Taking living in the Lehigh Valley, on the road and into the community.

We are here at good Shepherd rehabilitation with president and CEO Michael Spiegel to talk about a really beautiful work of art that the whole entire community can now see.

Michael, it's great to have you here.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here.

All right.

So a beautiful mural is on display in Allentown.

Yes.

All about this work of art.

So we about a year ago, began a project to put a mirror up on our five story parking garage, which is located in South Allentown.

And the background for that is our founding in 1908 was literally right in that neighborhood.

We wanted to create a love letter to the community to really reflect, to really reflect what we've done in Allentown since our founding 117 years ago.

And what we mean to the community within South Allentown.

So we created a five story mural on the side of a parking garage that incredibly beautiful, incredibly colorful, and incredibly impactful.

Yeah, it.

Is incredibly beautiful.

The bright colors.

What went into designing this?

What was kind of the thought process behind picking this specific picture and artwork?

Well, it took us a lot of iterations to get to something we all loved.

And we had a group of people.

We had an artist.

We spent that probably six months designing it.

Until we finally got to that one version where everyone saw it and said, this is it.

This is what reflects what we think about our community, what we mean to the community, and with the community means to us.

Michael, putting years into this artwork, how does it feel that it's up and you're sharing it with everybody in the Allentown and greater Lehigh Valley community?

Yeah.

I can tell you every morning I drive by it, and when I make that turn and I've got this incredibly colorful mural, it kind of is a pick me up to the day.

And I think everybody has that same kind of feeling.

Absolutely.

If folks are not driving by it daily, how can they drive by and see this wonderful, spectacular work of art?

So if all they do is pull out their favorite navigation app, look up Highland Center or Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in South Allentown, right on fifth Street, when they're coming down fifth Street, literally across from our Highland Center, across from our, our prior rehabilitation hospital.

You can't miss it.

It's five stories high.

Yeah.

It's beautiful.

It really is a beacon of light there in the community.

Michael Spiegel from good Shepherd rehabilitation.

Thank you.

So thank you for sharing that information.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello and welcome to living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

And I'm Grover Silcox.

On this episode, some not so great news for your lungs.

If you live in the valley, we'll take a look at a scathing study of the air we are breathing.

That's right.

Plus, artificial intelligence is making health care practices more accurate.

We're heading to a local network that is using AI to make sure they don't miss a thing on your X-rays.

Then innovation and technology collide as a new partnership blooms.

Take a look at two Lehigh Valley institutions that are coming together to share ideas and brainpower.

That's right.

But first, today you might not breathe a sigh of relief when you hear about the Lehigh Valley's air quality.

That's right, the American lung Association's 2025 state of the air report gave the Lehigh Valley region an F for air quality.

We spoke with a local pulmonologist about how to deal with the health threats from air pollution, especially if you suffer from respiratory issues and heading outdoors.

Better check the air quality index.

The American Lung Association 2025 state of the air report gave the Lehigh Valley an F for daily particle pollution.

The Lehigh Valley is renowned, unfortunately, for being, filled with respiratory dangers, environmental respiratory dangers, and then even on the allergen side of things, we are constantly in the top ten rated, highest allergen cities in the nation.

According to Doctor Joseph Schellenberg.

Pull, an allergist with Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Living in a valley traps the ever mountain pollutants.

It's a valley, so it's a beaut.

Right.

And then, so, prevailing winds and ventilation and things can affect the ability of air and sort of to move through the valley.

A rising population has also been a factor, according to the US census.

Lehigh and Northampton counties grew by almost 50,000 residents between 2010 and 2023.

More people equals more cars.

More cars equals more pollution.

So that's another factor that goes into air quality.

We're in Pennsylvania, Penns woodlands.

So we are we are a lush, area, which is beautiful and we love that.

But that means essentially constant allergens.

And in particular, now that we're seeing milder winters and sort of longer, warmer periods, not getting a heavy frost and not getting which will kill the plants, which would kill the pollen.

So I think we're seeing kind of a combination of factors that can affect long term.

Poor air quality contributes to chronic respiratory issues such as asthma.

28 million Americans suffer from the condition, which can make breathing difficult, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Allentown ranks above average for people with asthma.

Doctor Schellenberg advises everyone, especially those with underlying lung issues, to check the air quality index before going outdoors.

The daily air Quality Index generally appears on weather apps or local TV news programs.

Good to moderate air quality registers at less than 70.

Air Quality Index is generally going to be a combination of three factors particulate matter, ozone, and allergens.

Particulate matter is essentially products of combustion.

Things like wildfires.

But much more common, of course, are combustion engines like the cars that we drive.

And so that particulate matter can so that, you know, enter into the bronchial system and then promote an inflammatory response.

