylvania’s General Acute Care (GAC) hospitals increased more than 1.6% for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011. It marks the second year in a row that total margins increased after two years of a steady decline.

PHC4 spokesperson Gary Tuma said Acute Care hospitals are “vital community assets.”

“It’s important for the people in the community to know whether their hospitals are financially healthy or not,” Tuma said. “They have to be healthy in order to provide high quality service to patients, so the strong picture this year is a good sign after several years in which they lost money.”

Acute Care hospitals are facilities that provide services to patients who need more than 24 hours of hospitalization. There are 165 such hospitals in the commonwealth.

Although Acute Care hospitals showed an increase in operational and total margins across the state, PHC4 documented a substabtial increase in uncompensated services.

“Hospitals in Pennsylvania provided close to one billion dollars worth of care for which they were not paid,” Tuma said.

Tuma said the $990 million in unpaid bills can be traced to charity care and uncollectable bilss. That’s an increase of about $100 million over the 2010 fiscal year. The trend in uncompensated care has gradually increased since reaching a low during 2005’s fiscal year.

In the Pittsburgh region, the study found operational and total margins were slightly better than the statewide average. However it is not all good news.

“Some of the smaller hospitals are not doing as well as the larger hospitals, and in fact some of the smaller hospitals lost money [in southwest Pennsylvania],” Tuma said. “That’s a trend that we tend to see.”

Tuma adds that increased income for the hospital does not necessarily mean that the hospitals are raising their prices. He attributes the increase to a number of factors including a recovering economy and better hospital management.

Mike Krancer And The EPA: It’s Complicated

Scott Detrow StateImpact PA — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:30:00

Over the last few years, the Environmental Protection Agency has taken an increased interest in regulating and monitoring hydraulic fracturing. And when the EPA steps into an area that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is already overseeing, Secretary Michael Krancer appears to take it personally. That personal reaction often comes in the form of a blistering letter written to the EPA.

When the EPA launched an investigation of whether or not the water in Dimock, Susquehanna County was safe to drink, Krancer essentially told EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson she didn’t know what she was talking about.

Read the entire story from our partner, StateImpact Pennsylvania.

No Charges Against Police in Jordan Miles Case

Kevin Gavin — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:13:00

Two years and four months after three undercover Pittsburgh police officers injured then 18 year old Jordan Miles while trying to arrest him, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala announced today that he is not filing charges against the officers.

Zappala said it was “not a prosecutable case.”

On January 11, 2010, Miles, an honor student at the Pittsburgh School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), was walking from his home to his grandmother’s house in Homewood. The officers claimed that Miles was prowling around a house and appeared to be carrying a gun and then fled. Later, officers Richard Ewing, Michael Saldutte and David Sisak said that Miles was carrying a soda bottle in his pocket that appeared to be a gun. No soda bottle was ever found.

While being subdued by the three officers, Miles suffered facial and head injuries and had some hair torn from his scalp.

In making his decision, District Attorney Zappala said that he agreed with the federal government. Last May the Department of Justice announced that it would not pursue criminal charges against Saldutte, Sisak and Ewing. The statement said that after an exhaustive review including interviews with more than 40 people, “there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that Jordan Miles’ civil rights were violated.

Shortly after the incident Zappala filed charges against Miles, including aggravated assault and resisting arrest. However, a district judge dismissed those charges.

“In my mind, District Attorney Zappala could not very well carry out an investigation in a criminal case against the police officers because he represented them as victims in his prosecution against Jordan,” said J. Kerrington Lewis, attorney for Jordan Miles.

Lewis said Zappala had a conflict of interest and should have turned over the investigation to the Pennsylvania Attorney General.

“When you work so closely with these policemen as a D.A., you’re prosecuting cases, it’s almost a ‘good old boys’ network between D.A.’s and cops,” said Lewis. “It’s good to give it to an independent prosecutor.”

