The Wright Center for Community Health holding COVID-19 vaccination clinic at St. Francis Food Pantry in Scranton

Written by

The Wright Center for Community Health is holding a Driving Better Health COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at St. Francis Food Pantry, 500 Penn Ave., Scranton, on Friday, Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Driving Better Health is a 34-foot mobile medical unit that brings high-quality health care services directly to the underserved communities of Northeast Pennsylvania. The mobile medical unit has been serving populations of special concern since 2020. It is regularly deployed to senior living centers, regional schools, homeless shelters and other community gathering spots.

COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are available for anybody age 5 and up. A guardian must accompany patients who are younger than 17. Walk-up appointments are welcome depending on vaccine availability, but appointments are encouraged for the convenience of patients. Please go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019 to schedule an appointment.

The Wright Center for Community Health clinical staff will also offer COVID-19 testing and flu vaccines at the clinic. 

Patients are asked to observe public safety measures, including masking and social distancing, during the clinic and bring identification and insurance cards. 

The Wright Center for Community Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike. Community health centers offer affordable, safety-net health care services and are the largest providers of primary care for the nation’s most vulnerable and medically underserved populations. Prevalent in both urban and rural settings, community health centers are located in regions with high-poverty rates and/or low numbers of private or nonprofit health care systems and hospitals. 

The Wright Center for Community Health utilizes Driving Better Health, a 34-foot mobile medical unit, to bring high-quality health care services, including vaccination clinics, directly to the most vulnerable and medically underserved populations in Northeast Pennsylvania.

The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement distributing free at-home COVID-19 test kits

Written by

The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement is holding two drive-thru distribution events of free at-home COVID-19 test kits for the public on a first-come, first-serve basis on Saturday, Feb. 5 in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. Each vehicle will receive five test kits while supplies last.

In conjunction with the Kingston fire and police departments, The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement will hand out test kits from 6-7 p.m. in the parking lot of the fire department, 600 Wyoming Ave. Guests are asked to follow this route: Go to West Dorrance Street off of Wyoming Avenue and take a left onto Welter Lane. Stay on Welter Lane until arriving at the fire department’s parking lot. Follow the traffic route outlined by orange cones and exit the event onto Sharpe Street.

The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement is also holding an at-home COVID-19 test kit giveaway at The Wright Center for Community Health’s Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn, from 6-7 p.m.

“Time and again, our community partners have come forward to work with us during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Laurie LaMaster, associate vice president of Patient & Community Engagement. “Thanks to Kingston fire and police officials, and the Jermyn and Archbald police departments, we are able to respond to the needs of the community and provide this needed public service.”

To help facilitate an efficient distribution, the public is asked to pre-register. Simply fill out the form at TheWrightCenter.org/covidtest, print out the confirmation page and present it to a volunteer handing out test kits. The pre-registration process does not guarantee the availability of a test kit.

The Wright Center is also reminding participants to abide by COVID-19 mitigation standards by wearing masks and remaining in vehicles at all times. 

For complete and up-to-date information about The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement’s community distributions of at-home COVID-19 test kits, please follow the organization’s social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or go to TheWrightCenter.org. 

The Wright Center for Community Health is respectfully asking the public to refrain from calling and going to clinical locations during normal business hours to ask about at-home test kits. Call volume and clinician capacity are reserved to address primary health services and prescription refills.

Dentist at The Wright Center receives faculty appointment with affiliated organization, further strengthening local dental residency program

Written by

Dr. Satya Upadhyayula, a board-certified general practice dentist at The Wright Center for Community Health, recently received a faculty appointment to NYU Langone Dental Medicine, enabling him to share his oral surgery and dental treatment know-how with dental residents who are training locally.

The Wright Center became a dental training site and welcomed its first two residents in 2021 through a new affiliation with NYU Langone Dental Medicine. The Brooklyn, N.Y.,-based organization operates the world’s largest postdoctoral dental residency program of its kind, training about 400 residents annually at partner sites including community health centers, hospitals and other affiliates in nearly 30 states.

The Wright Center is currently the only partner site in Pennsylvania.

The affiliation between the two health care organizations represents another way in which The Wright Center is bringing more health professionals to Northeast Pennsylvania to address the community’s pressing health needs.

