Legislators joined officials with The Wright Center for Community Health and Friendship House for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Oct. 24 to celebrate the Friendship House’s new Whole Person Care Center at 200 Wyoming Ave. in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Participants in the ribbon-cutting included from left, state Rep. Kyle Donahue, Wright Center for Community Health Board Vice Chair Richard Krebs, Friendship House Board Treasurer Laurie Cadden, state Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, Friendship House President and CEO Alex J. Hazzouri, Wright Center President and CEO Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, state Sen. Marty Flynn, and Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bob Durkin.

The Wright Center for Community Health is partnering with Friendship House to improve access to whole-person primary health services, especially for individuals with complex mental health and/or substance use disorder needs.

Starting on Tuesday, Nov. 5, The Wright Center will offer primary health services at Friendship House’s new Whole Person Care Center, 200 Wyoming Ave., Suite 250, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The new location will begin by opening from noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, providing a range of services such as checkups, physicals, screenings, and treatment for common illnesses and injuries. These services will be available to individuals of all ages, regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay.

Patients do not need to be clients of Friendship House to receive care at The Wright Center’s new location.

Friendship House provides support to children, adolescents, and adults facing developmental disabilities, emotional or behavioral challenges, or the effects of distress from loss, abuse, or neglect. In March 2022, the nonprofit acquired the two-story, 22,000-square-foot facility, which spans the Davidow Building at 200-216 Wyoming Ave., and the former Murray Building at 413-415 Biden St.

The new center’s goal is to integrate mental health, substance use disorder, and physical health services, improving health outcomes while optimizing the use of resources. Along with The Wright Center’s primary health services, Friendship House will offer mental health and substance use disorder services, and The Prescription Center will provide pharmacy services.

“This integrated model will enhance care coordination and improve patient care outcomes, especially in terms of chronic medical condition management,” said Kathleen Barry, deputy chief operating officer of The Wright Center for Community Health. “We’re thrilled to be able to work closely with Friendship House, one of our great community partners, and enhance our ability to address the complex health and social needs of patients in our communities.”

Hazzouri noted that his organization has been in discussions with The Wright Center for several years about a collaboration. The Wright Center and Friendship House treat patients of all ages, income levels, and insurance statuses.

“Thousands of people live, work, and study in downtown Scranton every day,” Hazzouri said, noting that 17 of the county’s 22 bus routes pass by the new Whole Person Care Center. “The accessibility will help make the center integral to a healthy Scranton and a healthy Lackawanna County.”

Dr. Jignesh Sheth, senior vice president and chief medical and information officer at The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, received the 2024 Outstanding Primary Care Clinician Award from the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) in recognition of his significant contributions in the delivery of primary care to vulnerable populations. He accepted the award on Oct. 8 during the organization’s Annual Conference and Clinical Summit in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Dually board-certified in internal medicine and addiction medicine, Dr. Sheth also sees adult patients at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice in Jermyn.

His initiatives, such as remote patient monitoring, electronic health records integration, and the use of AI-powered tools, have enhanced patient outcomes, supported population health management, and strengthened operational efficiency. Dr. Sheth’s leadership and creative problem-solving have also contributed to The Wright Center’s designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike and successful grant acquisitions.

Under his leadership, The Wright Center for Community Health’s Mid Valley Practice earned the highest Level-3 Patient-Centered Medical Home accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

Dr. Sheth received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with honors in biochemistry, medicine, and public health in 2004 from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Wardha, India. He earned his Master’s in Public Health with a specialization in health promotion in 2006 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

After completing his internal medicine residency in 2009 through the Scranton-Temple Residency Program, now The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, Dr. Sheth joined The Wright Center as an internal medicine primary care physician and lead physician for population management and reporting.

His pioneering and innovative approaches that have significantly improved patient wellness and health care delivery have earned him several promotions at The Wright Center, including vice president for patient safety and quality in 2013, culminating in his current role as senior vice president and chief medical and information officer, a position he has held since 2018.

In August, Dr. Sheth won the National Association of Community Health Centers’ (NACHC) 2024 Innovative Research in Primary Care Award, and City and State Pennsylvania named him a 2024 Trailblazer in Building and Infrastructure.

The NACHC award, which honors a health center clinician who has been active in primary care research or evaluation in community practice, prevention, public health, care coordination, or the clinical practice of medical services, was presented during the organization’s 2024 Community Health Institute (CHI) & Expo Conference held Aug. 24-26 in Atlanta.

City and State Pennsylvania recognized Dr. Sheth for his visionary leadership, strategic planning, research, and meticulous attention to detail in transforming 10 buildings across Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties into The Wright Centers’ welcoming and comprehensive primary health care centers. These centers provide whole-person primary health services to people of all ages regardless of insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay, and have significantly enhanced care delivery and overall well-being for underserved populations throughout Northeast Pennsylvania.

Dr. Sheth and his wife, Hetal Sheth, live in Clarks Summit with their children, Zian, 9, and Jiaa, 5.

Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, received the 2024 Wilford Payne Health Center Mentor Award from the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) in recognition of her outstanding leadership, mentorship, and dedication to nurturing future health care leaders.

She accepted the award, part of PACHC’s Awards for Primary Care Excellence (APEX), on Oct. 8 during the organization’s Annual Conference and Clinical Summit in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“I am truly humbled and honored to receive the Wilford Payne Health Center Mentor Award, an Award for Primary Care Excellence or APEX Award from the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers,” said Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education. “Mentorship is a sacred privilege and crucial leadership responsibility at The Wright Center.

