Wright Center employees pose for a picture after participating in a press conference that introduced the City of Wilkes-Barre to the new primary and preventive care practice. The Wright Center for Community Health Wilkes-Barre Practice opens Jan. 9.

The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education will increase access to high-quality, comprehensive, affordable primary health services and health care career development opportunities through relocation and expansion of their Kingston primary care and workforce development center into downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The Wright Center for Community Health recently completed the purchase and is repurposing a 34,460-square-foot building at 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave. The more than 3-acre site enables the nonprofit community health center to expand opportunities for regional residents to receive integrated, whole-person primary health care at one convenient location. The new primary care clinic will educate primary care physicians, medical students, and interprofessional health students from regionally and nationally affiliated academic institutions. The center will open Monday, Jan. 9, at 8 a.m.

“We are also grateful to and inspired by our supportive governmental and legislative leaders, Sordoni Construction, and all of our partners who made this development project in Wilkes-Barre possible. We look forward to giving back through the regional and local community benefit impact we deliver,” Dr. Thomas-Hemak added. “Together, we are building a preferred future in which everyone will benefit from a health system that prioritizes equity, quality, and affordability of comprehensive primary health care services and career opportunities.

“Our deep investment into Wilkes-Barre will enable The Wright Center to grow our operations and our collaborative, interprofessional relationships to ensure everyone in the service area has equitable access to whole-person primary health services, regardless of their ZIP code, insurance status, or ability to pay. We are equally committed to pipeline, community-driven partnerships to open up dream mapping about health care career opportunities, so the demographics of our future health care workforce can better and more inclusively reflect the demographics of our regional community,” she added.   

The Wright Center is no stranger to Luzerne County. The enterprise has operated teaching health centers in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston for many years and partnered on several public health initiatives with community resource agencies. The Wright Center for Community Health has utilized its 34-foot mobile medical unit, better known as Driving Better Health, to further address barriers to quality care in several underserved communities, partnering with social service organizations and school districts in lower Luzerne County to deliver routine vaccinations, COVID-19 vaccinations, boosters, and testing to where people live, work, and study. 

The first phase of the new clinical, educational and administrative center in Wilkes-Barre will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on holidays that occur Monday through Saturday.

Dr. Jignesh Sheth, chief medical officer, left, discusses the Wilkes-Barre Practice with Mayor George Brown and state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski.

The center has ample, off-street parking and is within walking distance of downtown Wilkes-Barre, the James F. Conahan Intermodal Transportation Center, and public transportation bus stops. It will offer family-friendly primary medical, behavioral, and addiction and recovery services across the lifespan, from pediatrics to geriatrics. Ultimately, its integrated services will offer patients the convenience of going to a single location to access full-service primary medical, dental, behavioral health, addiction and recovery services, and other supportive programs.

Over the next several months, The Wright Center will hopefully be adding more than 25 medical examination rooms, 30 behavioral health rooms, and 10 dental operatories to increase access. The new facility will also include state-of-the-art conference and learning rooms, complete with audio-visual technology, computers, and more for provider care teams and learners, as well as dedicated space for partnering community resource agencies. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Children and infants as young as 6 months old can now receive the updated coronavirus vaccines at several of The Wright Center for Community Health’s primary care practices, increasing their defense against sickness during the upcoming holiday season and new year.

Nationally, health officials have in recent weeks reported a surge of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV. Hospitals in some areas have returned to operating at or near capacity levels due to the sharp rise in seasonal illnesses. Meanwhile, certain cold medications are in short supply, and officials in several large U.S. cities are again urging indoor masking.

Lackawanna and Luzerne counties were classified as “low” for community spread of COVID-19 as of Dec. 8. New cases, though, had trended higher in the weeks since Thanksgiving. And, Susquehanna County’s community level is currently “high,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People can schedule appointments by visiting The Wright Center’s website at TheWrightCenter.org and using the express online scheduling service or by calling 570.230.0019. Locations currently offering the updated pediatric boosters include the Kingston Practice, the Mid Valley Practice in Jermyn, and the Scranton Practice. A patient may choose to receive the booster shot with or without a vital sign assessment and/or primary care office visit, for which out-of-pocket expenses might be billed by the patient’s health insurance provider.

