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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NASA awarded the University of Scranton a $5.5 million grant to lead a space education and citizen science initiative focused on space weather and amateur radio. -
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department released the finalized rates for insurers that offer plans through Pennie, the state’s Affordable Care Act Marketplace. While rates are up across the board, they are lower than what insurers initially proposed. -
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick hosted a fentanyl roundtable with state, local and federal officials including U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche Monday at the Luzerne County courthouse. -
The OurHAIR initiative, started by Community Care Behavioral Health Organization, trains hair professionals on the basics of mental health, including where to send clients for help when they need it beyond the listening ear of their braider or barber. -
Pennsylvania's health secretary Dr. Debra Bogen said although the statewide measles outbreak remains ongoing, MMR vaccinations have also increased. -
The machines’ fate was decided after Harrisburg missed a Tuesday deadline to provide a legal framework for the slot-machine-like cabinets, once the state Supreme Court ruled that the law as currently written did not permit them. -
Gov. Josh Shapiro and state health secretary Dr. Debra Bogen discussed a $5 million investment that launched the Nurse Shortage Assistance Program in the 2025/26 state budget during a visit to Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale. The program provides matching state funds to hospitals to attract nursing staff with student loan repayment assistance. -
WVIA's Lydia McFarlane and WSKG's Natalie Abruzzo take part in a discussion about their reporting on the ongoing measles outbreaks in their respective coverage areas of Pennsylvania and New York. -
Allied started using the Rise&Walk machine at its Wilkes-Barre Rehabilitation Hospital for neurorehabilitative treatment in patients who suffered neurological events, such as stroke. -
Keystone Edition hosts political experts who offer a local perspective on the important role Pennsylvania will play in the 2026 midterm election in deciding which major party controls the U.S. House, and maybe the White House in 2028.