A community group, The Alliance for Police Accountability, and Miles’ family had been urging Zappala to file charges against the three officers. Alliance spokesman Peter Shell says they are now calling for the state Attorney General to take the case and for Zappala to resign.

While Sisak, Saldutte and Ewing are not facing criminal charges, Lewis says Miles’ federal lawsuit against the officers for allegedly violating his civil rights goes to trial in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh July 6.

Asthma Summit Highlights Regional Problems

Noah Brode — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:43:00

Pollution and high obesity rates help to make Pittsburgh fourth highest in the nation for asthma rates, according to experts at an asthma summit on the North Side on Wednesday.

Speakers at “The Air We Breathe” summit highlighted links between asthma and obesity in children, as well as the role played by air pollution and viral infections.

West Virginia University School of Medicine Pediatrics Chair Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte mapped out a worst-case scenario for asthma: a child lives in a polluted area, which predisposes him for viral infections; an early infection inflames his airways for a lifetime basis; and his slow metabolism due to obesity prevents his body from responding well to the inflammation.

But Dr. Piedemonte noted that a child doesn’t necessarily have to be obese to have a poor metabolism. He said “thin-fat” children are those that were gestated and raised in poor nutritional environments, and now have slow metabolisms.

“So, children that don’t look fat, but they’re already having too much triglycerides and hyperinsulins in their blood,” said Piedemonte. “So, their metabolism already starts being abnormal, and simply that metabolic derangement predisposes them to asthma.”

Dr. Piedemonte said taking a mildly asthmatic child out of a polluted environment improved air flow within one week, according to one of his studies.

Allegheny General Hospital Director of Asthma Research Dr. Deborah Gentile said air pollution from particulate matter, ozone, benzene and other sources is a problem in Pittsburgh.

“We basically have coal-fired power plants that are still having some emission problems,” said Dr. Gentile. “We also have problems with exhaust fumes in diesel buses, and things like that. So, even though the air looks cleaner, and we are slowly getting it cleaned up, it still is polluted, and it is enough pollution to cause some problems.”

Dr. Gentile said some of Pittsburgh’s worst asthma rates are found in the inner city, where she said socioeconomic factors like poor nutrition and cigarette smoke combine with air pollution to create high asthma risk. She said about 50% of Pittsburgh children are overweight or obese.

“These are community issues, and we need to have all the players involved,” said Dr. Gentile. “We’re looking at models where we involve after-school programs, churches, even some of the schools are interested in it.”

She said the solution to lowering Pittsburgh’s asthma rate relies on citizens’ education regarding risk factors like obesity and smoking, as well as a regional effort to clean up the environment.

International Art Museum Day In Pittsburgh

Katie Zak and Kevin Gavin — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:27:00

The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History in Pittsburgh are joining more than 100 museums in the U.S., Canada and Mexico Thursday to celebrate “Art Museum Day.”

The annual event is sponsored by the Association of Art Museum Directors and features reduced or free admission along with special events and programming.

Carnegie Museums’ spokesman Jonathan Gaugler said admission will be free from 3:30 to 8:00 PM. This complements the “Free Thursdays” they tried in February and March.

“Every week you can see it building and building, so maybe on the first free Thursday evening, it was a typical Thursday evening attendance,” Gaugler said. “By those last few Thursdays, we were getting thousands of people, you know. I think the last one was over 2,000 people attending.”

He said this is a good opportunity for parents to bring their children to the museums after school.

Gaugler said the focus is not so much on the free admission but rather the role of the museums.

“Art Museum Day is a way for art museums to remind people that we’re a resource for them, we’re here for them, and to welcome people just one more day of the year,” Gaugler said.

The special event will also include the monthly happy hour, Culture Club, which will feature a screening of “History” from the PBS series, Art21, plus a discussion of a work by Glenn Ligon, one of the featured artists in that episode. Admission to the event typically costs $10.

Unusual UK Artwork at Children's Festival in Oakland

Emily Farah — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:26:00

A structure that looks much like a playful moon bounce set up in Mazeroski Field on Oakland’s Schenley Drive is actually an art sculpture.

