Tornado confirmed in Centre County, support for Mount Nittany and more top stories

From a hospital funding battle to a confirmed tornado in northern Centre County, June 16 brought a packed news day across the region. Here’s a quick look at the top stories.

Here are key takeaways:

• Mount Nittany Medical Center stands to lose an estimated $9 million in annual federal funding after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid removed its sole community hospital designation, prompting strong pushback from county commissioners and Pennsylvania officials who called the ruling a mistake tied to the 2024 opening of Penn Highlands State College.
• An EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 116 mph touched down about 2 miles south of Pine Glen just after 7:30 p.m. Sunday, traveling 1.16 miles in roughly 4 minutes near state Route 879 with no injuries reported.
• A federal judge approved a $3 million medical malpractice settlement Monday in the 2021 death of 19-year-old Penn State student Patrick R. Tomany of Connecticut, who died of a saddle pulmonary embolism four days after being discharged from Mount Nittany Medical Center without a diagnosis.
• Pennsylvania recorded more than 16,600 cases of Lyme disease in 2024 — up from just 30 in 1985 — though Penn State entomologist Erika Machtinger says her team has actually found fewer ticks in central Pennsylvania this summer than in previous years.
• Penn State tied for No. 92 out of more than 2,200 universities in U.S. News & World Report’s latest Best Global Universities rankings, landing between Big Ten peers Maryland (t-82) and Illinois (98), with eight disciplines ranked among the top 50 globally.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.