Colleen Dougherty, vice president and chief clinical operating officer and director of certified registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant services at The Wright Center for Community Health, holds the certificate The Wright Center received for being named a 2024 Cardiovascular Health Hall of Fame Champion by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Cardiovascular Health Program.

The Wright Center for Community Health was named a 2024 Cardiovascular Health Hall of Fame Champion for making significant contributions to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Cardiovascular Health Program for 2023-24.

The Wright Center worked with Quality Insights, a group dedicated to improving health and care through data-driven solutions, to contribute to the CDC program.

As part of their involvement in the CDC program, Colleen Dougherty, vice president and chief clinical operating officer and director of certified registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant services at The Wright Center for Community Health; Kari Machelli, RN, associate vice president of Integrated Primary Health Services; and Nicole Sekelsky, outreach and enrollment coordinator, shared information during a “Lunch and Learn” session hosted by Quality Insights about the unique strategies The Wright Center utilized to improve the overall health and well-being of patients.

“Our team was honored to participate in this Q&A initiative to share our experience in managing high cholesterol and highlighting the importance of patient-centered care. We incorporated real stories where clinicians helped empower patients to take an active role in their health,” Dougherty said. “By adopting a team-based approach to primary care, we can identify and manage patients with high cholesterol and those at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which is commonly called ASCVD. Early intervention is crucial in preventing devastating health events and improving our patients’ overall well-being.”

During the 30-minute open panel discussion, The Wright Center’s presenters discussed how community health workers (CHWs) and nurses work together to support patients identified with high cholesterol and other chronic conditions. CHWs at The Wright Center connect patients to a variety of social services and community resources, including local food pantries, medication discount programs, transportation to and from doctor appointments, and more to help patients focus on improving their health.

“At The Wright Center, our community health workers serve as a link for the patient, clinician, and outside resources,” said Sekelsky, who has worked as a CHW for The Wright Center since 2022. “We have the ability to assist and educate patients to help them take control of their own health, no matter the diagnosis.”

The Wright Center for Community Health’s building in Wilkes-Barre.

The Wright Center for Community Health unveiled an expanded dental clinic and a new behavioral health wing at its community health center in Wilkes-Barre, part of ongoing renovations of the 34,460-square-foot former office building just blocks from downtown.

The third phase of renovations at 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave., adds about 7,700 square feet of space, including 10 dental operatories, a dental clinician room, and 15 new behavioral health and behavioral health clinician rooms. A second reception desk doubles the number of patients who can check in at one time.

Wilkes-Barre’s new dental wing is the largest in The Wright Center’s network and boasts cutting-edge technology, including an Orthopantomograph 3D LX that provides 3-D dental imaging. The machine can take a single panoramic X-ray of the teeth, mandible, and maxilla, giving clinicians more detail as they diagnose and treat patients.

Dr. Michael Regan will begin seeing patients in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday, Aug. 6. Dental hygienists Jenna Topa and Samantha Solack will support Dr. Regan.

The new behavioral health wing offers comfortably furnished treatment and counseling rooms, meeting rooms, and office space, as well as space for case management, community-based substance use disorder treatment and recovery services, and medication-assisted treatment.

The community health center in Wilkes-Barre opened its doors to patients on Jan. 9, 2023. It is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. To make an appointment, call 570-491-0126 or visit TheWrightCenter.org.

A dentist who completed his residency with The Wright Center for Community Health will see patients at the newly expanded dental wing at the nonprofit’s community health center in Wilkes-Barre.

Dr. Regan completed his postdoctoral Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at The Wright Center’s community health center in Scranton through an affiliation with New York University Langone Health’s Dental Medicine Postdoctoral Residency Program. The well-known program is the world’s largest postdoctoral dental residency program of its kind, training about 400 dental residents annually at partner sites in nearly 30 states.

The community health center in Wilkes-Barre opened its doors to patients on Jan. 9, 2023. Since then, a multiphase expansion project has proceeded inside the 34,460-square-foot facility, a former office building only blocks from the city’s downtown business district.

The Wright Center, headquartered in Scranton, has a growing network of 12 community health centers in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties, including a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health. Its locations offer affordable, high-quality, nondiscriminatory, whole-person primary health services to people of all ages regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay. Patients typically have the convenience of going to a single location to access integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based substance use disorder treatment and recovery services.

The Wright Center for Community Health will host a week of activities aimed at improving the health and well-being of communities in Northeast Pennsylvania as part of National Health Center Week from Aug. 4-10.

The Wright Center, one of nearly 1,400 community health centers in the country, served more than 35,400 unique patients in fiscal year 2023-24. Community health centers represent the largest primary care network in the nation, delivering care to more than 30 million people annually, or one in 11 people nationwide. Of those served, one in three people live in poverty and one in five are uninsured, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers, which organizes National Health Center Week.

