N.Y. manufacturing index falls in January to lowest level since mid-2017

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The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 8 points in January to 3.9, its lowest level since mid-2017. The headline index has fallen a cumulative 18 points since November, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Jan. 15. The January reading, based on firms responding to the survey, still indicates that “business […]

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The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 8 points in January to 3.9, its lowest level since mid-2017.

The headline index has fallen a cumulative 18 points since November, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Jan. 15.

The January reading, based on firms responding to the survey, still indicates that “business activity grew slightly in New York,” the New York Fed said.

A positive index number indicates expansion or growth in manufacturing activity, while a negative reading shows a decline in the sector.

The survey found 23 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 20 percent said that conditions had worsened, the New York Fed said.

“Overall, the message is that manufacturing activity is still rising, but only just, and we expect a substantial further weakening over the next few months,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at United Kingdom–based Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a marketwatch.com article.

Shepherdson also projected the Empire State general business-conditions index would drop to about negative 10 over the next couple of months, which would be the lowest point since early 2016.

Survey details

The new-orders index fell 10 points to 3.5, indicating that growth in orders “slowed significantly,” while the shipments index fell more than 2 points to 17.9.

Unfilled orders were somewhat lower, inventories declined, and delivery times were slightly shorter.

The index for number of employees fell 10 points but remained positive at 7.4, indicating a “modest increase” in employment levels, while the average-workweek index held steady at 6.8.

The prices-paid index moved lower for a second consecutive month, its four-point decline to 35.9 “pointing to a slight deceleration” in input price increases. The prices-received index was little changed at 13.1.

Firms were “less optimistic” about the six-month outlook than in recent months.

The index for future business conditions fell 13 points to 17.8, and the indexes for future new orders and shipments also declined.

Firms expected employment to increase modestly. The capital-expenditures index fell 13 points to 17.9, and the technology-spending index moved down 6 points to 20.0.

The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.

Oneida Nation gears up to start building sports-betting venues

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VERONA — The Oneida Indian Nation on Jan. 8 said it plans to begin construction “shortly” on sports-betting venues at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona and Point Place Casino in Sullivan. The facility, referred to as a sports book, is called “The Lounge with Caesars Sports.” The Oneida Nation also released renderings of what

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Make 2019 Financial Goals a Stretch, But Keep Them Realistic

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The first few weeks of January are filled with optimism as gym memberships soar and all those New Year’s resolutions have yet to be tarnished. When it comes to financial goals for the New Year, people should reach high but it’s important that the goals are attainable. Setting unrealistic annual financial goals is a recipe for

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Setting unrealistic annual financial goals is a recipe for failure. At the same time, you want to stretch and do things you haven’t tried before if you want to break out of the financial box you are in.

When people establish unrealistic goals, these are the common mistakes they make.

• Getting goals too aggressive for your lifestyle. If you make a commitment to spend less money, but you have not created a specific plan of action to make it happen, she says the goal is doomed to failure. Making a New Year’s resolution to save money by eating out only once a week probably doesn’t work for a family with many after-school commitments for their children. Likewise, a professional who travels frequently or people who haven’t prepared all of their own meals in the past may find this goal too much to do on a daily, consistent basis.

• Getting unrealistic goals to track spending. It may sound like a great idea to track your spending, but it’s important to find a realistic solution for accomplishing that. The key is to find a system that works for you without overcommitting to tracking every penny, since that can become overwhelming. Some people work best with an Excel spreadsheet or money-tracking notebook. I also recommend exploring tracking tools like Quicken or an app like mint.com.

• Making your annual budget without consulting your spouse. In many households, one spouse handles paying the bills and keeping the family on track financially. But when it comes to setting the annual budget, both spouses should be included regardless of who writes all the checks. For example, deciding to eliminate a family trip or dropping a gym membership may look good on paper. However, it’s possible the family trip is a highlight of the year for your spouse and dropping the gym membership might conflict with your spouse’s health-oriented New Year’s resolution. All interested parties should discuss the annual budget (and it can be a great teaching tool for older children to be involved as well).

