In brief
Funding released U.S. Rep. John Murtha announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has released $736,548 in funding that he obtained for the construction of a chest pain center at Uniontown Hospital.
The center, expected to cost about $3.5 million, will allow medical personnel to provide faster, more efficient care for patients with chest pain by establishing the protocols and pulling together all of the necessary equipment in one location in an expanded emergency room.
“The rate of cardiovascular disease is 13 percent greater in Fayette County than in Pennsylvania as a whole and 29 percent greater than the national rate,” Murtha said. “The chest pain center is an aggressive approach that will meet the area’s cardiac care needs by developing a unit that can provide an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment more quickly.”
Construction of the center is expected to begin within six to 12 months.
The unit is the last component in the hospital’s cardiac service center, which has grown in recent years to include the capability to perform coronary angiogram and angioplasty procedures in its cardiac catheterization lab.
Centers closed
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced that driver license and photo centers will be closed today and Monday due to the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Driver and vehicle online services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by visiting PennDOT’s Web site at www.dmv.state.pa.us.
Services include driver’s license, photo ID and vehicle registration renewals, driver-history services, address changes, and driver test scheduling.
There are no additional fees for using online services.
UMWA donates $10,000
The United Mine Workers of America donated $10,000 toward the relief effort for the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore Monday wreaking devastation in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
“We believe that an injury to one is an injury to all,” UMWA International President Cecil Roberts said Friday.
Checks for $5,000 each were issued to the American Red Cross and a fund established by the AFL-CIO for the relief effort to provide food and shelter.
Ministries to move
Solid Rock Ministries is moving from 38 N. Gallatin Ave. to 34 Millview St. in Uniontown.
Their first service at the new site will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday.