Pennsylvania
21 PA Hospitals Named Among ‘Best’ For Maternity Care In New Report
The ranking of 680 hospitals nationwide is a guide for parents making one of the most important decisions of their lives — where their baby will be born. Each hospital participating in the U.S. News survey received a scorecard describing their performance on a checklist of items parents look for when choosing where to have their baby.
Jennifer Winston, a health data scientist for U.S. News, said the top hospitals in the survey are those with a “high performing” designation for care given to patients with uncomplicated pregnancies. These hospitals had Cesarean Section rates of 26 percent or lower and newborn complication rates of 37 percent or lower, Winston explained in a news release.
Of the 41 hospitals that participated in the U.S. News maternity services survey, the following 21 received the high performing designation:
- Einstein Medical Center Montgomery – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- Geisinger-Bloomsburg Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- Independence Health System – Westmoreland Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- Jefferson Health-Abington Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest – Offers Postpartum Depression Screening and Services, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Private Rooms or Suites, Childbirth Classes, Midwives, Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants Available Before and/or After Discharge
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- Main Line Health Riddle Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center – Offers Postpartum Depression Screening and Services, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Private Rooms or Suites, Childbirth Classes
- UPMC Altoona – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- UPMC Carlisle – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
- UPMC Harrisburg – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- UPMC Horizon – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- UPMC Lititz – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
- UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services, Immersive Hot Tub Therapy
- UPMC Memorial – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- UPMC Williamsport – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Midwives, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
- West Penn Hospital – Offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Partner May Stay Overnight Post-Delivery, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, Perinatal Depression Screening and Services, Postpartum Depression Screening and Services
New to the rankings this year is the inaugural “Maternity Care Access Hospitals” list, which highlights 73 hospitals providing services in what otherwise would be maternity care deserts that have “left millions of people without local access to maternity care” in some parts of the country, Winston said.
In Pennsylvania, Maternity Care Access Hospitals are:
- UPMC Northwest
- Geisinger Lewistown Hospital
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill South Jackson Street
- WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital
- UPMC Carlisle
- WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono
- UPMC Williamsport
The hospitals are ranked on objective measures of quality. Including C-section rate, lower-risk pregnancies, newborn complication rates, exclusive breast milk feeding rates, early elective delivery rates, birthing-friendly practices and transparency on racial/ethnic disparities, among other measures. Read more about the methodology
While Braman agrees it would be difficult to take on as a prosecutor, he said that could change as more young people move into positions of influence.
“As the catastrophes escalate and as young people who face their entire future in an environment dominated by increasing climate harms, [and] start to join the jury pool, start to become prosecutors, start to become judges and start to become shareholders, I think that the writing’s on the wall,” Braman said, “and I hope that everybody, including everyone inside fossil fuel companies, starts to pay attention to that.”
But Weber said prosecutors would still have to convince a judge or jury to convict beyond a reasonable doubt.
Fossil fuel companies have permits to conduct their business, essentially government permission to do what they are doing, another way for the company to defend itself in court.
If the companies are charged and convicted of risking or causing a catastrophe, the fines are in the range of $15,000 to $25,000 per count, Weber said.
“Is that going to deter a multimillion dollar company? Is that going to interfere with the operation of their business and the money that they’re making? I don’t think so,” Weber said. “I mean, did Energy Transfer go out of business by that criminal prosecution?”
“Maybe you put the CEO in jail,” Weber said. “And do you think that the other fossil fuel companies are going to say, ‘That guy went to jail, so we shouldn’t do what we’re doing anymore’? No, they’re going to do what drug dealers do. Drug dealers say, ‘Well, that guy got caught for drug dealing because he’s stupid. We’re not stupid.’”
‘Win by losing’
Environmental attorney Rich Raiders said there are a lot of questions with the strategy, but says the article does serve an important purpose.
“The idea behind these articles isn’t necessarily to come to an answer, but to get people to start thinking about how to address a question. And in that respect, it does that and it does it well,” Raiders said.
Raiders represented homeowners who sued Energy Transfer over the Mariner East pipeline construction. He said a case like this would be a battle of the experts, but there are fundamental questions the article does not address about whether the charges would stick.
“What do you have to show responsible for climate change to meet the definition of a catastrophe?” Raiders said. “What is that level of threshold that you have to show before you can write a complaint that actually can survive objections? And how do you prove that it was the fossil fuel emissions caused by the marketing aspects of these companies to get you far enough that you can meet this definition? We don’t know.”
Raiders said the goal of this type of prosecution could be to get a large settlement, similar to what happened with the tobacco companies settlement or a previously proposed Sackler family settlement over opioids.
In that case, it makes sense to bring a case where you “win by losing.”
“And maybe that’s what a case like this does. It’s not necessarily to win the case, but it’s to move the needle,” Raiders said.
For example, he said it could get the legislature to take action. But it also requires someone willing to lose.
“I think this is an interesting discussion in the long term for how to get people to think about the problem,” Raiders said. “And as a thought piece it does have some merit. But will you see something like that filed in the next 12 months? No, not anytime soon.”
Braman, one of the co-authors of the piece, is more optimistic.
“We desperately need some kind of solution that will allow the public to hold these massive corporate criminal actors accountable and have them really address the harms that they’re generating,” he said.
Pennsylvania
Cash reward offered for information leading to Pennsylvania cold case homicide resolution
LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A cash reward is being offered for anyone who has information surrounding a 2021 cold case homicide in Lebanon County.
The $2,000 reward is for anyone who has information that can solve the case of the death of 35-year-old Zachary Lauderman, according to State Police.
Lauderman was found dead with two gunshot wounds to his head in his home, located along Ulsh lane in Bethel Township Sept. 10 just before 3 p.m., according to Troopers.
Anyone who knows something is asked to contact PSP Tips at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477), or they can go online to submit a tip by clicking here.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The Philadelphia Auto Show is about to get underway at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
It kicks off this weekend, but on Thursday Mayor Cherelle Parker and auto show executives gave us a preview of all the fun.
Organizers say this will be one of the largest shows in its 123-year history.
Car enthusiasts will get a chance to see the latest lineup from manufacturers around the globe.
“With more manufacturers, the longest track, Camp Jeep back on display… there truly is something for everyone,” said Jeff Glanzmann of Glanzmann Subaru.
That also includes classic cars and Hollywood rides from favorite films and shows, all of which will be showcased on the 600,000 square foot exhibit floor.
The Auto Show opens to the public on Saturday and runs until Jan. 20.
6abc is a proud sponsor.
Don’t miss our Philadelphia Auto Show special, which airs Saturday at 7 p.m.
For tickets and more information, visit this page on 6abc.com.
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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