The Wright Medicine: Center continues investing in community

Sheth

The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn, will raise the newly designed Jermyn Borough flag on Friday, Aug. 11 at 9 a.m. in observance of National Health Center Week. The program begins at 8:45 a.m. with light refreshments.

Sometimes a little self-promotion is OK — especially when you’re extremely proud of your work in the communities you serve in Northeast Pennsylvania.

With that in mind, I hope you’ll allow me to indulge in a little bragging on behalf of my employer, The Wright Center for Community Health, as we head into National Health Center Week.

Observed Aug. 6-12 this year, National Health Center Week is designed to encourage health care providers across the country to promote their missions. This year’s theme is “The Roadmap to a Stronger America,” and is described as “a virtual road trip across America, highlighting the achievements and amazing work being done at community health centers in every state and territory.”

Each day of the week is focused on a different area that demands more attention: Sunday, Public Health in Housing Day; Monday, Healthcare for the Homeless Day; Tuesday, Agricultural Worker Health Day; Wednesday, Patient Appreciation Day; Thursday, Stakeholder Appreciation Day; Friday, Health Center Staff Appreciation Day; and Saturday, Children’s Health Day.

In 1976, we were known as the Scranton Temple Residency Program, and had just six internal medicine residents. Today, we have more than 670 employees and nearly 270 physician learners in eight residency and fellowship programs serving a two-pronged mission — delivering affordable, nondiscriminatory, high-quality, comprehensive primary health and preventive care services to medically under-served populations and educating the next generation of primary care physicians from coast to coast.

We achieved our most significant milestone four years ago when the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designated The Wright Center a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike, or FQLA. Thanks to that moniker, we’ve expanded our footprint significantly. We now have 10 locations in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties, including a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health, that serve more than 41,200 patients annually, regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay.

Given their location in regions with high poverty rates, community health centers like ours are critical in providing first-rate health care at a lower cost for the patient. The Wright Center follows a patient-centered medical home delivery model, with an emphasis on overcoming geographic, cultural, linguistic, and other barriers to care by delivering coordinated and comprehensive services, including primary and preventive care, pediatrics, behavioral health, dental care, infectious disease services, lifestyle medicine, obesity medicine and addiction and recovery services.

Through that full spectrum of care, we strive to reduce health disparities by emphasizing care management of patients with multiple health care needs and using key quality improvement practices, among them health information technology. Our Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement was created to expand access to care and address the social and economic determinants of health — including food insecurity, homelessness and poverty — that can adversely affect the health and well-being of underserved patients.

As you can tell, I am immensely proud of the strides The Wright Center for Community Health has made in recent years. And we’ll continue to address the health care needs of our communities in the years ahead. For us, it’s an honor and a privilege.

Jignesh Y. Sheth, M.D., FACP, MPH, a primary care physician dually board-certified in internal medicine and addiction medicine, leads The Wright Center for Community Health as chief medical officer and serves as senior vice president of clinical operations for The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. He sees patients at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice in Jermyn.

Sheth

In observance of National Health Center Week, The Wright Center for Community Health will hold a series of activities across the region. The weeklong celebration from Aug. 6 to 12 helps to draw attention to the critical role that community health centers play in strengthening the nation’s health and wellbeing.

As part of the weeklong celebration, The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn, will raise the newly designed Jermyn Borough flag at a ceremony beginning at 8:45 a.m. Friday, Aug. 11. The flag, designed in 2019 by borough resident Amy Ryczak, features a green cross that honors Jermyn as the birthplace of first aid.

Speakers at the event will include Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, and state Rep. Kyle Mullins, who represents Jermyn as part of the 112th Legislative District.

Other events planned at The Wright Center’s clinics and in the community for National Health Center Week include: