Jess Simms is a writer with Scribble House in Pittsburgh. I met her through the Festival of Books in the Alleghenies. She has written an article about the reality of housing affordability in Pittsburgh. A recent report issued by Chapman University’s Center for Demographics and Policy ranked Pittsburgh as the most affordable housing market inContinue reading “The Reality of Housing Affordability in Pittsburgh”
Category Archives: Analysis
The 2024 John Murtha Dinner
On Saturday, October 19, 2024 the annual John Murtha Dinner was held by the Cambria County Democratic Party. The dinner was to honor the late congressman, John Murtha. Speakers included PA Attorney General candidate Eugene De Pasquale, Auditor General candidate Malcolm Kenyatta, Congressional Candidate Beth Farnham and keynote speaker Olivia Troye. The video above showsContinue reading “The 2024 John Murtha Dinner”
Horror Author Michael Kelso
I met horror author Michael Kelso at the Festival of Books in the Alleghenies. He agreed to be interviewed about his work. A retired corrections officer, I asked him how it shaped his writing. I also asked him about the writing process. The interview can be seen below. **Related Posts** The 2024 Festival of BooksContinue reading “Horror Author Michael Kelso”
Health Priorities at the 2024 Health Summit
On August 15, 2024, the Center for Population Health held its annual Community Health and Human Services Summit at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown campus. The video above shows a talk by Emily Lebo of the office of Health Equity. She reviews the health statistics for the area and health priorities at the healthContinue reading “Health Priorities at the 2024 Health Summit”
A Closer Look at Cambria and Somerset Chlamydia Rates
Two weeks ago I looked at Chlamydia and mortality rates from all causes in Cambria and Somerset County zip codes. This week I thought I would take a look at how chlamydia rates are correlated with social ailments in the county zip codes. The first variable I looked with Chlamydia rates Mortality from drug useContinue reading “A Closer Look at Cambria and Somerset Chlamydia Rates”
Attorney General Candidate Eugene DePasquale
Democratic Candidate Eugene DePasquale The Democratic candidate for PA Attorney General Eugene DePasquale spoke to me this evening. He served 3 terms in the PA state house serving York County and 2 terms as PA Auditor General. As Auditor General he brought attention to untested rape kits and to over 58,000 calls to the stateContinue reading “Attorney General Candidate Eugene DePasquale”
As Chlamydia Rates Increase in Cambria and Somerset, so do Mortality Rates
For my next foray into the HRSA zip code data set I thought I would take a look at the correlation between chlamydia and mortality rates in Cambria and Somerset Counties. The graph above shows a strong positive correlation between zip code chlamydia rates and all cause mortality rates. This means that as chlamydia ratesContinue reading “As Chlamydia Rates Increase in Cambria and Somerset, so do Mortality Rates”
Preventable Hospital Stays Predict COVID of Mortality for Cambria and Somerset Counties
Digging deeper into the HRSA data for Cambria and Somerset Counties I thought I would look at predictors of mortality in the area. The graph above shows a strong positive correlation between preventable hospital stays and all cause mortality. This means that zip-codes with higher rates of preventable hospital stays have higher mortality rates. ThisContinue reading “Preventable Hospital Stays Predict COVID of Mortality for Cambria and Somerset Counties”
Health Center Penetration in the Area
The unmet need score (UNS) details how health care needs go unmet at the zip code level in the U.S. It is a composite of 28 zip-code level statistics. One of these measures is zip-code health center penetration. It is defined as the Ratio of the population served by a health center to the populationContinue reading “Health Center Penetration in the Area”
The Unmet Need Score in Cambria and Somerset
The HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) is a repository of information on our nation’s health. They compute an Unmet Need Score (UNS) to identify medically under-served regions in the U.S. It is a composite of 28 health statistics at the zip code level. The score ranges from 0 to 100. Zip codes are classifiedContinue reading “The Unmet Need Score in Cambria and Somerset”