If buying a house there, do due diligence on its age, quality of original construction and any subsequent renovations. Get a good home inspector. A lot of Coal Region towns have poorly-documented abandoned 19th century coal mine tunnels under them which as the timbers collapse can cause subsidence so proper insurance is important.

If renting, make sure it's maintained to safe standards by a reputable local landlord. Plenty of instances of our-of-town or out-of-state slumlords out there.

Finally pay attention to the immediate neighbors and the condition of their properties. Often fires break out and due to poor construction practices and non-existent fire code back in the day, an entire row of houses can go up just like that.

None of this is meant to scare you out of doing this but not many people move INTO the Coal Region. Traditionally, people like my great-grandfather have always tried to get OUT, lol.

Good luck with your Dad.

Lehigh Valley Health has a hospital nearby and so does Geisinger-St Luke's in Orwigsburg. Additionally there are multiple family practice clinics that are used to catering to geriatric patients. Healthcare availability has improved in that area outside of urgent care. I work for Geisinger and we had to close our UC and the MedExpress that was there closed awhile back too.

Look up the property tax and county tax. My brother moved to a few places in Pennsylvania that seemed to be cheap until utilities and taxes factored in. Lookup the county website and find the tax collector.

Electricity prices has really gone up in the state.