Blood drive to honor injured Scranton officer

The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton Practice is hosting an American Red Cross blood drive on Friday, Feb. 9, to honor a city police detective injured in a January shooting.

Regional residents can make an appointment to donate blood between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. at The Wright Center’s Scranton Practice, 501 S. Washington Ave., by visiting redcross.org and using sponsor code: The Wright Center or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.

The drive is in honor of Scranton police Detective Kyle Gilmartin, who was shot on Jan. 11 in West Scranton. He and other Scranton police officers were investigating a pair of gang-related gunfire incidents at the time. After being treated at Geisinger Community Medical Center, Detective Gilmartin is recovering at a rehabilitation center.

“As a medical organization, we want to help where the need is greatest, and January is a time when there are critical blood shortages here and nationwide,” said Gerri McAndrew, co-director of The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement. “We know that treating Detective Gilmartin required a lot of blood, so we thought hosting a blood drive in his honor would be fitting.”

In addition to helping address the blood shortage, anyone who donates blood in February will receive a $20 Amazon gift card by mail.

Headquartered in Scranton, The Wright Center operates 10 primary and preventive care practices, including a mobile medical and dental vehicle called Driving Better Health, in Northeast Pennsylvania. Its practices offer integrated whole-person care, meaning patients typically have the convenience of going to a single location to access medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services.

Registered nurse practitioner adds experience, compassion to geriatric service line

To continue enhancing its geriatric service line, The Wright Center for Community Health has hired a certified registered nurse practitioner with extensive experience providing high-quality health care to mature adults.

Nina M. Flanagan, Ph.D., GNP-BC, PMHCS-BC, has joined The Wright Center’s geriatrics team, where she serves as a provider, mentor, educator, researcher, and administrator. As part of her duties, she will assist with The Wright Center for Community Health’s Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program. The program provides personalized care plans for patients with dementia by building in medical needs, solutions for caregiver stress, and cultural traditions unique to each individual and their family. The clinic follows a co-management model that works closely with the primary care and/or referring physician to ensure care is comprehensive and coordinated for the person with dementia and their family or caregivers.

Headshot of Nina Flanagan on blue background

Nina M. Flanagan

Additionally, Flanagan will work closely with the geriatric team, which includes medical assistants and licensed practical nurses, to provide care to older adult patients and collaborate with physicians in managing both acute and long-term medical needs of the patients.

Flanagan holds a Ph.D. in nursing, as well as a master’s degree in advanced professional nursing/geriatric nursing, from the Decker School of Nursing at the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY-Binghamton). Flanagan also holds a post-master’s certificate as a clinical specialist in adult psychiatric mental health nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. She holds board certifications in both specialties.

Prior to joining The Wright Center for Community Health, Flanagan served as a professor of clinical practice and coordinator of the adult/gerontology graduate nursing program at SUNY-Binghamton, where she advised students and served on several committees, including the geriatric clinic committee. She’s also worked as a geriatric nurse practitioner at Scranton clinics and hospitals since 1999.

A member of the American Geriatrics Society, Flanagan has served as an expert panelist for Beers Criteria – which helps providers safely prescribe medication for people over 65 – since 2011 and as an Education and Clinical Care Models committee member since 2019.

Focusing on geriatric care is more important than ever, according to the Harvard University report “Projections and Implications for Housing a Growing Population.” By 2035, the report states one in three heads of households in the United States will be 65 or older.

Locally, the number of residents aged 60 or older has trended upward, especially since 2000, according to The Institute. The age group accounts for about 27% of the population in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties and 26% statewide. By comparison, the group represented about 24% of the regional population in 2000 and less than 20% statewide. In 2000, Wayne County had a smaller over-60 population, at under 23%. It now has a significantly larger over-60 population, at 33%.

