(photo courtesy of AHN)

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.)The abdominal transplant team at Allegheny Health Network’s (AHN) Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), has joined a select group of medical centers around the country that perform living donor liver transplants, a highly sophisticated procedure that provides an additional life-saving option for some patients with end-stage liver disease.

After nearly a nine-year battle with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) the condition of James “Jim” Platzer, a 52-year-old man of Johnstown, PA, continued to worsen. The cirrhosis of his liver turned cancerous, and the severity of the illness put him on the national transplant waiting list. Only a few days after being listed, Platzer received a call that his friend, Matt Schraeder, with whom he volunteers with in the charity organization, 501^st Legion, was a match and willing to be a living donor.

On June 28, 2021, Tadahiro Uemura, MD, PhD, system chief of the AHN Center for Abdominal Transplantation and surgical director of liver transplantation at AGH, removed 65% of the right lobe of Schraeder, a 41-year-old man from Morgantown, WV, through an abdominal incision. In an adjacent operating room, Ngoc Thai, MD, PhD, system director of the AHN Center for Abdominal Transplantation, successfully transplanted that liver into Platzer.

Living liver donation surgery requires comprehensive pre-transplant screening and planning protocols as well as precise coordination by the transplant team at the time of surgery.  Surgeons begin by removing part of a person’s healthy liver – up to 65 percent – and using the partial liver to replace the recipient’s diseased liver. The procedures occur simultaneously. In the following few weeks, the livers of both the donor and recipient will regrow to the size of normal livers.

Livers are the second most-needed organ for transplant in the United States, after kidneys. Both chronic and acute medical conditions such as hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease, infection, liver cancer or other genetic disorders, can cause the liver to stop working. Until a transplant becomes available, the only course of treatment for liver failure patients is medical maintenance of symptoms.

“While dialysis can bridge kidney failure patients until a transplant becomes available and cardiac assist devices can do the same for those with heart failure, there are currently no such bridge therapies or alternative treatments for end stage liver failure,” said Dr. Uemura. “That is why we are pleased to further advance our transplant program — by offering patients in need of a life-saving transplant the additional potential option of live donation.”

In the U.S., nearly 12,000 Americans are on the waitlist for a liver transplant yet only about 5,000 deceased-donor livers are available for transplant annually. Living-liver donation provides patients with an option that may expedite their access to a life-saving transplant much sooner than waiting for a deceased-donor liver match to become available.

“Due to the shortage of organ donors, about 10% of patients die each year waiting for a liver transplant. With the launch of our living liver transplant program, we are bringing another vital resource to our community and the patients we serve that will help lower the number of people with liver disease who suffer from lack of access to a donor organ,” said Dr. Thai.

Cirrhosis of the liver is an illness close to Schraeder’s heart, as he had considered being a living liver donor to his cousin before he passed of the disease. When Gina Platzer, the recipient’s wife, posted on social media asking for blood type O positive liver donors, Schraeder knew this was his chance to make a difference. The Platzers are incredibly moved by his selflessness with this donation.

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, recipients of living donor livers have an average of 5 percent better long-term survival rate than deceased donor livers. Living donor liver transplant recipients also tend to recover sooner from the surgery, said Dr. Uemura.

In addition to the liver transplantation, AGH is a center for heart, kidney and pancreas transplants. In 2020, the hospital performed nearly 180 solid organ transplants, the highest in more than 30 years. AGH also has a partnership with Johns Hopkins Medicine for lung transplantation, providing western Pennsylvania residents with enhanced access to one of the country’s top programs.  To learn more about AHN’s transplant program, visit AHN.org.

(Photo courtesy of AHN)

PITTSBURGH, PA (Aug. 3, 2021) – Allegheny Health Network (AHN) has named Anthony P. Mannarino, PhD, an internationally known expert in child traumatic stress and cognitive behavioral therapy, chair of the AHN Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Institute, effective Nov. 1. He succeeds Patton VanMeter “Van” Nickell, MD, who announced his forthcoming retirement earlier this year.

Dr. Mannarino is a longtime leader, clinician and researcher at AHN, most recently serving as vice chair of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Institute and director of Allegheny General Hospital’s Center for Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents. He is also professor of psychiatry at the Drexel University College of Medicine.