The luminaria piece traveled from the United Kingdom to make an appearance at the 26^thannual Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival. Named the Mirazozo luminaria by its artist, Alan Parkinson, people of all ages can experience the structure. Shanti Freed, of Architects of Air, which has installed more than 500 inflatable art structures in 38 countries since 1992, said the artwork is meant to be appealing visually and audibly.

“It’s designed as a place of relaxation, of beauty, to contemplate shape and color and you find that everyone has their own experience that they bring to it,” Freed said. “Some people liken it to being inside a cathedral, others a mosque, others a spaceship.”

Ambient sounds, created by David Bickley, are pumped into the feature that is filled with reds, blues, oranges, and all hues in between. Freed said the music does more than mask the outside sounds of traffic and restless children during the festival.

“It kind of transports you into another space, to relax you, and to remind you that it’s a very sensory experience,” Freed said.

Visitors must take off their shoes, adding another sensory factor to the piece, as they travel through tunnels filled with color illuminated by natural light.

Pam Lieberman, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater and Art Festival, describes the interactive sculpture as “amazing.”

“It’s inflated with air, you enter through an air lock,” Lieberman said. “It’s filled with passageways and chambers, and it’s meant to be a contemplative immersive environment so you’re going inside the sculpture.”

The Children’s Festival runs through May 20^th and has exhibits throughout Oakland. The Mirazozo luminaria is traveling to several places throughout the country.

Bill Would Clarify Improvement District Voting Practices in Pennsylvania

Deanna Garcia — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:56:00

The way the process works now is unless you have a certain number of votes when considering a neighborhood improvement district, any unreturned ballots would be counted as “yes” votes. State Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) will introduce a bill to change that.

“This legislation is trying to bring clarity to the voting procedures for property owners when they are trying to establish a neighborhood improvement district,” said Costa. “We believe that only those votes that are cast should be the ones counted, and this legislation aims to bring clarity to that issue.”

A neighborhood improvement district is a limited geographic area within a municipality in which a special tax is levied. The revenue raised can be used for a number of things, including street cleaning, security, and improvements. There are several such districts in Pittsburgh.

“If 40% or more of property owners fail to register their disapproval of the final plan or the amendment in writing, which would be their vote, a municipality may, within 45 days, enact an ordinance that establishes neighborhood improvement districts,” said Costa.

So in effect, he added, a non-voting property owner is supporting the improvement district by not taking action, which may not be where that person wants to be.

Costa said the bill came about for a number of reasons, including the formation of a local improvement district on Pittsburgh’s South Side. He said in response to that now-stalled process a constituent brought the loophole to his attention.

Costa will introduce the bill next week and said he hopes for one of two things: get it moving through the process in the next several weeks and then continue conversation in the fall, or find a vehicle that for it to be added as an amendment to get it done sooner rather than later. Costa said he realizes there are bigger fish to fry in Harrisburg, though.

“The budget is our big issue,” he said. “Employment compensation is another big issue we’ll be dealing with in a week or so, so I think we’ll work this into the conversation as we go forward.”

Stonycreek Rendezvous this Weekend Starts PA Celebration of “River of the Year”

Deanna Garcia — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:06:00

The Official Stonycreek River of the Year Celebration will take place in June, but this weekend the annual Stonycreek Rendezvous hits the water. Brad Clemenson is a project manager for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and an organizer for the River of the Year Celebration. He said each year the Rendezvous draws people from all across the country.

“This year is bigger than ever because we have a release valve that’s been put into Quemahoning Dam and that will release 500 cubic feet of water every second for a four-hour period to augment the flow of the river to make sure we have adequate flow,” he said.

Stonycreek won the statewide River of the Year contest in part for restoring a fishery, and has been recognized as one of the best whitewater rivers in the eastern United States. After years of coal production wreaked havoc on the river, groups started a project to improve water quality. In essence, they created treatment areas similar to wetlands.