This year’s National Health Center Week theme is “Powering our Communities Through Caring Connections,” an important reminder of the critical role that community health centers play in strengthening the delivery of whole-person primary health services to underserved populations across the nation.

The Wright Center for Community Health’s headquarters is at its Teaching Health Center in Scranton, 501 S. Washington Ave.

The Wright Center will kick off National Health Center Week a day early by offering vaccinations, dental screenings, free backpacks and school supplies for children, Narcan kits, and more at the second annual NEPA’s Latino Fiesta on Saturday, Aug. 3, from noon to 6 p.m. at Nay Aug Park, 500 Arthur Ave., Scranton.

Other National Health Center events organized by The Wright Center include:
● Monday, Aug. 5: Distributing care packages for people experiencing homelessness from 5-7 p.m., at Keystone Mission, 90 E. Union St., Wilkes-Barre.
● Monday, Aug. 5: Distributing coloring books, crayons, vaccine information, and more from noon to 3 p.m. at the Co-op Farmers Market, 900 Barring Ave., Scranton.
● Tuesday, Aug. 6: Distributing backpacks and school supplies for children, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., at The Wright Center’s Teaching Health Center in Hawley, 103 Spruce St.
● Wednesday, Aug. 7: Serving lunch and distributing backpacks and school supplies for children, noon to 2 p.m., at The Wright Center’s Teaching Health Center in Wilkes-Barre, 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave.
● Thursday, Aug. 8: Distributing backpacks and school supplies for children, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., at The Wright Center’s Teaching Health Center in South Abington Township, 1145 Northern Blvd.
● Friday, Aug. 9: Distributing backpacks and school supplies for children, 3-4:30 p.m., at the Carbondale Public Library, 5 N. Main St.
● Saturday, Aug. 10: Distributing backpacks and school supplies for children, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., at The Wright Center’s Teaching Health Center in Jermyn, 5 S. Washington Ave.

Expansion work continues at the 34,460-square-foot Wilkes-Barre health center with plans to house 45 medical examination rooms, 30 behavioral health rooms, 10 dental operatories, and more. When completed, the 10 dental operatories will significantly increase much-needed access to dental care, reduce wait times, and accommodate the growing demand for oral care services in Luzerne County.

“The Wright Center will be able to offer a comprehensive suite of whole-person primary and dental services under one roof, promote holistic patient well-being, and provide an expanded training ground for future dentists and allied health care professionals, contributing to a skilled health care workforce,” said Kimberly McGoff, The Wright Center’s director of dental operations.

To ensure high-quality oral care is available to everyone, The Wright Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike and safety-net provider, accepts most dental insurances and offers a sliding-fee discount program to those who qualify based on federal poverty guidelines that take family size and income into account. No patient is turned away because of an inability to pay.

The Wright Center for Community Health is expanding access to comprehensive whole-person primary health services in Wyoming County with the opening of a new health center in the former Tyler Memorial Hospital on Monday, Sept. 9.

The Wright Center for Community Health has been providing safety-net primary and preventive care services for underserved populations and communities for decades. Family doctors and advanced care practitioners will offer services for people of all ages, from pediatrics to geriatrics, at the full-service, family-friendly office at 5950 U.S. Route 6, Suite 401.

Wyoming County businessman Bill Ruark bought the former Tyler Memorial Hospital through a limited family partnership in 2023 and began developing the building as a nonprofit medical facility called Wyoming County Healthcare Center Inc.

“It is critical to have these medical services back in the area,” said Sara Ergott, outreach coordinator for Wyoming County Healthcare Center. “The goal is to make this space a hub for all types of health care services that are not easily accessible for those in our rural region. With the loss of the hospital in 2021 and the retirements of many local health care providers, there is a great need for this building to curb those deficits. The goal is to fill the space with the types of services that are in demand and, in turn, create a happier and healthier community.”

The Ruark family approached leadership at The Wright Center in the fall to discuss adding more services at the Wyoming County Healthcare Center.

With the opening of the Tunkhannock location, The Wright Center for Community Health now has 12 locations in Northeast Pennsylvania, including a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health.

The Wright Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike with a growing network of community health centers throughout Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. More than 31.5 million people across the nation receive affordable, high-quality health care each year at community health centers like The Wright Center, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

The community health center initiative, founded by leaders of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, was envisioned as a way to deliver care in underserved areas such as low-income urban neighborhoods and rural settings. Promoters saw it as a means to improve people’s health while also empowering communities and reducing poverty, as health centers offer access to low-cost or no-cost services as well as family-sustaining employment opportunities.

Today, there are more than 1,400 community health centers and look-alike organizations in the U.S., according to NACHC.