In the United States, nearly five out of every 1,000 people over the age of 50 have symptoms from spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of one or more spaces in the spine which can compress the spinal cord or nerve roots exiting each vertebrae. It can occur anywhere in the spine but most commonly occurs in the lower back or neck. Symptoms can range from back and neck pain to numbness, tingling and weakness in the arms and legs. Until now, treatment for this condition included self-help remedies such as the application of heat or cold and exercise; medications for pain; physical therapy; steroid injections; and surgery. Read more...

On June 12, 2021, Shauna Jannotta walked down the aisle to marry John Polefko with ease thanks to the care she has been receiving at Monongahela Valley Hospital’s Center for Wound Management for the past 20 years. When Shauna began receiving treatment at the Center, she was living with a wound on her toe that wouldn’t heal. She also was coping with neuropathy, a disease of peripheral nerves that causes numbness and weakness, that resulted from chemotherapy treatments. It wasn’t until she consulted with Dr. Richard Young, a podiatrist at the Center for Wound Management, that she began to have relief.

People who have undergone bariatric surgery know the importance of selecting a comprehensive program that is close to home. Quality and convenience are very important because most programs include physician visits, evaluations and testing prior to the surgery and post-procedure follow-up. In Washington County, Monongahela Valley Hospital is the only health system whose Bariatric Surgery Program is accredited by the American College of Surgeons American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery as a Quality Program.

Monongahela Valley Hospital now offers a proven surgical procedure designed to protect the quality of life for men undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer. MVH uses hydrogel SpaceOAR to reduce the radiation dose delivered to the rectum which can cause bowel side effects. The hospital’s physicians inject the hydrogel SpaceOAR in the space between the prostate and rectum to temporarily position the rectal wall away from the prostate. Local or general anesthesia is used for the outpatient procedure. The biodegradable hydrogel SpaceOAR maintains the shape for the entire course of the prostate radiotherapy treatment and is completely absorbed by the person’s body over a short period of time. Read more...