• Pursuing overly aggressive debt reduction. I frequently caution clients against setting aggressive goals to pay down debt or aspire to save a huge amount of money in the New Year. Although reducing debt or increasing savings should be part of an annual budget, the goals once again should be realistic. I encourage my clients to maintain flexibility in their goals so they can live for today while also saving for the future.

The reality of today and aspirations for the future don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Just remember to set goals that, with a little work and sacrifice, really can be reached.

Kathy Longo, author of Flourish Financially – Values, Transitions, and Big Conversations, is founder and president of Flourish Wealth Management (www.flourishwealthmanagement.com).

NBT promotes Hyle to executive VP of consumer lending

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NORWICH — NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB), parent of NBT Bank, N.A., announced it has promoted Shauna Hyle to executive VP of consumer lending and placed her on NBT’s executive management team. Hyle has been with NBT since 2008. She was named to her current position as consumer lending executive in June 2017. Hyle held

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Shortage of shingles vaccine sparks concern

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SYRACUSE — A doctor with St. Joseph’s Health is among those concerned about a shortage of the vaccine used to combat shingles. The Atlanta, Georgia–based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that 99 percent of the people over age 40 have had chickenpox, which makes them “vulnerable to shingles,” Dr. Sandra Sulik said

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SYRACUSE — A doctor with St. Joseph’s Health is among those concerned about a shortage of the vaccine used to combat shingles.

The Atlanta, Georgia–based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that 99 percent of the people over age 40 have had chickenpox, which makes them “vulnerable to shingles,” Dr. Sandra Sulik said in her Jan. 14 remarks at Burnet Pharmacy in Syracuse.

Shingles “causes more problems” for people who get the condition as they get older, Sulik noted.

“It is critical that we’re able to provide a life-saving vaccine to them and to have that available when patients come in,” she said.

Sulik joined U.S Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) during his Jan. 14 visit to Burnet Pharmacy, where he highlighted what he called an “alarming” shortage of the vaccine that combats shingles.

Burnet Pharmacy is among the area pharmacies that need their supply of the vaccine replenished, Schumer noted.

“It’s not just here in Central New York. It’s throughout the country that there’s a shortage … in different parts of the country there’s a shortage of shingles vaccination,” he said.

The senator wants the essential staff at the Silver Spring, Maryland–based U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “consider this shortage an emergency,” his office said in a Jan. 14 news release.

The essential staff members are the employees that are still working despite the partial shutdown of the federal government.

If the FDA declares it an emergency, “they might be able to bring some workers back,” the lawmaker noted.

Schumer said in 2012 he helped approve a federal law that when there’s a shortage of a drug, the FDA would work with the pharmaceutical company involved to make sure that the impacted drug is available.

Under an emergency declaration, Schumer contends the FDA can work with the drug manufacturer and others to ensure that those affected are aware of when the new shipments will arrive.

The agency can also “expedite regulatory hurdles,” Schumer said and prioritize shingles-vaccine shipments to New York and other states with higher populations.

“If the FDA would do this, we could solve this problem,” he said.

CNYBJ sought reaction from the FDA, but its Jan. 14 email response included the following language, “We are reviewing details of your request so that we can determine if your inquiry falls under an excepted or exempt category of work. If it does not fall into an excepted or exempted category, we will respond to your inquiry after enactment of either an FY 2019 appropriation or continuing resolution for the FDA.”

As of press time on Jan. 16, it wasn’t immediately clear if the shingles-vaccine situation had reached a resolution.

The vaccine, Shingrix, was approved last year to prevent shingles, per Schumer’s news release.

It has been in “high demand” since United Kingdom–based manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)(NYSE: GSK) started producing its shingles vaccine. It is “90 percent effective, while others were much less effective, as low as 40 percent,” Schumer’s office said.