“I’m glad to have attained this faculty appointment, allowing me to play a more integral role in preparing the next generation of dentists, especially those with a heart for serving in medically underserved and economically disadvantaged areas,” said Upadhyayula.

Dr. Satya Upadhyayula
Dr. Satya Upadhyayula

Known to many of his patients and colleagues as “Dr. U,” Upadhyayula is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. Prior to joining The Wright Center, he completed an oral and maxillofacial surgery internship at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

He becomes the second faculty physician based at The Wright Center to support the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residency, joining site director Dr. Caitlin McCarthy. Faculty physician Dr. Isaac Navarro, who is based in California, was instrumental in the program’s startup at The Wright Center and remains critical to its success, leading grand rounds virtually each month.

The dental residents train at The Wright Center’s Scranton Practice, 501 S. Washington Ave., Scranton, and its Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn. Each site has a state-of-the-art dental clinic that offers the public access to oral care services including check-ups and cleanings, fillings, X-rays, extractions, emergency services, oral cancer screenings and denture care.

NYU Langone Dental Medicine’s residency program, which is fully accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, complements The Wright Center’s existing educational activities.

For more than 45 years, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education has been a provider of residency training in Greater Scranton, helping to build a pipeline of medical professionals to meet the needs of the region and the nation. Today it offers residencies in internal medicine, family medicine and psychiatry as well as fellowships in cardiovascular disease, gastroenterology and geriatrics.

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education-endorsed medical school students accepted into Hometown Scholars program

Written by

Two Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education-endorsed students have been accepted into the collaborative Hometown Scholars program and will attend medical school at A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Mesa, Arizona (ATSU-SOMA).

The Wright Center’s Hometown Scholars program, in partnership with ATSU-SOMA and the National Association of Community Health Centers, recruits future physicians, physician assistants and dentists from Northeast Pennsylvania that want to serve as aspirational examples for young people in the region who aspire to practice medicine and make an impact in a community health setting that provides patient-centered health care.

The program helps regional high school and colleges students who are considering a career in medicine and want to serve their hometown communities as a clinician. Wright Center executives endorse the applications of qualified students who exemplify compassion, civic-mindedness and commitment to serving individuals with limited access to high-quality health care.  

Morgan Schermerhorn of Scranton will receive her Master in Public Health in epidemiology of chronic disease from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in May after earning her undergraduate degree in biology from New York University. The Wright Center for Community Health’s mission to alleviate barriers to quality health care and to those most in need attracted the Scranton Preparatory School graduate to the novel program.

“I am honored to be selected for the Hometown Scholars program,” said Schermerhorn, the daughter of Scott and Kara Schermerhorn. “My interest in medicine began at The Wright Center when I shadowed Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak (president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education). I was inspired by the personal dedication and professionalism of Dr. Thomas-Hemak with her patients. Dr. Thomas-Hemak provides a humanistic health care experience with her patients.

“Personally observing this approach, I was drawn to the mission of the community health center – providing compassionate care to all members of the community, especially those who are most marginalized,” she added.

Morgan Schermerhorn
Ceilia Severini

Ceilia Severini of Scranton, a Scranton Preparatory School graduate, holds a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience from Bucknell University and a Master of Biomedical Sciences from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. The daughter of Faith Severini believes the Hometown Scholars program and Wright Center’s mission coalesce with her aspirations as a future health care provider. 

“When I talked to Dr. Thomas-Hemak, I was intrigued by ATSU-SOMA’s unique approach to medical education,” said Severini. “I learn best from hands-on experience and feel that, though my years of education have helped me greatly in reaching this point, my experiences as a medical scribe, clinical coordinator and a standardized patient have contributed even more value.

“I also want to improve access and care to those who are most marginalized in our communities. This is the ideal path for me to become a doctor as it aligns perfectly with my values and goals,” she added.

The training and education hometown scholars receive at ATSU-SOMA is distinctive compared to other medical schools, as it intentionally brings students back to Northeast Pennsylvania to care for the underserved and rural communities. Medical students in the ATSU-SOMA program are assigned to one of 16 select community health center partner sites across the country and introduced to the clinical setting earlier than traditional medical schools. Wright Center hometown scholars return to the region during their second year of graduate medical school and begin rotating at clinical sites with preceptors while continuing their academic education through in-classroom and distance-education experiences. 