Dr. Mannarino will lead the Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Institute’s three primary divisions – adult, child and adolescent, and psychology – its four general adult inpatient units, its two inpatient geropsychiatry units, its 13 outpatient clinics, as well as its faculty and support staff. Dr. Mannarino will also oversee AHN’s highly regarded psychiatric residency program, its child and adolescent fellowship, and its psychology internships and post-doctoral fellowships.

“We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. Anthony Mannarino as chair of the AHN Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Institute,” said Donald Whiting, MD, AHN Chief Medical Officer. “He is an accomplished, innovative clinician-researcher and a compassionate caregiver to patients and their families. His deep knowledge of AHN and its people will serve him well as he guides the institute through continued growth and success.

“I would also like to thank Dr. Nickell for his long and distinguished service to AHN and to his patients,” Dr. Whiting said. “Under his leadership the Institute expanded its geographical footprint, added an unprecedented number of clinicians, launched a successful telemedicine program and added specialized programs such as the Alexis Joy D’Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health at West Penn Hospital, the Center for Treatment-Resistant Depression and the Chill Project at AHN, a mindfulness-based outreach to local school districts.”

Dr. Mannarino has been a leader in the field of child traumatic stress for nearly three decades, having been awarded numerous federal grants from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate the clinical course of traumatic stress symptoms in children, and to develop effective treatment approaches for traumatized children and their families. He and AHN psychiatrist Judith Cohen, MD, were among the principal developers of an innovative model of child therapy, “trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy,” which is now used by thousands of therapists across the country to care for children who have experienced physical, sexual, or mental trauma.

Dr. Mannarino has received many honors for his work, including the Betty Elmer Outstanding Professional Award, and the Legacy Award from the Greater Pittsburgh Psychological Association. He is a past president of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

Dr. Mannarino received his BA (psychology) from Cornell University, and his MA and PhD (clinical child psychology) from Ohio State University. He joined AHN in 1994, from the University of Pittsburgh.

(Photo Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard)

(Cleveland, Ohio) U.S. Coast Guard Station Lorain crew members rescued a 19-year-old male after a car accident occurred outside the station in Lorain, Ohio, Aug. 2, 2021.

Seaman Thomas Borden and Petty Officer 3rd Class Kaleb Hersey investigated the situation and removed the adult-male driver from the car and extinguished flames on the individual with their uniform blouses.

At approximately 12:10 a.m., Coast guard Sector Buffalo received notification of a loss of power at Station Lorain due to a car collision at a power junction box located outside the station’s front gate.

Station Lorain personnel contacted local authorities who responded with EMS, police and fire rescue. Lorain County Fire Department extinguished the remaining fire and EMS transported the male to Mercy Hospital. He was subsequently airlifted to MetroHealth Cleveland in critical condition.

The cause of the incident is under investigation. There is no damage or injury to Coast Guard personnel or property.

(Butler, Pa.) Paul Harmon is headed to prison for nearly six years after he admitted that he embezzled more than $1.5 million from his former employer, Fuellgraf Electric Company in Butler over a six year period.

Harmon who was the company’s former corporate controller for more than 40 years created hundreds of false entries in the company’s books to conceal the theft.

A judge ordered ordered to pay back all the money.

(Leetsdale, Pa.) Hussey Copper has agreed to perform a comprehensive environmental audit, implement an updated environmental management system, and pay an $861,500 penalty to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and Pennsylvania’s Clean Streams Law (PCSL) at its smelting facility in Leetsdale, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

The civil complaint, brought by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and filed simultaneously with the settlement, alleges violations of the CWA and PCSL that threaten to degrade receiving streams and impact public health and harm aquatic life. These include chronic exceedances of effluent limits in the facility’s PADEP-issued CWA permit — limiting oil sheens and discharges of copper, chromium, nickel, oil and grease, lead, pH, total suspended solids and zinc.

“This settlement reaffirms that industrial polluters must do the necessary work to ensure that their operations are not causing harm to our nation’s waterways,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “We are happy to have partnered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to ensure the continued protection of the Ohio River.”

“This agreement holds Hussey Copper accountable for the impact their actions have had on the health of the Ohio River,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “We will continue to work with our partners to enforce the laws enacted to protect our region’s abundant natural resources.

“Today’s settlement improves water quality for the citizens of Leetsdale and surrounding communities,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This agreement requires Hussey to address their existing environmental violations, as well as implement plans to address any future noncompliance.”

