The Wright Center for Community Health’s Ryan White Clinic is the presenting sponsor for the 2024 PrideFest Parade and Celebration in downtown Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, June 23, from noon to 4 p.m. Participating in the kickoff announcement, seated from left, are Jesse Macko, Rainbow Alliance; Ashley Armstrong, The Wright Center and Rainbow Alliance; Shea Hughes, Rainbow Alliance and co-chair special events; Gwendolyn Smith and Sister Ruth Neeley, RSM, Ryan White Clinic; Duane Elders, Rainbow Alliance, special events marketing committee; and Joseph Farley, Ryan White Clinic; second row, Olivia Rolland, Beverly Birch, and Stephanie Tyson, Ryan White Clinic; Katie Spencer, Rainbow Alliance; Dr. Mary Louise Decker, medical director, Ryan White Clinic; Chris Goldyn, Karen McKenna, and Melissa Bonnerwith, Ryan White Clinic; Meagan Zielinski, Rainbow Alliance, special events committee; and Sharon Whitebread and Ashley Gula, Ryan White Clinic.

The Wright Center for Community Health’s Ryan White HIV Clinic will be the presenting sponsor for the Northeast Pennsylvania Rainbow Alliance’s annual Pridefest Parade and Celebration in downtown Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, June 23. The parade begins at noon, with the celebration to follow on Public Square until 4 p.m.

The Northeast Pennsylvania Rainbow Alliance provides education, support, and advocacy for individuals and families who are LGBTQ+ while working to advance fairness and equality. The Rainbow Alliance envisions a future where all people in the region can live openly and free from fear, and where individuals, organizations, and businesses work collaboratively to build an equal, inclusive community. The nonprofit organization works to educate and empower its volunteers to create strategic, peer-driven, sustainable programming that is overseen by volunteer leadership.

The formation for the parade begins at 11 a.m., near East South and South Main streets, two blocks off Public Square. The program includes more than 75 vendors, drag performances, and more. For more information, go to RainbowAlliance.org/Pridefest.

For almost 25 years, The Wright Center for Community Health’s Ryan White HIV Clinic has been providing comprehensive whole-person primary health and support services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS, including integrated primary care, medication assistance, case management, mental health, and other support services. The Ryan White Clinic offers services at The Wright Center for Community Health locations in Scranton, 501 S. Washington Ave., and Wilkes-Barre, 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave., and serves Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, Wayne, Pike, Susquehanna, and Monroe counties.

For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health’s Ryan White HIV Clinic go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-941-0630.

Scholarly researchers at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education received a certificate of merit from the American College of Physicians for an abstract one of the authors presented at ACP’s Internal Medicine Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The authors, from left, Drs. Ali Shah and Lehka Yadukumar, Internal Medicine residency physicians; Dr. Milos Babic, associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency; and Dr. Maimona Chaudhary, an Internal Medicine residency physician, wrote a case report on a 25-year-old patient with a rare cancer.

A Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education resident physician’s chance meeting with a patient at a local hospital led to the opportunity to present a winning scholarly abstract about a medical rarity at the American College of Physicians (ACP) Internal Medicine Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Maimona Chaudhary, an Internal Medicine resident physician, first encountered the subject of the abstract, a 25-year-old woman, while on rotation at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The patient arrived at the emergency department with lesions on her legs. What medical personnel initially diagnosed as second-degree burns ended up being a rare symptom of biclonal multiple myeloma – a cancer that only affects people under the age of 40 in about 2% of cases.

“Upon follow-up, the lesions were diagnosed as paraneoplastic pemphigus, which is rare in itself,” said Dr. Chaudhary. “But then they found she had multiple myeloma, without any of the usual symptoms, without any family history. There were a lot of oddities in this case.”

Dr. Chaudhary, a first-year resident physician from Hamilton, Ontario, followed the patient’s case over the next several months and produced a case report with colleagues from The Wright Center, including Drs. Ali Shah and Lehka Yadukumar, Internal Medicine residency physicians; Dr. Milos Babic, associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency; and medical student Omaima Chaudhary, who received her medical degree from the University of Limerick School of Medicine and will join The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency in July.

The researchers submitted the case report, “Paraneoplastic Pemphigus as the Presenting Sign of Biclonal Multiple Myeloma in a 25-Year Old Female: A Case Report,” to the ACP’s resident/fellow national abstract competition, which receives several hundred entries annually. The abstract was one of 20 awarded a certificate of merit by the ACP. Dr. Chaudhary delivered the five-minute presentation on the case.

“It was difficult to cover everything in five minutes,” she said. “I think this case really stood out to the ACP judges because it was so unusual.”

Dr. Chaudhary monitored the patient’s case, although she is not involved in her ongoing treatment. The woman’s cancer treatment was delayed for months as doctors worked to heal the skin lesions caused by paraneoplastic pemphigus, along with other complications. She recently began chemotherapy, and all signs point to a positive outcome.

As for Dr. Chaudhary’s future, she’s still deciding what type of medicine to pursue.

“I’m still exploring,” she said. “I want to do something I really enjoy. We get to pick electives in our second year, so I can start to see where I want to go from here.”

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education was established in 1976 as the Scranton-Temple Residency Program, a community-based internal medicine residency. Today, The Wright Center is one of the largest U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortiums in the nation. Together with consortium stakeholders, The Wright Center trains residents and fellows in a community-based, community-needs-responsive workforce development model to advance their shared mission to improve the health and welfare of communities through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce that is privileged to serve.

