I’ve found that drop off around the Lehigh Valley area as well. The PA boonies are shockingly unlike the cities. It’s a dramatic change over a small geography. Seattle sounds fabulous!

Best of luck!

I like it here. It’s not perfect, but people leave you alone.

Delaware County has affordable areas that are LGBTQIA+ friendly. Some of the rural counties, such as Carbon, Schuylkill, Luzerne and Monroe can be unwelcoming. Of course, there are people and places that are fine in all of them, but as a whole, I’d avoid. I’d recommend staying close to the cities: Philly, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. No idea how Harrisburg and Scranton are. New Hope is pricey, but most of Bucks and Montgomery County (avoid Pennsburg and Boyertown) will be fine and you can find affordable places.

We do often call the rural areas “Pennsyltucky” and that PA is Philly and Pittsburgh with Alabama in the middle. Stereotypes are dumb, but take heed anyway.

I’m very torn on this. The article doesn’t say of the woman is brain dead. If she is, that changes the conversation.

OTOH, corporate health care is repulsive. It doesn’t just affect this woman and her family and dramatic situations. It’s near impossible to get an appointment and communication has ground to a halt. This was done by business administrators, not the workers. However, the workers take ALL of the displeasure from patients. This case is just one example of how far we have strayed.

I don’t know the answer. Keeping this patient is costly and taking up a bed for another patient who may need it. I suspect she has neurological deficits, but isn’t brain dead. She’s probably stable from a vital signs standpoint, but requires skilled care due to brain damage. She’s too stable for hospital; too sick to be home. Sigh. Very sad.

It really depends on you and your fiancé’s interests. I moved from that area to Delco. I wanted access to big universities, museums, sports, diversity, and the airport. Yes, LVIA is there, but offers much less.

There are some beautiful areas there. The northern townships are nice. My sister lives in Heidelberg and I love to go visit. There’s good hiking, hunting, and fishing. You’re also closer to some mediocre but good enough PA skiing.

There are some great school districts and some that are rough. Healthcare is very, very good. LVH and St. Luke’s can handle 95%+ of what they get. We would occasionally fly patients to Penn from both places. Maybe 10-20 flights per year, but that was awhile ago. Overall, that’s not a lot.

When I was nursing school a million years ago, I found the public transportation severely lacking. You pretty much have to drive everywhere. You will spend a lot on transportation. It’s also not necessarily cheaper to live there. Some districts have pretty high taxes. You’ll spend a lot on gas and the infrastructure is classic PA: outdated, outgrown, and in disrepair.

There’s some decent restaurants, but coming from Abington area, I think you might find the cuisine lacking. Culturally, the Lehigh Valley is about a decade behind the Philly area. It can have a rust belt feel, but it’s turning a corner.

Overall, it’s not bad, but I wouldn’t go back. I felt trapped after years of the area. However, I’m a wandering soul, and overall, it’s decent. You could do worse.

I endorse this. I’m not a doctor (NP), but I work for a surgeon and see 100% of his post-ops. We absolutely could not do our jobs without the admin support staff. Surgical schedulers work miracles! The front desk is the face of the health system. I could go on and on. They need to be paid more and treated better. (Patients also need to be accountable for how they treat them, but that’s another story.)

I like Media and West Chester.