Lydia McFarlane | WVIA News
Multimedia Healthcare ReporterLydia McFarlane joined the news team in 2024 as an intern after graduating from Villanova University with a dual Bachelor's degree in communication and political science. She became the team’s dedicated healthcare reporter. Her beat covers hospitals, mental health, policy and most importantly, people.
Lydia brings a diversity of experience from previous internships at Resolve Philadelphia, Education Week, The Hill, Open Secrets and Teen Vogue and from her role as a news editor at her college’s publication, The Villanovan.
At WVIA, Lydia was part of the winning team that contributed to the second-place award for Excellence in Reporting on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from the Keystone Professional Media Awards organized by the Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association. Her story ‘A South Wilkes-Barre spin on Dominican Republic breakfast’ was part of the winning package.
Wilkes-Barre born and raised, Lydia's grateful for the opportunity to come home and learn more about her community as a reporter within it. She's honored to start her career in NEPA-- the place that taught her everything she knows. You can reach Lydia at lydiamcfarlane@wvia.org or 570-602-1187.
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Tenor Health Foundation’s CEO said the company is ready to own and operate the Commonwealth Health Systems hospitals in NEPA, but that the transaction still awaits approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. -
The National Weather Service says precipitation is expected to taper off between 11 p.m. tonight and 4 a.m. Monday morning, but more snow could fall across Northeast Pa. on Monday. -
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. hosted an ‘Eat Real Food’ rally today in Harrisburg, touting the changes he’s made in the past year to federal health policy. -
NEWS VOICES: This week, WVIA's Sarah Scinto and Lydia McFarlane discuss a recent study from Penn State University that found a hotspot of melanoma cases in Central Pennsylvania counties with or near farmland. -
A new Penn State study found a ‘hotspot’ of melanoma cases in central Pennsylvania, where there is a high amount of cultivated farmland. -
Local foundations that had financially stepped up to keep Moses Taylor Hospital and Regional Hospital of Scranton open ended payments in August, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan said Friday. Closure of the hospitals was 'imminent,' the lawmaker said, but he and partners including state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski worked to keep the doors open. The foundations replied that the arrangement was for 90 days only, and there was no request for additional funding at that time. -
Officials expected the sale of Commonwealth Health Systems- owned Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Regional Hospital of Scranton and Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton to Tenor Health Foundation to be finalized by the end of 2025. Both health systems said they are waiting for the Pa. Department of Health's approval before they can proceed with the sale.
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The Northeast Regional Crisis Stabilization Center opened its walk-in crisis intervention service in December. The Honesdale center plans to open a crisis residential service with eight beds early this year. -
Geisinger nurses went on strike in Luzerne County. Officials fought to find a new buyer for three local hospitals after a deal fell through more than a year ago. And communities came together to support their most vulnerable — the aging, uninsured and hungry. -
Four Republicans, including U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan, broke from their party and signed Democrats' petition to force a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.