The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education are introducing the internationally popular Walk with a Doc program to Luzerne County beginning Saturday, May 18 at 9 a.m. On the third Saturday of every month, doctors and patients meet at Kirby Park to take a step toward better health.

On the third Saturday of every month, doctors and resident and fellow physicians will meet at the main entrance to Kirby Park, 280 Market St., Kingston, to walk around the park.

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.

For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health’s regional Walk with a Doc program, go to TheWrightCenter.org/events or call 570-209-4868.

To help reduce opioid-related deaths in the region, The Wright Center for Community Health is participating in a state-led initiative to distribute free overdose-reversing medication and other harm-reduction supplies.

Individuals can receive naloxone kits – a potentially life-saving medicine that is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration – and drug-checking strips by visiting The Wright Center for Community Health – Hawley, 103 Spruce St. The practice is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is not necessary to be a Wright Center patient or to provide ID.

“Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose,” said Scott Constantini, associate vice president of primary care and recovery services integration at The Wright Center for Community Health. “At this phase of the ongoing epidemic, it makes sense for more people to have naloxone kits in the event of an emergency with a family member, friend, coworker, or stranger. You never know when you can save a life.”

Jeffrey Zerechak, director of the Wayne County Drug and Alcohol Commission, noted the epidemic’s hard-hitting impact on the Northeast region, especially in rural areas where treatment options might be limited and stigma prevents some people from seeking care. “We encourage anyone in Wayne County who needs help to please stop by our office or call us. Don’t wait any longer. Addiction is an illness that only gets worse over time.”

The opioid epidemic, which has claimed the lives of about 14,000 Pennsylvanians in the past three years, continues to ravage communities and families. By increasing access to harm-reduction supplies, state health officials and others hope to limit fatalities and link more people who use drugs to effective treatment programs.

Evidence suggests that providing access to naloxone does not lead to more or riskier drug use. Rather, people revived by the medication might find that the near-death experience serves as a wake-up call, compelling them to seek help and maintain recovery.

The Wright Center for Community Health, a Scranton-based provider of whole-person primary health services, is committed to helping individuals with substance use disorder. The Wright Center became a state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence in 2016. Since then, it has provided outpatient addiction treatment and recovery services, including medication-assisted treatment, to thousands of people in Northeast Pennsylvania. To learn more about the services available through its Center of Excellence, call 570-230-0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org/services/coe.

For more information about naloxone access at The Wright Center for Community Health’s locations and other regional distribution sites, go to TheWrightCenter.org/naloxone-access.

To connect with the Wayne County Drug and Alcohol Commission, visit its website or call 570-253-6022.

The Wright Center for Community Health’s Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care (ADC) Program, based on the award-winning UCLA Program, is now listed in a national database of proven, effective dementia care programs.

Best Programs for Caregiving, a partnership between the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging and Family Caregiver Alliance, is a free, searchable, and interactive database that helps families and caregivers find the right program for their loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia. The website includes descriptions of the program, whether it is offered in-person or online, information on providers, eligibility criteria, how to enroll, languages offered, and more. To see The Wright Center’s ADC Program listing, visit bpc.caregiver.org/caregivers/12/967.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association 2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, 6.7 million people 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s dementia in the United States, including over 280,000 in Pennsylvania. The report says there were an estimated 404,000 family caregivers in Pennsylvania in 2022.

“The Wright Center is very proud of the care we provide to patients and caregivers in this program,” said Nicole Lipinski, director of the geriatric service line. “It’s an honor to be listed in this database, especially as we continue to grow the program and provide patient-centered care for all participants.”

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 unit called Driving Better Health. Its locations offer integrated whole-person primary health services, 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’s integrated whole-person primary health services or for the nearest location, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.

The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement (PCE) received 10,000 pairs of Bombas socks to distribute to people experiencing homelessness and residents who are going through financial hardship. Participating in the delivery of the donation, from left, are Mary Marrara, co-chair of the PCE Board; Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, and co-chair of the PCE Board; Kara Seitzinger, director of public affairs; Helayna Szescila, deputy chief governance officer; the Rev. Ryan Glenn, pastor of Christ the King and Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Archbald; and Gerri McAndrew, director of development & relations for community outreach.

The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement (PCE) received 10,000 pairs of warm, cozy socks from Bombas to distribute to people experiencing homelessness and hardship throughout the region.

PCE, a subsidiary of The Wright Center for Community Health, focuses on improving access to health care while addressing the negative social and economic determinants of health that affect patients and community members, including food insecurity, homelessness, poverty, and access to education. Throughout the year, PCE hosts clothing giveaways at Wright Center for Community Health locations and community events. Additionally, it hosts regular food distributions, backpack and school supply giveaways, and provides transportation vouchers to patients who have difficulty getting to and from doctors’ appointments.

The socks will be distributed to people experiencing homelessness, as well as residents who are experiencing financial hardship or emergency situations, according to Holly Przasnyski, director of The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement.

“We’re thrilled to receive this generous donation from Bombas,” she said. “A pair of socks can be such a comfort.”

Bombas is a comfort-focused, basic apparel brand with a mission to help those in need. The company was originally founded in 2013 because socks are the No. 1 most requested clothing item at homeless shelters. Underwear and T-shirts are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. While the brand started with and is known for its extremely comfortable socks, Bombas used its expertise in comfort to launch into apparel with T-shirts in 2019 and, most recently, underwear in 2021. For every item purchased, a specially designed item is donated to someone at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. To date, Bombas has donated over 100 million items.

For more information about PCE, call 570.343.2383, ext. 1444, or visit TheWrightCenter.org/ patient-and-community-engagement.