2009

Coalition for a Smoke-Free Valley

The Coalition for a Smoke-Free Valley has dedicated itself to clearing the air by reducing tobacco use in the local community for over 20 years. The Coalition has been a champion of various legislation, including efforts to pass PA’s Clean Indoor Air Law to protect the local community from secondhand smoke and more. Their decades of work also focused on prevention in young people, cessation in adults, and broad-based institutional, environmental and cultural change. The Pool Trust has supported the Coalition’s work through multiple grants totaling in excess of $1.3 million dollars since the mid-80s. The Wellness Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley recently recognized the work of the Coalition during a celebration at Dunderbak’s Market Cafe, the first official smoke-free restaurant in the Lehigh Valley. The work of the Coalition has come to a close. It has transitioned into the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Northeast PA. We commend the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Valley’s tireless efforts for prevention and cessation and clean indoor air.

NALBOH President’s Award

The Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust was named the recipient of The National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH) 2009 President’s Award. The award honors outstanding contributions to the field of public health. Pool Trust was selected as the recipient of the Award based on the vision and leadership it has provided to facilitate the establishment of Pennsylvania’s first regional board of health.

NALBOH president, Sharon Hampson, presented the 2009 President’s award to Ron Dendas, Program Officer at the Pool Trust, during a ceremony held in Philadelphia.

Telehealth Services

In 2006, the Pool Health Care Trust awarded $500,000 to support the development of telehealth services in eastern Pennsylvania. Telehealth services are “the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for the Advancement of Telehealth). In layman’s terms, this allows a care provider to view a patient experiencing symptoms from another location. These grant resources have supported the design and development within the three main Lehigh Valley Health Network [LVHN] clinical campuses. Joseph A. Tracy is Vice President for Telehealth Services at Lehigh Valley Health Network. In addition to his role at LVHN, Tracy is also President of the board for the Center for Telehealth and E-Health Law in Washington D.C. He played a key role in creating the federal legislation that revamped Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services in 2001.

Recently, the Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust awarded $175,000 to support Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Department of Pediatrics in the development of a Telehealthcare Pilot Program in the Allentown School District. Telehealth connections will be installed at three elementary schools, having a combined student population in excess of 1,200 children. This may be the first school-based telehealth network in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This partnership will increase access to care, while decreasing lost time from work for parents and guardians, and improve the management of chronic disease issues in a school-aged population.

Mr. Joseph Tracy demonstrates
telehealth access via “George”