AnnaMarie Dunn had surgery scheduled to stop the spread of her kidney cancer, but as the coronavirus pandemic spread, her doctor decided to push back the surgery. Dunn trusts her doctor, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t scared. Plus, Pa. reopens its liquor stores, online at least, and patrons were so excited, the website crashed.
NRG pledges $275,000 for Philly regional aid to deal with COVID-19
NRG, the electric utilties company headquartered in Princeton, N.J., on Wednesday announced a $275,000 pledge to the PHL COVID-19 Fund and local hospitals to deal with coronavirus pandemic.
NRG will give $125,000 to the PHL COVID-19 Fund that was created last month to provide money for nonprofits in the region that help vulnerable populations. The company will give the remaining $150,000 to local hospitals with designated COVID-19 assistance funds.
The donations are part of a $2 million national commitment to help charities and nonprofits support first responders, teachers, impacted employees and communities, the company said in a new release.
The PHL COVID-19 Fund has raised more than $8 million in pledges and gifts from regional businesses, foundations, and private donors. The fund launched with a total of $6.5 million committed, including $3 million from the William Penn Foundation and $500,000 from the City of Philadelphia.
Adam Schlesinger, of popular N.J.-inspired band Fountains of Wayne, dead after contracting coronavirus
Emmy and Grammy-winning musician and songwriter Adam Schlesinger, known for his work with his band Fountains of Wayne and on the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, died Wednesday after contracting the coronavirus.
Schlesinger died at a hospital in upstate New York, his longtime lawyer Josh Grier told the Associated Press. It is not clear where or how Schlesinger, a 51-year-old father of two daughters, contracted the virus. He had been sedated and on a ventilator for several days.
Schlesinger was nominated for 10 Emmys for writing comical songs across several television shows, winning three. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for writing the title song for the 1997 movie That Thing You Do, written and directed by Tom Hanks. The snappy pop ditty was the fictional one hit for a Beatles-esque band called the One-ders, later changed to the Wonders, on a label called Playtone, a name Hanks adopted for his production company.
“There would be no Playtone without Adam Schlesinger, without his ‘That Thing You Do!’” Hanks, who is himself recovering from the coronavirus, said on Twitter. “He was a One-der. Lost him to Covid-19. Terribly sad today.”
Raised in New York and Montclair, N.J., Schlesinger formed Fountains of Wayne, named for a lawn ornament store in Wayne, N.J., in 1995 with his classmate from Williams College in Massachesetts, Chris Collingwood.
With Schlesinger playing bass and singing backup and Collingwood playing guitar and singing lead, and the two men cowriting songs, the band known for its sunny harmonies and synthesis of pop, rock, punk, and comedy would have hits in 1996 with “Radiation Vibe” and 2003 with “Stacy’s Mom." The latter was nominated for a Grammy.
The band was more New Jersey than New York. While most rock bands live for the city, Fountains of Wayne and Schlesinger’s writing embraced the suburbs with finely etched tales of lives like a floor installer who’s convinced his crush will come back looking for him and a commuter who’s sure about his “Bright Future in Sales.”
Trinity Health plans to furlough staff across four Philadelphia-area hospitals as coronavirus care depletes revenue
Trinity Health plans to furlough staff across five hospitals in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, including Wilmington, due to a decrease in revenue attributable to the coronavirus pandemic, the Catholic nonprofit hospital chain said Wednesday.
The hospitals impacted, which employ 125,000 people, include: Mercy Philadelphia Hospital in West Philly; Nazareth Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia; Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby; St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne; and St. Francis Healthcare in Wilmington, Del.
“While the majority of our colleagues will continue to work full-time in their current roles, we are preparing to temporarily furlough a portion of our colleagues, while some others may experience a reduction in hours or may be redeployed to different positions and locations in our region. These unfortunate but necessary actions will primarily impact nonclinical colleagues,” Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic spokesperson Ann D’Antonio said.
Similar measures will be carried out at Trinity Health’s 87 other hospitals across the country, D’Antonio said.
Based in Michigan, Trinity is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit hospital chains.
D’Antonio did not specify how many employees would be impacted, and said that those furloughed will retain several benefits, such as health, dental, and basic life insurance.
The loss of revenue is directly tied to state and federal government orders requiring hospitals to stop elective procedures and outpatient services, which subsequently cut off more than 50% of Trinity hospitals’ revenues, CEO Mike Slubowski said in a memo to employees.
“Before COVID-19, our health ministry was generating a modest 0.5% operating margin. But today, our expenditures are exceeding our revenues significantly — and we expect that we will lose millions of dollars throughout this pandemic,” Slubowski said.
“While we are providing more telehealth visits, our estimates are that, even with the increase in inpatient volumes anticipated with the COVID-19 surge, we will not generate enough revenue to cover our costs," Slubowski wrote.
Don’t put trash in your toilet, officials plead
In the age of the coronavirus pandemic, Camden County officials want the public to know that toilets are not trash cans.
In recent weeks, since most people began staying at home all day, the number of clogs, blockages, and other damage to critical infrastructure has gone up, the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority said on Wednesday.
The officials asked for the public’s assistance to keep systems operating during the coronavirus pandemic by not flushing things down the toilet that are not flush-friendly.
That includes items such as napkins, latex gloves, paper towels, and wipes of any kind.
Toilet paper is still okay, they said.
“We understand that in response to the current crisis involving coronavirus, many of our residents stocked up on disinfectant wipes and other disposables, however we are asking everyone to be especially mindful of how to properly get rid of these items at this time,” said Freeholder Jeff Nash, liaison to the municipal utilities.
“Toilet paper is the only product safe to flush without risking a malfunction or other interruption to critical services. Please dispose of all other products properly to allow CCMUA and its dedicated personnel to continue protecting the health of our community during this crisis,” Nash said.
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