THE ISSUE
In the Sunday LNP | LancasterOnline âWatchdogâ column, reporter Carter Walker wrote about a Lancaster County constableâs private business, started at the beginning of the pandemic, which âhas won most, if not all, of the lucrative no-bid contracts to provide security to facilities related to COVID-19, paid for with public funds.â Lancaster Countyâs 55 constables â elected officials who often serve low-level warrants and transport prisoners for the district courts â are paid per job, Walker reported.
And we can appreciate the initiative of Michael Chance, a constable from Strasburg, who says he launched his company, Constable Peace Keeping Detail LLC, to help fellow constables who were without regular work during the pandemic.
Fifty members of the Pennsylvania National Guard â 15 from Lancaster County â reported for duty at the countyâs mass vaccination site Tuesday.
The Vaccinate Lancaster Coalition announced the move the same day Gov. Tom Wolf announced the state is expanding eligibility to all residents age 16 and older.
âI think itâs very important,â Sgt. 1st Class Joel Bergey, of Philadelphia, said of the mission. âMy team brings the ability to help increase the number of vaccinations to 1,500 to 1,800 a day.â
The Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center is set up to provide 6,000 vaccinations a day, a number officials expect to hit Saturday. Last week, the site at the former Bon-Ton store at Park City Center averaged roughly 5,000 appointments a day.
Now that Pennsylvanians 16 and older have universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, LNP | LancasterOnline gathered answers about what it means for scheduling and appointments at Lancaster Countyâs largest vaccination sites.
Dr. Michael Ripchinski, chief clinical officer with Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health and director of the Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center at the former Bon-Ton store at Park City Center, answered questions about the countyâs mass vaccination site.
Hospitals were contacted to provide answers to the last question.
Will opening up eligibility translate into an influx of now-eligible patients?
âWe do not expect the accelerated opening of Phase 2 to appreciably impact our operations, as weâve already been scheduling Phase 2 for appointments beginning next week,â Ripchinski said in an email to LNP | LancasterOnline.
DR. THOMAS OVERHOLT
It should come as no surprise that healthier employees make for a healthier business. When employee wellness is a priority, workplace productivity goes up and a companyâs healthcare costs go down. Achieving that healthy balance is not always as easy as it seems. However, there is a Lancaster-based healthcare organization that is working hard to address this.
Eliance Health Solutions, an organization that offers group health plans backed by Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, is closing the healthcare gap by meeting employers and their employees where theyâre at â in the workplace.
A local health plan for businesses with 15 or more employees, Eliance Health Solutions takes a proactive, preventative approach to healthcare.