Down River

By John Lipez

And Leo Stole the Show:
A mammoth shout-out to the Downtown Lock Haven Inc. committee which staged last Saturday’s Hometown Heroes banner unveiling. These things only happen every couple of years and all, since the first one better than a decade ago, have been truly inspiring.

Last Saturday was no exception. It was standing room only at Triangle Park as several hundred people gathered to salute military personnel, first responders and health care workers who tirelessly serve their country and community.

Everything, from beginning to the solemn end of taps and John MacMillen and his bagpipes slowly walking up Bellefonte Avenue, went off without a hitch.

If you had to pick a highlight, on a highlight-packed, blue-sky morning, the Down River pick would be the tribute paid to Leo Stahl, a modest fellow, short in stature, but at the age of 100 bigger than life. Leo just smiled as dozens of well-wishers paid him homage at the end of the banner unveiling.

The Stahl banner unveiling was the featured turn for the more than a hundred new banners unfurled last Saturday, as well it should have been. He received a special state citation from state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz and was serenaded by the audience with a rendition of happy birthday, just one day after he hit the big 1-0-0.

It was a Norman Rockwell moment (google Norman Rockwell if you’re under the age of 60), the best of Americana, right there in the center of Triangle Park, five generations of the Stahl family proudly looking on.

Just when you think our country is doomed (still not convinced it’s not, but that’s another column for another time), an event such as the Hometown Heroes observance comes along to restore one’s faith in our country.

Thanks, Downtown Lock Haven Inc., and your banner committee and a special thanks to World War II veteran Leo Stahl. At least for an hour or so last Saturday, you made us all feel better about what makes our country great.

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BMC in the News:
The recent Philly.com headline read, “A struggling hospital in rural Pennsylvania turns to GoFundMe in its fight for survival.”

The sub-headline read, “Rural hospitals with a small population base have trouble covering their fixed costs, which are spread over too few patients.”
That hospital is western Clinton County’s own Bucktail Medical Center, described in the Philly.com story as “a tiny hospital in the sparsely populated Pennsylvania Wilds region.”

The story of and by itself doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know relative to the struggles facing health care providers here and elsewhere. It does bring the problem to a larger audience through Philly.com and perhaps will convince more people that the present system of health care in the United States could be and should be markedly improved (but with the ever-increasing chaos in Washington, don’t hold your breath).

As of last Thursday, per the online story, the GoFundMe effort, with a goal of $1.5 million, had raised $12,180. But as BMC lead administrator Tim Reeves told the reporter, he has been in touch with many state and federal officials seeking substantive help for the 85-employee medical center in South Renovo.

The story says Bucktail is among the estimated 30 percent of rural hospitals in the US considered at risk. We all know that UPMC Lock Haven shuttered its inpatient and surgical services earlier this year, making the closest hospital with inpatient services Geisinger Jersey Shore, some 40 miles from Renovo; the closest emergency room remains at UPMC Lock Haven, some 28 miles away.

According to the Philly.com account, there is a program to make rural hospitals more sustainable. The state in 2019 launched the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model with 18 participating hospitals receiving a predetermined amount of money, regardless of the number of patients they see. Unfortunately, Bucktail Medical Center was in bankruptcy at the time and could not get into the program.

The story had no magic bullet answer to the medical center’s woes as it goes from payroll to payroll to make ends meet and stay open. Meanwhile local elected officials have indicated a local/state/federal effort is being made to keep Bucktail Medical Center in operation; let’s hope that they can find an expedited, lasting solution.

Western Clinton County can ill afford to lose the BMC.