Headquartered in Scranton, The Wright Center operates 10 primary and preventive care practices, including a mobile medical and dental vehicle called Driving Better Health, in Northeast Pennsylvania. The Wright Center offers extensive geriatric services, including Alzheimer’s and dementia evaluation and testing, well visits with providers, ongoing care for chronic conditions, caregiver support, and preventive care, as well as health education, case management, and linkage to community resources and support services.

The Wright Center for Community Health accepts most major health insurance plans, including Medical Assistance (Medicaid), Medicare, and CHIP. No patient is turned away due to an inability to pay. To make an appointment for the geriatric service line, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570.230.0019.

Resident physician to participate in Arizona Health Policy Scholar Program

Ashley Okuagu, D.O., a first-year resident physician in The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s unique National Family Medicine Residency (NFMR) program, has been selected as a 2024 Arizona Health Policy Scholar.

Headshot of Dr. Ashley Okuagu on a blue background

Dr. Ashley Okuagu

Dr. Okuagu is receiving her graduate medical education and training at one of The Wright Center’s four, NFMR partner sites: El Rio Health, in Tucson, Arizona.

As a member of the scholars program – conducted by the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians – she will participate in a series of trainings and events that equip physicians to be advocates for their patients and profession in both state and federal halls of power. The program’s aim is to cultivate physician leaders who will work to improve health care, realizing that advocacy offers another level of meaning and purpose to their professional role in family medicine.

The five-month program will culminate in May with participants attending the Family Medicine Advocacy Summit, a multi-day conference in Washington, D.C.

Each Arizona medical school and residency program was permitted to choose only one representative to participate in this year’s scholars class.

“We are proud and very excited that Dr. Okuagu has been selected as a member of the Arizona Health Policy Scholars Class of 2024,” said Lawrence LeBeau, D.O., the NFMR program director. “Physician advocacy is essential to providing quality patient care in a challenging health care environment. Participation in this advocacy scholars program will provide Dr. Okuagu with valuable education, experience, and mentorship to develop her skills in physician advocacy.”

She and other participants will receive instruction on many issues, including how to build relationships with legislators and policymakers, becoming familiar with the mechanics of legislative advocacy, and understanding rural health care policy.

Dr. Okuagu is a resident leader in the NFMR program. Founded nearly 11 years ago by The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education and its partners, the family medicine residency has a single curriculum that is tailored to the resources available at each of the training locations in Arizona, Ohio, Washington state, and Washington, D.C.

The program was established to generate highly skilled, compassionate physicians who are inclined to serve in rural or other medically underserved areas throughout the United States. Many of its graduates have a heart for treating patient populations that historically have been marginalized, such as low-income individuals, people who are experiencing homelessness, and justice-involved individuals.

Since the NFMR program’s inception, more than half of its graduates have entered practice in one of the nation’s community health centers. In fact, The Wright Center-led program has succeeded in retaining an average of 36 percent of its graduates at the same health centers in which they trained, meaning those physicians chose to continue working among high-needs patient populations in rural or underserved urban communities.

The American College of Physicians’ Pennsylvania Eastern Chapter collaborating with The Wright Center for Leap into a Day of Giving

Pop-up food pantry to address food insecurity in regional communities

The American College of Physicians’ Pennsylvania (PA-ACP) Eastern Chapter will conduct a volunteer-driven “Leap into a Day of Giving” in partnership with The Wright Centers for Graduate Medical Education, Community Health, and Patient & Community Engagement to address food insecurity in Northeast Pennsylvania.

PA-ACP Eastern Chapter members and inclusive community partners are supporting and staffing the pop-up food pantry for members of the community at Weston Field, 982 Providence Rd., Scranton, on Thursday, Feb. 29 from noon-3 p.m.

Free prepackaged bags of nonperishable food items will be provided to those in need. Food resources include shelf-stable pantry items such as dry cereal, breakfast bars, pasta, soups, cans of vegetables, tuna, and chicken, and more. Bags will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis due to a limited supply.

The Wright Center is also accepting donations of food items from the public. Donations are being accepted at The Wright Center for Community Health’s Clarks Summit, Mid Valley, and Scranton practices.