The shortage of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) shingles vaccine happened “because not enough was produced to meet the high demand for the uniquely effective vaccine,” per Schumer’s release.

About shingles

Shingles is an “extremely painful and debilitating” rash that can lead to “even more severe complications,” per Schumer’s release.

The virus (also called herpes zoster) occurs when the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) — the same virus that causes chickenpox — is reactivated in the body. The VZV remains in the body for life and older people are more susceptible to shingles because their immunity to the virus declines at the cellular level.

Aside from the painful rash, shingles can produce “typical” virus symptoms including chills, fever, upset stomach or headache, and also spread communicable chickenpox.

Upstate Medical interim president says medical school is “healthy,” “investigations” continue

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SYRACUSE — The most frequent question that the interim president of Upstate Medical University heard after he assumed the duties was about the health of the medical school. “It’s a very fair question, and I’m really happy to tell you that we are healthy, we are strong, and we will flourish in 2019,” said Dr.

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SYRACUSE — The most frequent question that the interim president of Upstate Medical University heard after he assumed the duties was about the health of the medical school.

“It’s a very fair question, and I’m really happy to tell you that we are healthy, we are strong, and we will flourish in 2019,” said Dr. Mantosh Dewan.

It’s how Dewan opened his remarks to local reporters in a Jan. 4 question-and-answer session at Weiskotten Hall, while later acknowledging that the medical school is the subject of “investigations.”

Dewan took over the position on Dec. 23 after former president Dr. Danielle Laraque-Arena stepped down a day earlier.

The interim leader, a 43-year veteran of the medical school, said he is “confident” that he’s correct in making that statement. Dewan points to the 10,000 people who work at Upstate Medical University treating patients, teaching, conducting research, and spending a “fair amount of time” in the community.

“I’m really really pleased and humbled to be the interim president at this time of transition,” Dewan added.

“Investigations”

Dewan assumes the role that Laraque-Arena vacated after announcing in late September that she planned to step down as president at the end of the fall semester on Dec. 22.

The announcement of Laraque-Arena’s decision came a few weeks after the Albany Times-Union reported that the Onondaga County District Attorney’s office had started a grand-jury probe of Upstate Medical University that’s focused on “hiring decisions, severance packages, and construction projects,” according to a Sept. 7 article on the Times-Union website.

A CNYBJ reporter asked Dewan if he could confirm that the Onondaga County District Attorney’s office had started a grand-jury probe and the status of that investigation.

“All I know is that there are investigations going on. I have asked but have not been told what the focus is, if you will. Yes, there are investigations. We are happy to get any recommendations that make us move toward best practices. I’m looking for the positive outcomes of this. If there are things we can improve, we absolutely would be happy to do that,” said Dewan.

Laraque-Arena will be on “study leave” during the spring semester, SUNY said in a Sept. 27, 2018 news release announcing a “leadership transition.” She’ll then return on June 7, 2019 to her position as a faculty member with a primary appointment within the department of pediatrics, per the news release.

Upstate Medical will search for a permanent president. “The search is conducted by the Upstate council and so they will be working on setting up a committee and usually get an outside consultant [to assist] … I don’t have a timeframe for it,” Dewan said.

“The interim president is not allowed to apply,” he said when asked if he’s interested in having the top job permanently.

Mahoney’s role

Dewan was also asked if he had yet spoken with Joanie Mahoney, the former Onondaga County Executive who left that job at the end of October to become COO of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and assist SUNY on an interim basis with management matters at Upstate Medical University.

Dewan had a “very brief conversation” with Mahoney during the first week of January “and will be meeting with her in the next few weeks to firm up how she can be helpful to us.”

Nappi Longevity Institute status

Dewan was also asked about the status of the Nappi Longevity Institute, an eight-floor, 360,000-square-foot health and wellness complex that Upstate Medical announced in November 2017. Dewan replied that the planning for the project continues.

