Laurels & lances: Delivery, delay and health
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Laurel: To a sweet birthday. While the cake is usually the centerpiece of most kids’ birthday parties, we feel confident saying that ice cream will always play a role in Emmett Hendrickson’s special day
The newborn Butler Township boy came into the world on July 30 after a stop at an ice cream shop where he almost made his debut. His father, Tony, had to pull into Hammer’s Frozen Custard and Subs in Middlesex Township en route to West Penn Hospital when mom Jacqlynn said there wasn’t enough time.
The parents pulled into the parking lot while on the phone with 911, prepared to give birth if necessary or wait out the ambulance. The ambulance got there just in time for Jacqlynn’s water to break. Emmett was born breech just as the ambulance arrived at UPMC Passavant in Cranberry Township.
“Without the EMTs, I know this would have been a much sadder story,” Tony said. “I feel like they are grossly underpaid.”
Emmett is now home with his parents and sisters Mary Christine, 3, and Paisleigh Marie, 22 months.
Lance: To not getting off the ground. Spirit Airlines has been letting people down with its “proactive cancellations” at airports including Arnold Palmer Regional and Pittsburgh International.
The airline has blamed the canceled or delayed flights on a combination of weather, system outages and staffing problems. Those are definitely factors hard — if not impossible — for a company to control.
But it doesn’t change the fact that when a company promises service, people depend upon that service. People like Priscilla Walk and her family members who were trying to get to Florida for her son’s funeral. But after multiple delays, they finally had to turn around and go back to Tyrone without saying that final goodbye.
It’s also a problem for smaller airports like Arnold Palmer Regional. While Pittsburgh International has other options for a passenger to explore, the Latrobe airport is served only by Spirit. Shut down outgoing flights and it shuts down all flights. Let’s hope this gets sorted out quickly, for the benefit of both passengers and the airport.
Laurel: To medical access. There is nothing like a pandemic to drive home the idea of how many people need to get health care but are barred by either distance or cost.
That’s where the Community Health Clinic comes in. The New Kensington-based organization’s new medical van is not just creating a place where people can get the services they need. The vans bring low-cost care out into the community.
Covid-19 vaccines are a great example. Many people who are at the most risk for the disease’s worst impacts are people with mobility issues due to pre-existing conditions or transportation problems because of low-income but high-contact jobs. So far, the clinic has administered 1,300 vaccines.
There is another way the pandemic provided a good proving ground for the $100,000 van. It was made possible by a federal CARES Act grant.