Continuing coverage of a nurses’ union strike and the fight to find a new buyer for three hospitals dominated local healthcare headlines this year. And healthcare changes at the federal level trickled down to Northeast and Northcentral Pennsylvania.
But among all the hard health news about insurance, potential hospital closures and health care worker contracts, WVIA’s audience enjoyed people-focused feature stories about how the region comes together to cope with disease, aging and hunger.
Respiratory viruses hit NEPA hard, prompting one school district to shut its doors for a day
Last winter, Northeast Pennsylvania had some of the state’s highest rates of respiratory illness during the peak of flu and cold season.
An unusually high number of infections at Lackawanna Trail School District prompted district Superintendent Matt Rakauskas to close the district for a virtual day to get the illness under control.
Family-owned rural health clinic in Susquehanna County braces for impact of Medicaid changes
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill was the news of the summer. And its impacts started to be felt around the region, as hospitals braced for changes to Medicaid, recipients learned about new requirements, and providers grappled with what a higher uninsured population would mean.
A family-owned health clinic in Susquehanna County has been operating for decades. Now, they contemplate closure for the first time due to changes to Medicaid that might make it impossible to afford to run their clinic.
Commonwealth Health signs letter of intent to sell Scranton, Wilkes-Barre hospitals to Tenor Health
Like last year, the fate of Commonwealth Health-owned Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton and Regional Hospital of Scranton dominated WVIA’s health coverage.
Officials are now hopeful that Tenor Health Foundation will purchase the hospitals in the new year, after a deal between Tenor and CHS was signed in late October. The deal comes after almost a full year of searching for a new buyer, after the previous deal fell apart at the end of 2024.
WVIA followed Tenor's involvement every step of the way.
SCI Waymart meets needs of aging incarcerated population by training inmates in hospice care
The country’s incarcerated population is aging. And SCI Waymart’s inmate population is no exception.
The state prison is one of two in the commonwealth with a personal care unit, skewing its population much older than many other institutions. Prison administration started a hospice program, in which younger inmates with good records are trained to take care of their peers who are actively dying.
‘Invest in us': Geisinger nurses begin 5-day strike in bitter cold
The health story to watch for the first quarter of 2025 was the Geisinger nurses’ union strike in Luzerne County. Nurses had been negotiating with Geisinger for a new contract since November 2024.
The strike officially started in February, and the union did not settle with Geisinger until mid-April.
WVIA was there on the picket line day one of the strike, seeing what drove the nurses to picket in bitterly cold temperatures.
Government shutdown watch: SNAP benefits on pause for more than 2 million Pennsylvanians
2025 saw the nation’s longest government shutdown ever. A side effect of the shutdown was the pause of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, a food assistance program that more than 2 million Pennsylvanians receive.
SNAP recipients in Northeast Pennsylvania expressed concern over their ability to feed their families, especially with the holidays approaching. Local food pantries said while they were doing what they could, filling the gap for SNAP long-term would not be sustainable.
WVIA compiled a list of resources, as many local businesses and pantries stepped up to provide free food for those struggling without their benefits.
Clarks Summit's Memory Cafe provides community, support for those experiencing memory loss
Pennsylvania is home to one of the country’s oldest populations. That comes with a high number of Pennsylvanians living with memory loss diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.
Volunteers in Clarks Summit run what’s called a Memory Cafe — a space for both caregivers and their loved ones with memory loss to connect with others. The cafe provides both camaraderie and fun for individuals dealing with a complex, and often devastating, disease, and a bit of a break for their caregivers.
NPR in partnership with KFF Health News and WVIA ran a version of the local story, discussing the national network of the cafes.
Don't forget to follow along each day at WVIA.org as we publish “Year in review 2025,” a week-long series recounting the top stories of the past year through New Year's Day.