“I think that they have a preliminary proposal that they doing the final touches on, and we should hear about them soon,” he said.

The medical school had anticipated construction would start in early 2018, and Dewan was asked why it had been delayed.

“I heard that there was a change and they’re looking at redoing it and will come back with a proposal very soon,” he added.

Upstate Medical University plans to build the Nappi Longevity Institute at the corner of East Adams and Almond streets across from the Upstate Cancer Center.

Sam and Carol Nappi of Jamesville donated $8 million for the project, which Upstate announced during a gala at the Oncenter in November 2017.

Priorities

When asked about his priorities for Upstate in his time as interim president, Dewan said he needs to focus on the school, its faculty, and employees.

“When somebody gets airlifted from Fort Drum or a burn victim comes in, that’s what we need to be doing and not worry about [other matters],” said Dewan.

He also pointed to the school’s research activity, noting the Upstate secured a contract to work on a vaccine for heroin addiction.

Dewan is also interested in “more innovative” programs for education. He noted that Upstate has started an applied behavior analysis program at a master’s level that’s “just started to treat autistic children.”

Upstate Medical’s interim president also said he’s “very keen” on working with the community.

“I’m also very focused on building much much stronger relationships and bridges with our neighbors, [Syracuse University], Crouse [Health], [SUNY]ESF,” he added.

Little Falls Hospital getting ready to build primary care clinic in Dolgeville

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DOLGEVILLE — Little Falls Hospital is preparing for a new primary care center that will replace the existing facility on Gibson Street in Dolgeville. The hospital in Herkimer County is anticipating a spring groundbreaking for the new 5,000-square-foot clinic. The project’s estimated cost is about $3 million and will rely on grants, foundation support, and donations

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5 Reasons Why Patient Data Privacy & Control are Critical

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—”Foolish the doctor who despises the knowledge acquired by the ancients.” — Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC – 377 BC) The ancient Greek father of medicine, Hippocrates, knew that trust was a fundamental tenet for the effective practice of medicine. How can a patient seek the care of a stranger without the establishment of a fiduciary

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—”Foolish the doctor who despises the knowledge acquired by the ancients.” — Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC – 377 BC)

The ancient Greek father of medicine, Hippocrates, knew that trust was a fundamental tenet for the effective practice of medicine. How can a patient seek the care of a stranger without the establishment of a fiduciary trust? Patients must reveal the most personal, private information about themselves and therefore must possess the utmost confidence in their physician to keep their information in confidence and all uses of their data transparent. Yet, in today’s digital social-media age, does privacy really exist? Large companies make unfathomable fortunes harvesting all manner of data from financial information to the mundane minutia of daily life. In this environment, here are five reasons why patient data privacy and control are more important than ever.

1. Maintain the fundamental fiduciary doctor-patient relationship

“Things that are holy are revealed only to men who are holy.” — Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC – 377 BC)

It’s critical for the health-care system to maintain the trust between doctor and patient in a patient-centric dynamic. If patients believe that information they give their doctors and health-care professionals — and by extension, the large health-care institutions — is going to be used against them and not in the patient’s best interest, then patients will be reticent to provide needed details for their own health and well-being. That hurts the quality of their own health care. If patients believe in the ultimately altruistic interests of their doctors, they will be more likely to provide critical details and take an active role in their care. There is great financial pressure in the health-care industry to use algorithms to automate care decisions to reduce costs, thereby increasing institutional and industry profits. The doctor-patient relationship prevents direct access of industry-designed algorithms that could work more in the interest of industry profits, rather than to improve patient health.

2. Higher data quality

“Conclusions which are merely verbal cannot bear fruit, only those do which are based on demonstrated fact.” — Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC – 377 BC)

The equation is simple: higher-quality data means higher-quality medical care. One of the advantages of the digital age is the ability to synthesize huge amounts of data quickly. However, the data used must be accurate. Electronic health records are known to contain many errors, and patients can ensure accuracy of their personal health data when they have access to check it. With patient trust through data-use transparency and data control comes more detailed and better data in, better and more accurate and precise conclusions out.