The Lehigh Valley offers verdant foliage and forests, but they can exact a price for those with allergies.

Also, for those allergic to furry and feathered pets.

Allergens are essentially floating around.

Usually plant based.

Some are animal based.

So, you know, and these are all, small particles that acutely can cause symptoms in terms of, you know, shortness of breath, wheezing, cough.

Then there's ozone, a natural gas.

But it is a direct irritant, to, to bronchial tissues and to lung tissue.

So when ozone levels are high, ozone can promote an inflammatory response that can then cause shortness of breath, cough, wheezing.

When it comes to air quality and health.

Knowledge is power.

And awareness is key.

To pay attention to your air quality.

And a lot of us like to be out and about as much as we can.

And if the weather's great, that's wonderful.

But again, the air quality should be part of that assessment.

So.

So realize that if the air quality is poor, that you might want to limit, your degree of outdoor activity.

Doctor Schellenberg suggests mitigating the health threat from air pollution.

If you intend to go out to do things and it's an ozone alert day, or air quality indexes are terrible.

You know, if you can, you know, roll up the windows, use the air conditioning.

So anything that you can put between the substance and your lungs.

And so that could be, you know, air filters, air purifiers in the home.

For folks with chronic respiratory issues.

Doctor Schellenberg advises they consult their physician to manage the condition.

The key element for those people is to have a plan, number one, and that usually involves, access and utilization of the medications that have been prescribed for the condition.

And so this is usually in the form of inhaled medications.

And then there are other mechanical interventions that can be done, that include things like, flutter valves or percussive vests which sort of assist your cough.

So if you're not breathing well or feeling well or you're having respiratory symptoms that are persistent and bothersome, seek attention.

We're here to help you.

And we can usually get to the source of the problem and improve your body of life.

As Doctor Schellenberg explained, there are a lot of reasons for the poor air quality in our region.

But one additional factor is still the impact of smoke from the Canadian wildfires.

According to Chris Borick, the director of the Institute of Public Opinion.

You'll Hamburg College Lehigh Valley residents say they are very concerned with this aspect of life in the region.

Thanks for taking a look at that report for us.

I know it's very disconcerting.

It is.

Hopefully we can take steps to change that.

Right, so we can breathe a little bit easier and.

Exactly breathe that sigh of relief.

Well, onto our next story.

Artificial intelligence is beginning to touch many different aspects of life, including the health and wellness field.

Local health care systems are constantly finding new ways to use AI to improve patient care and precision.

That's right.

And that's the goal at Saint Luke's University Health Network, as they use it to implement new ways to review X-ray images.

So it's fractures, dislocations, effusions and lesions are all types of bone trauma.

This is the fracture that we're seeing.

Some are easily spotted.

So this is what we typically see.

If the patient comes into the emergency we're looking for suspected fractures.

Others not so much.

A case that you miss something.

But with the help of AI technology, doctors at Saint Luke's University Health Network, like radiologist Robert Fournier, are making sure no injury gets overlooked.

It's kind of your second set of eyes.

We all get tired of bad days.

Just don't let you have a bad day.

Nice looking 26 year old foot.

The network is implementing the Glimmer Bone View AI system to assist in the review of emergency department X-ray images.

The X-ray is taken, the image is loaded, and the diagnostic tool identifies fractures in the bone.

So that's typically what the fracture output is.

It was trained on 3 or 4000 X-rays of really subtle fractures.

It's not meant to detect the massive easily distracted but able to call.

The janitor can see the fracture the legs angle.

It's not meant to do that.

Actually misses.

It was trained in the room.

So think fractures your fingers suffer fractures or wrist buckle fractures.

You'll see in some children that could be just barely perceptible.

It's the latest addition to a variety of AI tools being used to streamline health care at Saint Luke's.

The goal really is.

To support patient care.

Whether it's, you know, supporting a. Bedside clinician or supporting support staff that support those patients and bedside clinicians to provide.

Care.

The Lehigh Valley based health system started implementing AI in 2018.

Using it to identify sepsis cases.

Now it's being used in hundreds of ways throughout the network.

Some of them are features or functionality that we can leverage through our, our electronic medical record.

Some of them are, applications that are part of our core vendor systems like Microsoft or Workday and others are in-house developed, solutions that would be more labor intensive and require a. Longer time to develop.

Not only is artificial intelligence being used to benefit patients, Doctor Fournier says it's an educational opportunity for both residents and fellowship training programs.

It's improving our efficiencies, improving our quality.

We're missing less, and I look forward to just getting better.

And better and better lives.

The new diagnostic tool is being used at all of Saint Luke's Hospital ER and Care Now Walk-In Urgent Care Centers.