Under the settlement, along with payment of the penalty, Hussey Copper will:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of its wastewater treatment system.
• Hire third-party consultants to conduct a compliance audit and implement corrective measures.
• Hire third-party consultants to review, update, and audit compliance with the facility’s environmental management system.
• Implement a process to prevent and correct violations of permit effluent limits.
• Conduct annual compliance training of employees and contractors.
• Pay agreed-upon penalties on demand for future violations.

PADEP has assisted EPA in the investigation and litigation of this case and is a co-plaintiff and signatory to the proposed consent decree. Under the settlement, penalty funds will be distributed evenly between the United States and PADEP.

Previous to this settlement, Hussey Copper was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $550,000 and to serve three years’ probation after pleading guilty to three felony CWA charges in December 2020 for offenses involving a multi-year pattern of submitting false discharge monitoring reports to conceal 140 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit violations, discharges of oil into the Ohio River, and the failure to report those oil discharges to the federal government.

The settlement is with Libertas Copper LLC, which does business as Hussey Copper.

This settlement furthers EPA’s national compliance initiative to reduce significant noncompliance and improve surface water quality by assuring dischargers comply with NPDES permit requirements.

Keystone State News Connection

August 4, 2021

Emily Scott

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Despite youth incarceration rates falling nationwide in the last few years, major racial disparities remain for kids in Pennsylvania’s detention facilities.

A report from The Sentencing Project revealed nationally, Black youth are more than five times more likely to be placed in juvenile detention facilities as their white peers, as of 2019.

The report showed Pennsylvania closed this gap by more than one-third between 2015 and 2019.

Marsha Levick, chief legal officer at the Juvenile Law Center, said the state’s overall rate of kids in detention custody is still above the national average, and argued there is much more work to be done to better serve young people in the justice system.

“It is beyond time that we really reexamine how we invest resources, and how we think about our kids in the justice system,” Levick asserted. “There’s a significant amount of research that the benefits of keeping children in their communities and closer to home also promote public safety.”

Pennsylvania has also cut the disparity between white and Latino youths in detention by 56% in recent years. Nationally, a Latino young person is 28% more likely to end up in detention than a white counterpart.

Josh Rovner, senior advocacy associate at The Sentencing Project and the report’s author, said one of the first steps in addressing these disparities is to look at the point of contact within the justice system where they emerge.

“The first disparity, the strongest one, is at the point of arrest,” Rovner explained. “And that’s not because youth of color are more likely to commit these offenses. It’s because youth of color live in communities that are vastly overpoliced.”

Some solutions in the report to help divert kids from the justice system included community service and counseling. Both can help young people avoid probation, which can lead to future incarceration.

(Story & Photos by Matt Drzik, additional photos by Mark Benes)

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.

Eight-year-old Emily Sledzianowkski was asked by her teacher to write a letter to a local politician. She wrote to New Galilee mayor Mark Benes about the possibility of improving the Gilkey Walking Track at New Galilee Park, located on Fairlane Blvd near the junction of Routes 168 & 351. The letter was hand-delivered to Mayor Benes back in June.

Roughly two months later, the letter turned into a reality.

On August 3, the finalization for the paving took place at Gilkey Park, with Sledzianowkski, Mayor Benes, and State Representative Jim Marshall (R-Beaver/Butler) on hand to see through the words in the letter come to life. Beaver County Radio was there as well as the Lindy Paving trucks were making their way around the track.

Sledzianowkski wanted a track where she and her friends could bike safely, which would have been rather fruitless in the track’s old state, given the gravel that was first placed there had since grown over. But her letter went from Mayor Benes to Vice President Dan Ganoe of Lindy Paving, and within two months the plan was put in place to pave over the old trail with a new, smooth surface donated to the community by Lindy,

Not only is this the propelling of Sledzianowkski’s reality come to life, but according to Mayor Benes, it could be the start of something new in the New Galilee area, as the track is now more user-friendly and could attract more walkers and bikers to the borough.

A sign at the entrance of the Gilkey Trail will be created thanking both Sledzianowkski for her ingenuity and pursuance, as well as Lindy Paving for donating their time and resources.

And all it took was a simple letter.

To check out photos from the paving ceremony, take a look below!