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Marcellus shale boosts Occupational Medicine services
A few years ago, the southwestern part of Pennsylvania was known primarily for its breathtaking forests, natural mountain streams and plentiful wildlife. But, unless you have been living under a rock, the true and new value of Pennsylvania lies 7,000 feet below the surface and goes by the name Marcellus shale. Pennsylvania currently sits on the largest onshore reserve of natural gas in the world. When compared to petroleum and coal, natural gas has a significantly lower amount of carbon content and offers a friendlier approach to the environment. Since the discovery of Marcellus shale back in 1839, it wasn’t until recently that technological advances have permitted access to such a beneficial resource. Providing a clean source of energy is just one of many perks that will evolve from this exciting time. It’s a window of opportunity. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is said to benefit from approximately 175,000 new jobs by 2020.
But with that comes potential safety risks for the Marcellus shale workers and escaping any type of risks that come with a hard labor-intensive, physical job is inevitable. The hard working Marcellus Shale drillers need services of all types. Monongahela Valley Hospital is aware of certain needs and is dedicated to faithfully providing them. Whether it’s 7,000 feet above or below ground, Monongahela Valley Hospital understands the risks employees take when retrieving such a valuable resource and is prepared to educate and oversee workers to make certain their safety and health is protected. In November of 2010, Thomas Cullen, senior vice president of strategic development at Monongahela Valley Hospital, said the Monongahela Valley Occupational Health Program had experienced a 13.5 percent growth in volume and revenue from the Marcellus Shale drilling region. As the development of gas reserves continued, Cullen said a 20 percent growth rate for area hospitals’ occupational programs was on the horizon. An occupational medicine program concentrates on educating organizations and individuals to ensure the highest standards of health and safety, while also specializing in preventing and treating work-related medical injuries. Located in the Mon-Vale HealthPLEX in Rostraver, Dr. Elaine Gelb, medical director of Monongahela Valley Occupational Health Program, and team, provide pre-employment screening, drug tests, fitness routines, physical examinations and injury management to 400 companies and roughly 20,000 employees. Dr.Gelb said the Marcellus shale boom hasn’t brought her any serious injuries to date. She has however, been dealing with many sprains. Although anyone would welcome a sprain over a permanent injury, there still may be necessary therapy involved. The goal of the Monongahela Valley Hospital Occupational Health Program is to return injured workers back to the work environment in a quick but safe manner. It is hard monitoring workers who have sprains when they are traveling from state to state, said Gelb. “So we do our best to communicate with the closest Occupational Health Program near an employee’s new job site to ensure the proper therapy and treatment is being delivered for our workers.” “We are devoted to making sure every worker is safe for however long it takes. I know experts say it may take over 20 years to deplete these reserves and, if that’s the case, my team and I will be there every step of the way,” said Gelb.
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