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NANTICOKE &mdash; More than 1,600 residents from throughout the 14th Senatorial District Thursday participated in an informative tele-town hall meeting on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in northeastern Pennsylvania.
				State Senator John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, represent the 1th Senatorial District and he said citizens raised many serious and thoughtful questions that they were able to pose to a panel of experts.
				The panel included Dr. Michael Evans, Lehigh Valley Health Network-Hazleton; Dan Santaniello, President & CEO of Fidelity Bank; and Eric Kratz, Executive Director of the Senate Labor & Industry Committee.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;The majority of questions centered around how to access unemployment compensation benefits to help the more than 1.6 million Pennsylvanians who have been forced out of work and how to secure financial assistance for the nearly 130,000 self-employed, small business owners who have had their businesses closed by Gov. Tom Wolf&rsquo;s stay at home order,&rdquo; Yudichak said.
				The senator added that the lack of support for the area&rsquo;s nursing homes was another important issue raised during the tele-town hall meeting.
				&ldquo;And that underscored the importance of the recently announced NEPA Nursing Home SOS Program that will drive $500,000 in local resources to our nursing homes that have become the front-line of the COVID-19 crisis, accounting for more than 65% of all COVID-19 deaths in Luzerne County and over 80% of all COVID-19 deaths in Carbon County,&rdquo; Yudichak said.
				Yudichak said residents were encouraged to ask questions or simply remain on the line to listen to the discussion.
				Yudichak said he wanted to hold the telephone town hall to connect with residents of the 14th Senatorial District and allow them to ask him and the experts questions on medical issues, unemployment issues and business issues related to COVID-19. He said many state legislators are offering these tele-town halls since the Stay at Home orders have been issued.
				Yudichak said the tele-town hall enabled him to stay connected to constituents and the general public,.Sen.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to stay connected to constituents and the public in a time when you can&rsquo;t have face-to-face meetings because the door to the office is closed,&rdquo; Yudichak said. &ldquo;We want to continue to provide the services we always have in person and do it in this new way of doing business by using technology.&rdquo;
				Regarding Wolf&rsquo;s plan to reopen the state&rsquo;s economy, Yudichak he remains hopeful that more collaboration between the governor&rsquo;s office, the state legislature, the private sector and the general public will improve.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said all along that this is about protecting lives and livelihoods,&rdquo; Yudichak said. &ldquo;This is not partisan criticism. It&rsquo;s about common sense.&rdquo;

Sen. Yudichak holds virtual town hall with constituents