And now it's time to fire up the stove for a living in the Lehigh Valley kitchen.

That's right.

Today a nutritionist from Lehigh Valley Health Network is showing us the nutritious take on a holiday favorite.

Hi.

I'm joined by Rachel Alonzo, Sodexo dietician with the Valley Health Network, now part of Jefferson Health and Rachel, fall is in the air, right.

And so you have brought us a recipe or two recipes, really for a healthy entree and a healthy dessert.

That's right.

A lot of people think, well, healthy and dessert don't go together.

But you're going to show us how, right?

Yes, yes.

So what do we have?

So today for our entree we have a stuffed acorn squash.

It utilizes Italian sausage as a great source of protein as well as rice for some fiber.

We have onions, mushrooms, garlic, and also the acorn squash, which provides a lot of vitamins and minerals with all those veggies.

So I roasted the squash at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

With the open side up and then 15 minutes with a face down.

Right.

So these are already roasted?

Yes, we already have them roasted.

So we're just going to stuffed them.

And then we will pop those in the oven and then we'll try the finished product.

That's fantastic.

You know, even alone they look delicious.

I mean just the filling alone looks good.

So to the squash.

So we're just going to.

Right.

And all of these ingredients are accessible.

You can get them at your local supermarket.

Supermarket.

Yes absolutely.

And you could always substitute the protein source.

If you don't want sausage you could do chicken or you know, so whatever you like.

Yes, absolutely.

Today I used mozzarella cheese in the filling.

And we're going to chop it with mozzarella as well.

But you can use any cheese of, of choice too.

So that's very customizable as well.

Today we're using a white rice.

But you can use brown rice, quinoa.

Couscous, farrow and whatever grain you'd like.

So very customizable recipe as well.

Right.

And what do you use for the, the.

I mean, to lubricate the pan.

Yeah.

So I use olive oil.

You can use avocado oil.

Two sources of healthy fats.

And then don't provide any additional, you know, taste it.

All right.

I know, looking good enough to eat already.

And then we're just going to top it with some extra cheese.

And what kind of cheese.

Is this mozzarella cheese around.

Yeah, but you can use whatever kind of cheese you'd like, right?

It's good.

And it looks very easy to make.

It's not complicated.

No.

Yeah.

The most time consuming part was just waiting for the Italian sausage to cook and cutting that acorn in half and then just scraping out, you know, the seeds and all of that.

But no.

Very simple to make, very easy to make.

Right.

And they're ready to go.

And it might be something like a squash.

You wouldn't ordinarily think of something easy to prepare and, and eat.

And yet this looks so simple.

Yes, it sounds very intimidating, especially with a vegetable that we're not, you know, used to cooking with on a daily basis, but it is a full vegetable, purpose for the season.

Right.

And everything's healthy.

Yes.

So should we put it in?

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

And we have it set for.

You have it set at 350 now, and we'll pop that in for about 12 to 15 minutes.

And that's done.

And you have a perfect entree.

Yep.

That's a dinner.

Yes.

Yeah.

Fantastic.

And now we have a dessert a healthy dessert to go with it.

Yeah.

So today we have a fall apple dip base with Greek yogurt.

So it's Greek yogurt.

I use the oikos 000 just to provide extra protein.

Add some probiotics in there, too, for a dessert.

You don't typically see that.

Now we have some maple sirup.

You can use regular or sugar free, cinnamon, nutmeg and some pecans.

This is also very customizable because you can use, you know, walnuts or pistachios, whatever kind of goes with your season palette.

I guess you could say.

And then you could also use pumpkin spice or apple spice instead of the nutmeg or the cinnamon, just, you know, make it a little bit more convenient.

Or if you're making apple pie or pumpkin pie for the season, you know, to, to for one deal.

There, right?

Yeah.

That's fantastic.

And again, all the ingredients are accessible.

Maybe the yogurt.

You want to make sure that it's, you know, a healthy kind because you can get a very sugary definitely, yogurt.

Yeah.

And sort of that I think it's, you know, part of the, you know, the health message.

Right?

Yes, absolutely.

So and then you can always offer with whatever kind of fruit you like, pears or apples.

Today I have apples for us to try.

But another way to make fruit more interesting.

Yes, absolutely.

So, you know, through the magic of television, we actually have, our own tray and dessert prepared.

So let's take a look at it.

And I actually, I got my magic spoon.

I'm going to give it the taste test.

Wow.

You know that looks great.

Just looking at it looks appetizing.

First let me.

Well, I should try an entree first.

Came.

That is good.

Good.

Awesome.

Love to hear that.

Wow I mean just he's right here right now okay.

And now let's try the dessert again a great way to make fruit interesting right.

Yes.