 “This recognition reflects the collective work of my extraordinary colleagues and our shared commitment to cultivating and inspiring the next generation of compassionate, skilled, and visionary health care leaders. Inspired by the impact of Wilford Payne, whose leadership work advanced and elevated the health center movement in our state and nation, I remain deeply committed to empowering those who choose to devote their careers to public service and the health center movement. Mentorship force multiplies our personal impact on the health and well-being of our communities, carrying it forward to a preferred future.”

Dr. Thomas-Hemak has spearheaded The Wright Center for Community Health’s transformation into one of the first state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Centers of Excellence in 2016 to improve access to substance use disorder treatment. Amid surging obesity rates, she guided physicians at The Wright Center to become board-certified in obesity medicine.

As president/CEO, she has expanded the nonprofit safety net to 11 primary and preventative care health centers in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties and a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health. Each provides affordable, high-quality, nondiscriminatory, high-quality, responsive whole-person primary health services to individuals of all ages, regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay.

Her leadership also transformed The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education into one of the nation’s largest Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortiums (GME-SNC) funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The GME-SNC effectively addresses the national shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians, as well as health and workforce shortages, by maximizing public investments in primary care, responsive community health services, and innovative physician and interprofessional workforce development, along with other vital and related public health initiatives.

Under Dr. Thomas-Hemak’s stewardship, The Wright Center has achieved numerous prestigious distinctions, including its designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike in 2019, which unlocked essential federal resources for the region and greatly expanded access to high-quality, comprehensive primary care for local families. It has also been recognized as a Top 30 Site for National Primary Care Innovations by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and, in 2024, was inducted into the esteemed American Medical Association’s ChangeMedEd Consortium.

A founding board member of the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Dr. Thomas-Hemak is governor of the eastern region of the American College of Physicians’ Pennsylvania Chapter, the nation’s largest medical-specialty organization. She is a member of the Council on Graduate Medical Education for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration; vice president and founding board member of the American Association of Teaching Health Centers; governing board chair and executive committee member of the Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center; and advisory board member of the Health Federation of Philadelphia’s Health Center Controlled Network. She also serves as a board member for the Keystone Accountable Care Organization, The Institute, and the Center for Health and Human Services Research and Action.

In recognition of her advocacy and leadership, Dr. Thomas-Hemak has received numerous awards, including the Ann Preston Women in Medicine Award, the Hometown Scholar Advocate of the Year Award, the National Association of Community Health Centers Elizabeth K. Cooke Advocacy MVP Award, and City and State Pennsylvania’s 2024 Trailblazers in Healthcare.

She and her husband, Mark, reside in Jermyn and have three children, Mason, Maya, and Antoinette. Dr. Thomas-Hemak is the daughter of the late William Thomas and Johanna Cavalieri Thomas, who lives in Archbald.

Dr. Muhammad Ishaq, a 2024 graduate of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Geriatrics Fellowship Program and an internal medicine resident physician at Rochester Regional Health’s Unity Hospital in upstate New York, was lauded for spearheading a quality improvement project and initiatives to boost older adults’ vaccination rates at The Wright Center’s primary care community health centers. Along with his colleagues, Dr. Ishaq, who received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Khyber Medical College in Peshawar, Pakistan, established a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely) goal framework to help seniors take charge of their health and lives, integrated electronic medical record changes to prompt providers about patient vaccination statuses, and increased educational outreach and awareness.

A Carbondale native board-certified in internal medicine and geriatrics medicine, Dr. Dzielak, of Greenfield Twp., has dedicated more than four decades of his life to medicine, specifically in internal medicine, critical care, and geriatrics.

Dr. Dzielak accepts patients over the age of 60 at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave. Jermyn. To make an appointment, to schedule a vaccine, or for more information on The Wright Center’s geriatric services line, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call (570) 230-0019.

The Wright Center’s geriatric services line has been recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an Age-Friendly Health System Partner, offering a full range of comprehensive, safety-net primary care and support services for older adults. A cornerstone of the program is the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Clinic, which provides thorough evaluations and testing accessible to all patients, regardless of their primary care provider. Additionally, The Wright Center is one of just 10 health systems nationwide selected to implement the innovative Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program developed by UCLA.

Founded in 1942, the AGS is a New York-based nonprofit organization with more than 6,000 members that is dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of older adults.

Dr. Manju Mary Thomas, a pediatrician and deputy chief medical officer and medical director of pediatrics and school- and community-based medical home services at The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, has been appointed to the Pennsylvania School-Based Health Alliance (PSBHA) Board of Directors.

The Philadelphia-based PSBHA advocates for school-based health centers by promoting the development of innovative, scalable care systems that address the key medical and academic challenges caused by limited access to high-quality health care and wellness education.

She joins Robin Rosencrans, executive administrative assistant at The Wright Center, who serves as secretary on the PSBHA board of directors.

Dr. Thomas is also co-leading the recent relaunch of Lackawanna County’s Reach Out and Read, a nonprofit national program that distributes books to children during their regular pediatric visits to promote early literacy and health through pediatric care.

She earned her medical degree from St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, India, and completed her pediatrics residency at Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Before joining The Wright Center in 2021, she was an attending pediatrician at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

To earn this badge, health centers must have adopted an electronic health record system, offered telehealth services, exchanged clinical information online with key providers’ health care settings, engaged patients through health IT, and collected data on patient social risk factors.

HRSA displays information about all of its badge recipients – which include many of the country’s 1,370 Federally Qualified Health Centers and 117 Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alikes, including The Wright Center – on an online dashboard accessible via its website, hrsa.gov.