Volunteers representing the PA-ACP Eastern Chapter and The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency Program will pack and distribute the bags of food.

The nation’s largest medical specialty organization, the American College of Physicians (ACP) has about 159,000 members who are internal medicine physicians and medical students. The Pennsylvania Chapter of the ACP consists of three regions: Eastern, Western, and Southeastern. 

Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, also serves as governor of the PA-ACP Eastern Chapter. The food pantry is another example of The Wright Center living its mission is to improve the health and welfare of communities through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired and competent workforce that is privileged to serve. 

Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak

“The health and welfare of our communities depend on equitable access to high-quality, affordable primary and preventive care and nutritious foods,” said Dr. Thomas-Hemak. “I am honored to be organizing this initiative and calling forth all my PA-ACP Eastern Chapter member colleagues to engage. Days of Giving offer us all opportunities to come beyond our usual daily responsibilities to answer what Martin Luther King, Jr. identified as life’s most persistent and urgent question: “What are you doing for others?”

For more information about the pop-up food pantry or to donate to it, please contact Gerri McAndrew, co-director, The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement, at mcandrewg@TheWrightCenter.org.

The Wright Center for Community Health launches Walk with a Doc program in Lackawanna County

Walk with a doc banner

The Wright Center for Community Health is encouraging residents to take a step toward better health with Walk with a Doc, a health program that brings doctors and patients together to walk the first Saturday of every month at 9 a.m. beginning March 2 at the David P. Maslar Memorial Park in Archbald. The walk begins at the Laurel Street Trail Head.

Walk with a Doc is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire communities through movement and conversation.

“This program has had tremendous participation and success in hundreds of cities around the world,” said Nicole Lipinski, a registered nurse and director of the Geriatric Service Line at The Wright Center for Community Health. “I’m very pleased to announce that The Wright Center is bringing this exciting and simple program to Northeast Pennsylvania as it has shown such improved health results for countless people around the world.”

Nicole Lipinski

Nicole Lipinski

The walk is open to the community and people of all ages. Participation is free and pre-registration is not required. Walkers will enjoy a refreshing and rejuvenating walk with doctors and other health care professionals, who will provide support to participants and answer questions during the walk.

“Walk with a Doc is honored to team up with The Wright Center for Community Health. By incorporating this program into the practice, The Wright Center for Community Health is demonstrating an exceptional level of care and commitment to the communities they serve,” said Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist who founded the Walk with a Doc program.

“There’s no question that increasing exercise, even moderately, reduces the risks of many diseases, including coronary heart disease, breast, and colon cancer, and Type 2 diabetes,” added Lipinski, who spearheads the program at The Wright Center. “Research has shown that you could gain two hours of life for each hour that you exercise regularly.”

Walking as little as 30 minutes a day can improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels, help maintain a healthy body weight, and lower the risk of obesity, enhance mental well-being, and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, according to the American Heart Association.

The Wright Center for Community Health, headquartered in Scranton, operates 10 primary and preventive care practices in Northeast Pennsylvania, including a mobile medical and dental vehicle called Driving Better Health. Its practices offer integrated whole-person care, meaning patients typically have the convenience of going to a single location to access medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services.

For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health’s Walk with a Doc program, contact Lipinski at lipinskin@TheWrightCenter.org.

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education receives osteopathic manipulation treatment table from state Osteopathic Medical Association

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education recently received an osteopathic manipulation treatment table from the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association (POMA).

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education recently received an osteopathic manipulation treatment table from the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association (POMA). William Swallow, D.O., M.S., FACOFP, president-elect of POMA, visited The Wright Center’s administrative offices in Scranton to present the table and meet several students with A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine who are learning at The Wright Center. POMA’s foundation regularly makes donations to support osteopathic medical residents across the state. Participating in the presentation, from left, are Samantha Ponce, National Network Program coordinator, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education; SOMA students Douglas Fisher, Amanda Munkres McDonald, and Sandy Durosier, and Dr. Swallow.