The students begin their studies at ATSU-SOMA in July. Other Wright Center-endorsed Hometown Scholars included Grace McGrath of Dunmore and Moriah Bartolai of Pittston.

The Wright Center for Community Health distributing free at-home COVID-19 test kits

Written by

Public can get test kits at events in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties

The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement will host two drive-thru distribution events of free at-home COVID-19 test kits for the public on a first-come, first-served basis on Saturday, Jan. 29 and Sunday, Jan. 30 in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. Each vehicle will receive five test kits while supplies last.

In conjunction with Luzerne County Community College (LCCC), The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement will distribute test kits on Saturday, Jan. 29 beginning at 6 p.m. on the main campus of LCCC, 521 Trailblazer Dr., Nanticoke, until supplies are depleted. The public is asked to enter campus off Kosciuszko Street and proceed to the Educational Center.

Volunteers for The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement will also hand out at-home COVID-19 test kits on Sunday, Jan. 30 at The Wright Center for Community Health’s Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn, at 4 p.m. while supplies last.

To help facilitate an efficient distribution, the public is asked to pre-register. Simply fill out the form at TheWrightCenter.org/covidtest, print out the confirmation page and present it at the distribution event. The pre-registration process does not guarantee the availability of a test kit.

“Thanks to community partners like LCCC, we are able to quickly get at-home test kits into the hands of the public to lessen the burden on our hospitals and health care providers,” said Laurie LaMaster, associate vice president of Patient & Community Engagement. “By increasing access to the test kits, our volunteers are helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and improving the health and welfare of our communities.”  

The Wright Center for Community Health is also reminding participants to abide by COVID-19 mitigation standards by wearing masks and remaining in their vehicles at all times. Volunteers will distribute five at-home test kits per vehicle while supplies last.

Laurie LaMaster, associate vice president of Patient & Community Engagement.

For complete and up-to-date information about The Wright Center’s community distributions of at-home COVID-19 test kits, please follow the organization’s social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or go to TheWrightCenter.org, where updates will be posted at the top of the homepage. The Wright Center is respectfully asking the public to refrain from calling and going to clinical locations during normal business hours to ask about at-home test kits. Call volume and clinician capacity are reserved to address primary health services. 

For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570.230.0019.

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education official becomes certified in lifestyle medicine

Written by

Dr. Jumee Barooah, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s designated institutional official and a primary care physician, recently earned board certification in lifestyle medicine – an approach that uses small lifestyle changes to treat and potentially reverse chronic disease and prevent illness.

One of the fastest growing fields of medicine, lifestyle medicine differs from mainstream medical approaches by emphasizing non-pharmaceutical, non-invasive treatments such as wellness, resiliency, movement and a nutritious diet. Patients are empowered to take their well-being into their own hands by making improvements through manageable changes in daily activities.

The Wright Center introduced a lifestyle medicine service line in 2020 to address community needs in Northeast Pennsylvania, including the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension. The Wright Center also wove lifestyle medicine into the curriculum of its graduate medical education programs, aiming to appropriately prepare the next generation of physicians to spare patients the needless suffering and expense of certain serious, long-term illnesses.

Chronic disease is responsible for up to 80% of all health care expenditure, yet most health professionals typically treat chronic disease the same way they treat communicable disease: with pills and injections. By contrast, lifestyle medicine encourages physicians to focus on the so-called pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, rest and social connectivity, according to the California-based American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM).
At The Wright Center, the lifestyle medicine curriculum will prepare health care providers to complete a thorough patient assessment of current health habits and then introduce individualized treatment plans based on specific risk factors. A Wright Center dietitian, for example, is available to meet individually with patients to develop plans for weight management.

“Now seemed like the right time to become certified because of the health care needs of our patients and community and our new lifestyle medicine curriculum,” said Barooah, who received her certification from ABLM. “One common theme in every primary care visit with patients is preventive medicine. I thought I could contribute more to my patients and my resident and fellow physicians by becoming certified.”

Dr. Jumee Barooah

Lifestyle medicine represents her fourth board certification. Barooah also is certified in internal, addiction and obesity medicine. She sees patients at The Wright Center’s Mid Valley Practice in Jermyn and the Scranton Practice.For more information or to schedule an appointment at The Wright Center for Community Health’s Mid Valley Practice, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570.230.0019.