Adults and children 6 months and older also are encouraged to get an annual flu shot. All available flu vaccines in the U.S. for the 2022-23 season are the quadrivalent variety, meaning they are designed to protect against four different flu viruses. Appointments to receive the flu vaccine can be made at any of The Wright Center’s locations in Northeast Pennsylvania.

The Wright Center for Community Health, headquartered in Scranton, is a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike that operates eight primary care practices in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties.

The Wright Center provides comprehensive primary and preventive health services – including medical, dental, behavioral health, addiction and recovery, and infectious disease services – that cover the lifespan from pediatrics to geriatrics. The Wright Center’s sliding-fee discount program ensures health care is affordable for everyone in need. No patient is turned away due to an inability to pay.

Ann Hart, M.S., CRC, of Scranton, has been named director of the Graduate and Undergraduate Medical Education Experience at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education.

In this role, Hart will be responsible for the development, implementation, and quality improvement of programs and policies that will expand resident, fellow, and student wellness and the promotion of a healthy environment for all learners. She will also be responsible for the deployment and oversight of mental health and wellness initiatives that will benefit residents, fellows, and medical students as they navigate the demands of a rigorous medical school program. Hart will provide consultation and conduct mental health and wellness screenings at learner sites based on customized risk assessment and wellness plans.

Active in the local community, Hart volunteers with the St. Joseph Center’s Challengers baseball and soccer teams, the Friends of the Poor food distribution program, and facilitates relapse process seminars on addiction for The Recovery Bank, a peer-driven recovery support center in Scranton.

The Wright Center for Community Health recently received three grant awards from the city of Scranton as part of a distribution of federal funds to promote residents’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scranton awarded a total of about $1 million in wellness grants to nearly two-dozen area nonprofits. City officials focused this round of grant giving on three categories: drug overdose prevention, behavioral health and violence prevention, and wellness.

The Wright Center – a Scranton-based provider of primary health care and preventive services – is active in all three of the targeted categories and was chosen to receive a combined $145,000 in grant support. The organization will inject those public resources into three ongoing programs to benefit patients, health care providers, and the larger community.

The first award, to be used for overdose and prevention programs, will enable The Wright Center for Community Health to further engage community partners and patients in the services of its state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence. A portion of the $50,000 grant will provide community training on the topics of substance use disorder, medication-assisted treatment, and stigma surrounding addiction. Among the intended recipients of the educational sessions are law enforcement professionals, first responders, and government officials. This grant also will assist with harm reduction and long-term recovery support services in the region, which aim to reduce fatal overdoses.

The second award of $50,000 will be used to enhance The Wright Center for Community Health’s existing resiliency and wellness programming. Its Lifestyle Medicine service line will be integrated more fully into primary health care services, with the intent of engaging more high-risk patients in programs designed to help them positively adjust their behaviors. A prime focus will be on treating obesity as a chronic disease that contributes to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, cancer, and overall premature death.

The third award, in the amount of $45,000, will underwrite The Wright Center’s participation in a training program conducted by the New York-based Sanctuary Institute to promote employee wellness and create a supportive, trauma-informed environment for the benefit of the organization’s workforce, patients, and the broader community. The institute’s training model is seen by many as a needed antidote to the intensified pressure on health care workers and others brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scranton’s mayor announced the wellness grant distributions at a news conference on Nov. 22. The funds are part of $68.7 million that Scranton had received through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to address the pandemic’s economic and health-related fallout on city residents.

The Wright Center for Community Health operates a network of primary care practices in Northeast Pennsylvania, three located in the city, providing access to affordable, nondiscriminatory, high-quality services including medical, dental, and behavioral health care. The nonprofit enterprise also maintains an administrative and educational hub in Scranton’s South Side neighborhood.

For more information, visit TheWrightCenter.org.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently awarded The Wright Center for Community Health with its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition.