And creative.

And you're getting all the nutrients.

Oh my word.

I am just going to devour that.

So it's all yours.

Sawyer thank you so much.

This is a great tip especially during this season.

And it will just make the fall come alive.

I'm happy to hear that.

We're gonna go to traditional program.

Do you have, that you generally, you know, are people able to, access other tips?

Other, you have a website or, is there a way that they can get other these and other recipes?

Yeah.

So if you just go through the, you know, Lehigh Valley Health Network or whatever health network you're a part of, dietitians are always available that they can help, you know, customized recipes give recipe ideas.

And then also Pinterest these days is a great resource.

Oh yeah.

Everybody's looking for healthy recipes on there.

So that's a good source to find.

You know, ideas for recipes as well as consulting a dietitian.

Well, Rachel, thank you so much.

And, I am going to take another taste.

That is very good.

For our stuffed acorn squash.

We have some, you know, three acorn squashes.

Cut it into halves.

We used a ground Italian sausage, baby Bella bella mushrooms, red onion, cloves of garlic, thyme, as well as some seasonings.

Salt, pepper and then heavy cream and a cooked rice of choice.

White or brown rice.

And then a cheese of choice.

So today we use mozzarella cheese.

And for our fall yogurt dip we have a yogurt base with Greek yogurt using the Oikos 000 today.

And then nutmeg, cinnamon, maple sirup and pecans.

I'm gonna have to try that one.

Delicious.

Absolutely.

You know, it's one of the best parts of our job.

It really is getting a little taste.

Absolutely up next, there's a new partnership in the Lehigh Valley where education meets innovation.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation and Lehigh University are now working together to bridge the two areas of expertise.

It's all in an effort to improve patient care across the country, starting here in the Valley.

Applause rings out at good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital and Center Valley for the collaboration of research and technology.

Healthcare needs, innovation and innovation in terms of technology, innovation in terms of care practice, innovation in terms of business models.

It's really exciting to be here.

Good Shepherd has been such a great partner.

Today we announced a signing of a memorandum of understanding to lay out a ten year vision on how to, kind of collaborate around Lehigh University researchers and good Shepherd clinicians for creating new inventions, new technologies, new treatment techniques for people that live with disabilities in the valley and beyond.

The valley is our which together we can transform research into practical solutions, new tools, new techniques and discoveries that change lives.

The two Lehigh Valley institutions set out to make strides in health care over the next decade.

But that partnership between these two organizations here, I think, can really establish a model for how it is that this kind of work can happen, how it is that these kinds of innovations can come to have real impact for for across the nation.

The official announcement came with a show and tell event where clinicians and researchers could demonstrate the work already in progress.

I get to show.

You all a little glimpse into some of the exciting work that is already underway here between.

Lehigh University.

And Good Shepherd.

To join.

Appointments are already serving as faculty at Lehigh, while also serving as research scientists at good Shepherd.

Doctor, one of Sara's will be.

Working on developing customized ride on toys for kiddos who have.

Developmental delays.

Children.

They have mobility impairments in particular actually with severe repulses by now.

Bifida Down's syndrome.

Those children will benefit from these devices.

It allows a lot of these children to participate in family activities for the first time.

We have children normally will have to stay home when their families go out to the park.

On going to enjoy, you know, walking down the trail, now the children are able to participate in those activities or improves the quality of life.

In addition to introducing the people conducting the research and development, other tools the partnership is using were on display, such as this wayfinding app.

Mable is designed to help people with disabilities to navigate indoor spaces with greater confidence and an independence.

It's an app.

People use it to explore their surrounding environment.

They can use it to get from point A to point B, particularly for end users who are visually impaired.

The Lehigh and Good Shepherd teams are also studying wearable technology.

What we're trying to do is for this spatial monitoring, where we're developing.

Algorithms and analytics from devices to help quantify swallowing events.

In patients with dysphagia.

And the long term goal is to translate these algorithms, these this data sets to clinicians and to folks here at good Shepherd.

To help improve.

And assess swallowing capabilities in patients to track their rehabilitation.

As the partnership gets underway, the opportunities for health care providers and educators to come together seem to be more accessible than ever here in the Lehigh Valley.

In today's world, what often happens in research is research happens kind of over here, and then clinicians work over here.

And what we're doing that is different and kind of move things forward is co-locating researchers and clinicians together to really work side by side.

But before I go into 2020 with.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation and Lehigh University are also conducting a community health needs assessment to understand the needs of children and adults with autism and other neurodivergent conditions in the greater Lehigh Valley.

Well, that will do it for this episode of living in the Lehigh Valley for PBS 39.

I'm Grover Silcox and I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Hoping you stay happy and healthy.