“Where you get the iron to drop out and the other metals to drop out and take out the acidity too, you have to add a lot of alkalinity to neutralize it. Basically we brought the river back and it’s now a nice fishery in most every section of it,” said Clemenson.

The Stonycreek Rendezvous will take place May 18 and 19 in the water and on the land at Greenhouse Park in Johnstown. It features numerous events including a white water rodeo. The River of the Year Celebration will take place June 16.

Education Group Rallies to Support Pittsburgh Students and Save the Most Effective Teachers

Deanna Garcia — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:30:00

Due to budget cuts, Pittsburgh Public Schools will cut some 400 teaching positions next year. Currently, the ones on the chopping block are largely the teachers with the least experience.

“In some schools that will mean that they will lose 30% to 50% of their teachers this year,” said Carey Harris, executive director of A+ Schools, an education advocacy group, “and some schools are our most vulnerable schools — schools like King, Faison, Arlington, Manchester — schools that can’t afford that much turnover.”

A Tuesday night rally at Schenley Plaza in Oakland will bring together education advocates, school officials and community members to demand that the school district and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers “do what’s best for students.” Harris said what is best is making sure the most effective teachers stay in the classroom.

“We’re asking the district and the union to keep seniority, we get that. Seniority matters, but we’re asking them to add in effectiveness to factor some other things into the decision making. We think we can make these decisions with seniority plus,” said Harris.

And, Harris added, teacher evaluations done last year provided a strong tool to measure teacher effectiveness. 80% of teachers interviewed after the evaluations said they felt they were fair. She said they should be part of the equation in determining who gets furloughed.

“Teachers feel pretty confident about it, and that’s why we feel confident about it. If we spend a lot of time and money developing teacher evaluations and measures of effectiveness and our teachers feel good about it, then we think we ought to be using those to make a difficult decision,” said Harris.

Teachers chosen for furlough will get notifications starting later this month, and final notice this summer. Harris said those who lose their jobs will be the first to get them back if they open up again, but added the outlook isn’t great.

“The district is not growing. Hopefully it’s stabilizing in terms of its enrollment. We would expect there would be some teachers called back over time as other teachers retire, but if we’re looking at a younger workforce, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that they’re going to stick around and wait for jobs to open in Pittsburgh Public Schools,” said Harris.

In addition to Tuesday’s rally, A+ Schools is encouraging supporters to make their voices heard by writing letters, sending emails, taking to Facebook and Twitter, and testifying in public hearings, but the district must work around a growing budget deficit that’s expected to grow by nearly $10 million by 1015.

Bills Would Allow Out of State Wineries to Deliver to PA Homes

Mary Wilson & Essential Public Radio Staff — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:45:00

Two legislative proposals would expand the selection of wines that can be shipped directly to Pennsylvanians’ doorsteps, and both are awaiting action by the state House. The measures are popular, even with some in-state wineries that already have the ability to ship direct.

Both of the plans would allow out-of-state wineries the authority to ship bottles directly to Pennsylvania customers. The difference is that the House’s plan does not put limitations on how much wine can be shipped direct, but the Senate’s does.

Carl Helrich, who owns Allegro Winery in York County, said whether or not out-of-state wineries will be able to keep their prices low when shipping to customers depends on the volume they’re moving.

“You start having to pay any interest in tax, on top of the excise tax, on top of your shipping and everything else,” Helrich said, “at a certain point, you have to pass a lot of that onto the customer, and they’re really the ones who are going to drag their feet as to whether or not they want to, you know, eat all those charges or not.”

House GOP leaders have been pushing for privatizing the state’s liquor store system. Representative Curt Sonney (R-Erie), the sponsor of the House version, said if the legislature is not able to pass full privatization, it should at least pass a direct shipping proposal.

“If privatization fails, then we can finally move forward with at least getting direct shipment of wine,” Sonney said. “If privatization is successful, then obviously, direct shipment’s going to be a part of that anyway.”

Sonney says he hopes privatization is accomplished by the end of budget negotiations this year.