The recognition is given annually to health centers that embrace the PCMH model of care, which prioritizes a commitment to continuous quality improvement and a patient-centered approach to care.

With the addition of this recognition, or badge, The Wright Center has received a total of three HRSA badges this year through the federal agency’s Community Health Quality Recognition program.

The Wright Center also previously earned the 2022 Advancing Health Information Technology for Quality badge and the newly established Addressing Social Risk Factors to Health badge.

HRSA annually reviews health centers’ performance data and bestows badges on federal Health Center Program awardees and Look-Alikes that have made notable quality improvement achievements in the areas of health equity, access, quality, and use of health information technology. HRSA encourages the recipients of its badges to prominently display them on the health centers’ websites and elsewhere, as outward symbols of the centers’ leadership in those key areas.

The Wright Center previously adopted the PCMH model of care, with several of its primary care practices in Northeast Pennsylvania being formally evaluated by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and receiving PCMH recognition.

Under the PCMH model of care, a patient is engaged in a direct relationship with a chosen physician or another provider who serves in a leadership role and coordinates a cooperative team of health care professionals. The leader takes responsibility for the comprehensive integrated care provided to the patient, and advocates and arranges appropriate care with other qualified providers, specialists and community resources as needed.

Research has shown that PCMHs can improve the quality of care and the patient experience, while also reducing health care costs.

The Wright Center for Community Health, which in 2019 became a HRSA-designated Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike, currently operates a network of primary care practices in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties.

The Wright Center provides safety-net, comprehensive primary and preventive health services – including medical, dental, behavioral health, addiction and recovery, and infectious disease services – that cover the lifespan from pediatrics to geriatrics. A special emphasis is placed on medically underserved populations, and no patient is turned away due to an inability to pay.

The Wright Center for Community Health is holding several “Know Before You Go” mobile testing clinics in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties to limit the spread of COVID-19 during the holiday season. The Driving Better Health mobile medical unit will offer coronavirus testing for people who are symptomatic from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at clinics in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties. Please go to TheWrightCenter.org/events for more information.

The Wright Center for Community Health is holding several “Know Before You Go” mobile testing clinics in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties to limit the spread of COVID-19 during the holiday season.

The Wright Center will utilize its Driving Better Health mobile medical unit to offer coronavirus testing for people who are symptomatic from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the following clinics:

• Wednesday, Nov. 23: Hawley Practice, 103 Spruce St., Hawley
• Tuesday, Nov. 29: Hawley Practice, 103 Spruce St., Hawley
• Thursday, Dec. 22: Wilkes-Barre Practice, 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre  
• Thursday, Dec. 29: Wilkes-Barre Practice, 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre
• Friday, Dec. 30: Clarks Summit Practice, 1145 Northern Boulevard, South Abington Twp.

“Our special testing clinics are being utilized to remind the public about the importance of testing, especially if you are visiting family and friends for the holidays,” said Dr. Jignesh Y. Sheth, chief medical officer for The Wright Center for Community Health. “We need to work together to minimize the spread and protect high-risk populations from COVID-19, especially as we get further into cold and flu season.” 

Driving Better Health enables The Wright Center for Community Health to deliver high-quality, nondiscriminatory health care where patients live and work in Northeast Pennsylvania. COVID-19 testing is available for patients of all ages. A guardian must accompany patients who are younger than 17. Walk-up appointments are welcome, but appointments are encouraged for the convenience of patients. Please go to TheWrightCenter.org to use the express online scheduling system or call 570-230-0019 to schedule an appointment.

Guests are asked to observe public safety measures, including masking and social distancing, during the testing clinics, and bring identification and insurance cards. 

The Wright Center for Community Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike. Community health centers offer high-quality, affordable and nondiscriminatory safety-net health care services and are the largest providers of primary care for the nation’s most vulnerable and medically underserved populations. Prevalent in both urban and rural settings, community health centers are located in regions with high-poverty rates and/or low numbers of private or nonprofit health care systems and hospitals. 

For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health, go to TheWrightCenter.org.