3. Bringing back fairness and balance to current industry-centric data monopolies

“… while calling on the gods, a man should himself lend a hand.” — Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC – 377 BC)

We see a data “gold rush” given current U.S. data and privacy regulations, and many large companies have made fortunes by making their customers into their commodity. They sell consumer data non-transparently to unidentified entities that use the data for uncertain purposes with ambiguous ethics, creating a data economy with network effects favoring a few platforms able to collect and lock up the largest masses of personal data. The data being recorded about patients forms a remarkably detailed picture of their life. This picture is incredibly valuable when unified and stored both as a singularity and in conjunction with thousands, even millions of other lives. These pictures reveal patterns that permit the personalization of medicine, insurance, finances, and more, but the question is, who owns and controls this valuable picture? And what about the risks associated with massive data leaks through hacking and other data breaches? Transparency and personal-data controls are keys to creating a balanced and fair patient-centric digital data economy that promotes diverse and open competition.

4. Ensure patient access to their data

“A wise man ought to realize that health is his most valuable possession.” — Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC – 377 BC)

Patients’ control of access to their own data is needed for a number of reasons. First, it promotes data exchange across health-care systems to ensure access to critical health data wherever the patient may seek care. Health-care systems should be required to provide patients with their full medical record in electronic form and in a timely manner. Those systems who do not comply should be held accountable for data-blocking. If we make sure patients control their data, it will allow them to choose health-care systems or associated third parties, thereby redistributing data across the economy to allow smaller companies, who may be more ethical and have better solutions, to compete. In addition, patients could allow researchers access to their personal data. Many researchers currently have trouble gaining access to data now in data silos created by industry purchases and other private-sector agreements. Researchers do not have access to big data needed to discover tomorrow’s cures and medical advancements. Last, patients who are more engaged in their own health care tend to have better health outcomes overall, and patient data access allows patients to become more engaged in their own health.

5. Preserve basic human rights

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.” — Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC – 377 BC)

The “Right to Privacy” is a fundamental human right as declared by the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafted after WWII that has been adopted around the world. When this declaration was adopted in 1948, the world had not yet imagined our new digital age. Recently, however, some prominent leaders who remember the excesses of totalitarian regimes, have started to work to sharpen public opinion and remind us that our privacy is indeed a basic human right. The right to privacy and control of data about our bodies is essential to preserving the dignity and respect of each individual, as well as trust in the medical community. In the digital age, it will become the fiduciary duty of each doctor to protect the digital data privacy rights for each patient as a basic human right.

We are entering a new technological era for health care where we must commit to new standards of patient data privacy, data-use transparency, and personal-data control. We have outlined five key reasons why this general topic is now more important than ever. It will take many years of work on the part of academics, health-care systems, industry, and government to fully assimilate all associated ethical, societal, technological, and business considerations to assure that we manage patient data in the right way.

Founder and CEO of Cubismi, Dr. Moira Schieke is a cancer imaging clinical and research radiologist based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Oswego Health to use $15K donation from Fastrac for upcoming health-care projects

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OSWEGO — Fastrac Markets has donated $15,000 to support local health initiatives through the Oswego Health Foundation. The money will be used to support upcoming projects throughout the Oswego Health system, Michael Harlovic, Oswego Health president and CEO, said in a news release. “Oswego Health appreciates support from this community-minded business,” Harlovic said. “Their generous

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MVHS adds Manno as provider-relations specialist

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UTICA — The Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) announced it has appointed Peter Manno, RN, as provider-relations specialist. In this role, Manno will identify, qualify, and create new business relationships and maintain existing relationships among the St. Elizabeth Laboratory outreach program, according to an MVHS news release. Manno previously worked as an account executive at

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