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The Wright Center receives recognition for working to increase equity and justice in health care
The Wright Center for Community Health was recently recognized for its involvement with a national coalition focused on improving equity and justice within the health care system.
The Rise to Health Coalition, which brings together individuals and organizations committed to building, leading, and advancing shared solutions and collective actions to transform and strengthen health care, presented The Wright Center with a certificate for participating in the coalition’s Healthcare Organizations Learning Network.

Key participants from The Wright Center included Meaghan Ruddy, senior vice president of enterprise wellness and resiliency, assessment, and advancement, and chief strategic research and development officer; Tiffany Jaskulski, vice president of value-based population health informatics innovations and strategic initiatives; Lou Strazzeri, director of behavioral health integration, social, and case management services; Paul Haugland, electronic medical records and health informatics manager; and Lena Hines, licensed practical nurse care coordinator.
The Wright Center joined the Healthcare Organizations Learning Network in January 2024 because the objectives dovetailed with its focus on improving health equity in Northeast Pennsylvania.
“We know that a person’s health outcomes are primarily determined by things that are not a part of traditional health care delivery. It creates a lot of distress for patients, staff, and health systems alike,” Ruddy said. “The question we’re trying to answer is: As a community health center, how might we most effectively address social drivers for the people and communities we serve?”
For The Wright Center, addressing community needs means implementing innovative solutions, including food pantries, clothes closets, blood drives, and operating a mobile medical and dental unit known as Driving Better Health that delivers critical services such as vaccinations and primary and dental care where people live, work, play, and study. Additionally, The Wright Center’s sliding-fee discount program ensures that no patient is denied care due to an inability to pay.
As part of its involvement with Rise to Health’s Healthcare Organizations Learning Network, The Wright Center collaborated with a large network of teams from across the nation to learn the tools, build and practice the skills, and obtain a deep understanding of equity and racial justice to bring back to their organizations and communities.
“We learned a lot about where national efforts and regulatory requirements do and do not align, and the internal, personal awareness needed to address health equity effectively,” Ruddy said. “We look forward to using what we’ve learned to continue to improve health equity in our communities and finding new, innovative ways to provide 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.”