Troubled transplants, elder abuse, and Secret Service flaws: Spotlight PA’s best investigations of 2024

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HARRISBURG — In 2024, Spotlight PA reporters uncovered slow elder abuse investigations, warnings about troubled transplant programs, and longstanding Secret Service issues in the lead-up to the first Trump assassination attempt.

Below, read more about some of our best investigations of the year.

Elder abuse

Most of Pennsylvania’s 52 county agencies responsible for protecting older adults are failing, in varying degrees, to swiftly review complaints of suspected abuse or neglect and craft plans to keep people safe — in some cases, even in emergencies, an investigation by Angela Couloumbis found.

Couloumbis later reported that the Department of Aging, which annually monitors the county agencies for compliance with the regulations and funds their operations, has never taken punitive action against those that don’t meet state standards.

The department has not yanked their funding, forced them to spend more on protective services, or even regularly alerted the county’s local government officials to the problems. In fact, it keeps the information about their performance largely secret.

Read all of Spotlight PA’s elder abuse reporting.

Penn State Health

In May, Penn State Health announced it would discontinue its troubled liver and kidney transplant programs amid scrutiny from federal regulators. The move came only months after the programs relaunched following serious disciplinary sanctions and what health system leaders described as an extensive effort to rebuild.

Charlotte Keith and Wyatt Massey found a top surgeon tried to warn people about allegedly serious problems in the programs at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Then he was fired.

They also found the decision to suspend, then indefinitely discontinue, kidney and liver transplants plunged dozens of patients into uncertainty. The closure left them to fight against the unforgiving timetable of their declining health as they navigated the financial and logistical challenges of the upheaval in their care.

Read all of Spotlight PA’s reporting on Penn State Health’s transplant programs.

Secret Service lapses

An investigation by Danielle Ohl, in collaboration with ProPublica and the Butler Eagle, revealed that the weaknesses that led to the Trump assassination attempt in Pennsylvania were not unique to the July rally, but the inevitable breakdown of an already vulnerable system.

The reporting found the steps taken in the days leading up to the Butler rally largely mirrored the process the Secret Service has used for years to collaborate with local law enforcement before visits by presidents and other high-profile individuals under their protection — a process that the shooting revealed to be susceptible to attack.

Rock Spring

An investigation by Marley Parish found customers served by Rock Spring Water Company in rural Centre County have been failed by the company, state regulators, and elected officials. Efforts to find new ownership have gone nowhere, while years of neglect have led to crumbling infrastructure, low water pressure, regular outages, and sometimes lengthy boil water advisories.

After Parish published her story, state regulators announced they were investigating the company to determine whether its owner should be forced to sell.

Gregg Township

The former secretary of Gregg Township in rural Centre County stands accused of stealing almost $533,000 in public dollars. An investigation by Min Xian reveals in meticulous detail how the alleged scheme ballooned from a few small purchases into a slush fund for sports betting, and how it was hidden from unwitting local officials under the thinnest of veils.

Opioid settlement debate

In 2024, Ed Mahon continued tracking the debates happening across Pennsylvania over how billions in opioid settlement dollars should be spent.

With KFF Health News, he found that public voices are often ignored when critical spending decisions are made. Mahon and WESA also revealed that the trust that oversees county spending reviewed critical spending plans in secret, despite a court order requiring the trust to follow the state’s Sunshine Act.

Read all of Spotlight PA’s coverage of the opioid settlement debate.

Here are some of the year’s other Spotlight PA highlights:

• Gov. Josh Shapiro uses Pennsylvania’s state plane much more than his predecessor
• Group that doesn’t disclose its donors paid $12K for Shapiro to attend Phillies games, other sporting events
• Persistent problems with a Pa. grant for beer promotion led to headaches, layoffs for awardees
• Former top Pa. lawmaker’s lobbying firm paid $41K by Game Commission in unusual arrangement
• Federal money has supercharged Pa.’s plugging of dangerous wells, but critics want more oversight
• Thousands of employees at federal contractors do not have whistleblower protections despite 2013 law
• Prior misconduct rarely an obstacle for doctors in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program
• Penn State trustees rarely discuss key issues before voting — unless they’re related to athletics or rules for members
• Inside Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s support for private school vouchers
• DuBois paid more than $307,000 in legal fees related to city manager corruption investigation, records show

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