The Wright Center for Community Health’s Volunteer Board Chair has vision for America
Gerard Geoffroy, third from right, attends annual forums in Washington, D.C., during which he and other representatives from The Wright Center for Community Health advocate for federal funding and support for the nation’s Teaching Health Centers. During a February visit, he was joined by Dr. William Dempsey, a deputy chief medical officer; Jennifer Walsh, senior vice president of enterprise integrity, executive counsel, and chief governance officer; and board members Richard Krebs, Mary Klem, LeeAnn Eschbach, and Pedro Anes.
Geoffroy wants to ensure everyone has access to high-quality health care
After President Joe Biden delivered a speech at Wilkes University in 2022, longtime Jermyn resident Gerard Geoffroy shimmied to the front of the crowd, stuck out his hand, and made a request.
“Mr. President, I want to speak with you about community health centers.”
Geoffroy’s bold move wasn’t out of character for him. He’s been speaking up about the importance of quality health care and community health centers – and advocating for patients to get top treatment – for many years, first as a caregiver for ailing loved ones, then as a volunteer on The Wright Center for Community Health’s Board of Directors, which he now chairs.
“Having worked at making sure my close relatives got the high-quality care that they needed, it grew into a passion for every American to have such high-quality care,” he says. “Everyone deserves it.
“Everyone!” he stresses.
Geoffroy, 74, has traveled to meet with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., Harrisburg, and halls of power across our country to champion funding and support for community health centers like The Wright Center for Community Health, which provide whole-person primary health services to all patients regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay.
His volunteer efforts on behalf of The Wright Center have been impactful, expanding access to primary health services in the region and improving people’s lives. His story serves as a fitting reminder during April’s National Volunteer Week – and every week – of what people can accomplish, if only they dare to roll up their sleeves and get engaged. The annual observance highlights “the power of volunteers to tackle society’s greatest challenges … and be a force that transforms the world.”
In pursuit of quality health care for all Americans, Gerard Geoffroy doesn’t shy from approaching the nation’s power brokers to state his case, as demonstrated in this photo taken when he introduced himself to President Joe Biden.
‘Thoughtful and able leadership’
Geoffroy admittedly wasn’t thinking about changing the world in 2010 when he attended his first health center board meeting. Instead, as someone new to nonprofit governance, he was thinking maybe he didn’t belong.
“There was a conversation going on with a lot of medical terms and acronyms,” he recalls. “I didn’t understand what they were talking about. And I said to myself, ‘I am way out of my league here.’”
He considered resigning from the board immediately. But he chose to give it a chance, and the result was ultimately uplifting for the nonprofit and the patients, families, and communities it serves – and for him.
Geoffroy’s involvement on The Wright Center’s governing bodies has coincided with the health center’s major growth.
He helped as the organization transitioned from a physician-led board to a governing board made up of community members, many of whom are health center patients from all walks of life. In turn, that allowed the nonprofit to achieve designation in 2019 as a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike and subsequently benefit from additional federal expertise and resources.
The Wright Center now operates nine primary care practices in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties, plus a mobile medical and dental vehicle. Its clinic doors are open to patients of all ages, income levels, and insurance statuses.
“From the moment Gerard joined our board, you could sense how his thoughtful and able leadership would force multiply The Wright Center’s delivery of its powerful mission to improve the health and welfare of our communities through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired and competent workforce that is privileged to serve,” says Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education. “He continuously works with his board colleagues and executive leadership to build a preferred future in which everyone will benefit from a health system that prioritizes access, equity, quality, safety, and affordability of comprehensive whole-person primary health services and career opportunities.”
Geoffroy has chaired the health center’s board of directors for the past four years. He prepped for the role by soaking up as much information about its operation as possible, at one time sitting on 13 board committees. He has since “cut back” to eight.
Gerard Geoffroy’s involvement on The Wright Center for Community Health’s governing boards over the past 14 years has coincided with a significant growth phase for the nonprofit, including the opening in late 2019 of its Scranton Practice and administrative headquarters.
Geoffroy also served as founding chair of a subsidiary, The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement. This group conducts fundraisers and other activities to provide people with necessities such as food, winter clothing, school backpacks, and travel vouchers to get to and from their medical appointments. In short, it empowers individuals to take care of their non-medical socioeconomic challenges, so they can then focus on getting and staying healthy.
Each time Geoffroy approaches an elected official to discuss quality health care, he does so with patients’ health and welfare in mind. His passion for advocacy was stoked through participation in the National Association of Community Health Centers’ Annual Policy & Issues Forum, which he first attended in 2016. His engagement prompted The Wright Center’s earned recognition as a Gold Advocacy Center of Excellence in 2022.
His encounter with President Biden led to a virtual meeting between The Wright Center’s executive team and Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford, then special assistant to the president for public health and science at The White House.
More recently, Geoffroy met with staff of U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, a New York Republican whom he introduced himself to at a conference, and also the health care staff of U.S. Rep Matt Cartwright and Sen. Bob Casey.
“My work in advocacy is across the aisle,” he says. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat, if you’re a Republican. What matters is that you have a position that has a vote, and that I know you can vote for what’s right for the American people.”
‘I needed to keep busy’
A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Geoffroy thought at age 12 he might one day want to be a legislator. His long track record of volunteer service began at a Catholic boys school, where he joined the Key Club and was also chosen as one of two students to represent the school on a Citizens Advisory Committee, providing input to the town council and mayor.
He has been an active volunteer in the Lackawanna County borough where he lives and within his parish community. Even his career choices reflect a desire to help others. He began as an English teacher and then had an epiphany. “I realized students needed to know more than how to diagram a sentence,” he says. “They needed to deal with a lot of personal challenges that were interfering with their education.”
He devoted the next 35 years to working as a public school guidance counselor.
For many years, he also was employed as an adjunct professor at The University of Scranton in its Counseling and Human Services Department.
Now retired, Geoffroy recognizes that he immersed himself in The Wright Center’s volunteer board activities years ago partly to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, for whom he had been the devoted primary caregiver during a prolonged illness. “I really needed to keep busy, forget about myself, and think about other people,” he says.
Geoffroy’s stint as the health center’s board chair is set to end in June 2024. His final to-do list as chair includes recruiting new board members: perhaps individuals who, much like him, at first might doubt if they are right for the role and have meaningful contributions to make.
“There is a learning curve,” he says. “But you do have something to offer the board, and the board will be enriched by your presence and meaningful contributions.”
