The Wright Center and The Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center have formed a strong collaborative relationship to continue to recruit, train, and certify community health workers from the region to serve the local community. Candidates are being sought from across The Wright Center’s five-county service area, including places such as Greater Scranton, the Wilkes-Barre area and Hazleton. Professionals who are bilingual are especially in demand.
These front-line public health workers assist in improving the quality of care and breaking down common barriers to treatment. Overall, they can improve health outcomes and save money by acting as a bridge between patients and the health care and social service systems. By building trust with patients, they learn about their lives, their resources and needs, and the barriers they face to being as healthy as possible.
Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, views community health workers as a key to providing whole-person primary health services because they help to identify and resolve social and economic issues a patient might be experiencing outside the clinic, such as food insecurity or lack of adequate housing. Through their efforts, the CHWs are helping entire families and connecting formerly marginalized populations to the affordable, high-quality health services they deserve.
“Community health workers are essential members of our provider care teams who elevate our efforts to promote wellness and resiliency; to increase utilization of preventive services; and to better manage chronic illnesses,” Thomas-Hemak said. “These passionate and talented, front-line public health workers are trusted members of our team and the communities they serve.”
凯特琳-麦卡锡（Caitlin McCarthy）医生是土生土长的斯克兰顿人，她帮助在该市南区的莱特社区卫生中心斯克兰顿诊所（The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton Practice）建立了一家牙科诊所。她目前在那里治疗病人，并帮助培训和指导参加为期一年的住院医师培训计划的牙医。
Today the West Scranton High School alumna – who says she had been “inching back” to her hometown through a succession of early-career jobs – is finally in the place she wants to be, working for a Scranton-based nonprofit organization whose mission matches her personal philosophy of putting patients first.
McCarthy joined The Wright Center in October 2019, jumping at the chance to help launch a dental clinic at its startup Scranton Practice in the city’s South Side neighborhood. Today, the busy dental clinic serves a patient population that appeals to McCarthy’s blue-collar sensibilities, including Medicaid users and individuals from traditionally underserved populations who often face challenges in getting routine oral care.
Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Susquehanna counties are designated by the federal government as Health Professional Shortage Areas for dental care, specifically when it comes to care for the low-income population. Public health officials and others have long recognized the barriers that low-income individuals often face in accessing oral care in the Keystone State, noting that in 2015 less than one-quarter of the state’s general dentists were accepting Medicaid as payment.
The Wright Center also has expanded its oral care services beyond basic cleanings and fillings and significantly increased its workforce in recent years, hiring skilled and compassionate dentists like McCarthy as well as hygienists, assistants, and support staff. Together, these professionals strive to offer a level of care far above what is known derisively in the dental field as “drill and bill.”
Under Pennsylvania’s current system, Medicaid typically doesn’t cover crowns, root canals, and other advanced procedures. The dental team will help the patient to explore other avenues of making the services affordable, including the organization’s sliding-fee discount program that is based on family size and income.
Her father is a retired electrician. Her mother is a retired public school teacher, from whom she picked up a love of learning and possibly her affinity for Greater Scranton. McCarthy fondly recalls how her mother made the most of summer breaks from school, shuttling her, her sister, and brother to educational sites around town such as the coal mine tour, trolley ride and museum.
麦卡锡在文章中说，她希望 "成为一名牙医，同时也积极参与社区活动"。她还透露了自己最喜欢的一些消遣方式--看 NBA 比赛和钩针编织--当被问及她的憎恶时，她回答说她不喜欢那些 "垃圾话 "地区的人。"她说："我非常维护斯克兰顿。
把它带回家
Not surprisingly, McCarthy considered attending only those dental schools near her hometown, so she could easily get home on weekends to be with family, friends, and her dog.
凯文-贝尔特雷（Kevin Beltré）医生在斯克兰顿的莱特研究生医学教育中心（The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education）完成地区全科住院医师培训时意识到，全科医疗是他的理想职业选择。这位前费城居民打算毕业后留在该地区工作，为宾夕法尼亚州东北部的居民提供高质量的医疗服务。
如今，赖特中心已成为全美最大的由美国卫生资源与服务管理局资助的教学保健中心研究生医学教育联盟。它提供家庭医学、内科、物理医学与康复和精神病学四个学科的住院医师培训，以及心血管疾病、肠胃病学和老年医学的研究员培训。所有课程均通过了美国研究生医学教育认证委员会（Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education）的认证。
The two organizations – bound by a shared interest in creating physicians ready to meet 21st century challenges – consistently find ways to collaborate and share expertise. Each is a community-minded institution that reflects the ideals of the Beyond Flexner Alliance.
Now in his career comfort zone, Beltré’s commitment to patients comes shining through in his daily work. The bilingual doctor frequently uses his fluency in Spanish to assist patients at The Wright Center’spractices in Clarks Summit, Jermyn, and Scranton, and says he is privileged to earn patients’ trust.
He fondly remembers a social gathering held at Samonte’s house this spring, during which the family medicine residents were encouraged to sing karaoke, play video games, and otherwise unwind. “It was cool to see everybody outside the academic setting just having a good time,” says Beltré. “That really stands out to me; it was just very stress-free.”
实现平衡，避免倦怠
Finding the proper work-life balance will continue to be an important issue for physicians, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic – which is expected to exacerbate health care workforce shortages. “Burnout of working through the pandemic could drive physicians to retire earlier than they might otherwise have done,” wrote Michael Dill, director of workforce studies at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), in a June 2021 “Insights” column. Dill noted that “within the next decade, 2 out of every 5 physicians in the United States will be age 65 or older.”
In June 2021, for example, the Doctors of Community Act, or DOC Act, was introduced to support the development of 100 new residency programs and create an estimated 1,600 new residency slots. If approved, the legislation would result in the largest residency expansion since 1997. It also would authorize a permanent funding stream for the nation’s Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, eliminating uncertainty and allowing organizations like The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education to manage their residency programs more efficiently.
如果一切按计划进行，凯文-贝尔特雷（Kevin Beltré）医生将于 12 月在莱特医学教育研究生中心（The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education）完成全科住院医师培训后，继续穿上医生的外衣，为病人服务几十年。32 岁的贝尔特雷说，他的职业目标是 "一直工作到 70 多岁"。
Its family medicine residents train in either a regional residency program based in Northeast Pennsylvania or a first-of-its-kind National Family Medicine Residency, which has four partner training sites at community health centers in Arizona, Ohio, Washington state, and Washington, D.C.
安迪-托奇（Andy Touch）和阿格尼丝-托奇（Agnes Touch）在阿奇博尔德（Archbald）的家中优雅而幽默地安享晚年，这在一定程度上要归功于阿格尼丝在赖特社区健康中心（The Wright Center for Community Health）接受的定期护理。她的主治医生琳达-托马斯-赫马克（Linda Thomas-Hemak）医生已经为艾格尼丝提供了约 15 年的医疗服务。 托马斯-赫马克医生已经为艾格尼丝提供了约 15 年的医疗服务。
今年早些时候，安迪-托奇（Andy Touch）感觉 "病得像只小狗"，冠状病毒检测呈阳性，之后他在杰明（Jermyn）的赖特社区卫生中心中谷诊所（The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice）接受了 COVID-19 抗体输注治疗。他和妻子艾格尼丝（Agnes）也接受了这种治疗，避免了重病缠身，现在他们可以正常活动了。
