Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, recently earned board certification in obesity medicine, better preparing her to help patients manage obesity and its many comorbidities and to lose weight. 

Obesity – the nation’s most prevalent chronic disease – is associated with many of the leading causes of preventable, premature death, yet physicians and patients sometimes struggle to directly address the sensitive topic and tailor plans that allow for long-term success.

Under her executive administrative leadership, The Wright Center for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education consistently strive to respond to community health and health care workforce needs. Its health care providers, for example, have been at the forefront of confronting challenges such as the ongoing opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Increasingly, The Wright Center’s health care providers emphasize prevention to improve health outcomes among Northeast Pennsylvania’s residents. In 2020, The Wright Center introduced both a lifestyle medicine curriculum in its graduate medical education programs and a corresponding lifestyle medicine service line for the benefit of patients. 

Lifestyle medicine, one of the fastest growing fields of medicine, encourages individuals to avoid or potentially reverse chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes by focusing on six pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, relationships and the avoidance of risky substances. A Wright Center for Community Health dietitian and behavioral health counselors are available to meet individually with patients to develop and empower plans for healthier lifestyles and weight management.

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.

Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, has been elected governor-elect for the eastern region of the American College of Physicians’ Pennsylvania Chapter (PA-ACP). 

Beginning in April, she will serve one year as governor-elect concurrently with Dr. Lawrence H. Jones, governor of the eastern region whose term expires in 2023. Her four-year term as governor begins April 2023.

Founded in 1915, the American College of Physicians is a national organization of internists, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment and care of adults. It is the nation’s largest medical-specialty organization, with more than 161,000 members, of which more than 7,800 are members of the PA-ACP chapter. The PA-ACP chapter has three regional governors that represent the eastern, western and southeastern regions of the commonwealth.

The 87-member board of governors is an advisory board, featuring representatives from Alabama to Alberta, Bangladesh to Brazil and Ontario to Pennsylvania. Collectively, the elected board members act as an advisory board to the college’s policy-making body, the board of regents. The board of governors implements national projects and initiatives at the chapter level and represents member concerns at the national level.

Born and raised in Northeast Pennsylvania, Thomas-Hemak received her undergraduate degree from The University of Scranton. After graduating as a Michael DeBakey Scholar from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and completing Harvard’s Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency in Boston, Massachusetts, she returned to the region to practice and teach primary care. She joined The Wright Center in 2000 and became president of The Wright Center for Community Health in 2007. In 2012, she was named president and CEO of both The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education.

Concurrent with her responsibilities as an executive, Thomas-Hemak is also board certified in internal, pediatrics, addiction, and most recently, obesity medicine. Her favorite professional responsibilities are to teach and provide comprehensive primary health services to multigenerational families served by The Wright Center for Community Health’s Mid Valley Practice in Archbald and Jermyn, her hometown community where she was born, raised and currently resides with her husband and three children.

For more information about The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570.343.2383.

The Stronghold Group continued its support of regional health care workers who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic by donating 5,000 pieces of personal protection equipment (PPE) and a $5,000 check to The Wright Centers for Community Health and Patient & Community Engagement.

A veteran-owned business that specializes in medical equipment, the Stronghold Group donated 20 cases of disposable 3-ply surgical masks and 80 cases of medical gowns to protect clinicians at The Wright Center for Community Health’s eight primary care practices in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties. 

Stronghold’s financial support will be used to purchase fresh produce and canned goods for the most marginalized in our community who need it most.

“Worrying about having enough to eat should be the last thing on someone’s mind when they’re already worried about their health and finances,” said Laurie LaMaster, associate vice president of development and Patient & Community Engagement at The Wright Center. “We know the winter months bring higher heating bills, which further strain household budgets. Too often people are forced to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families. That’s why we are incredibly grateful for the support of the Stronghold Group. Not only are they keeping our health care heroes safe on the frontlines, they’re putting food on the table of the most vulnerable in our community.”

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Two scholarly research teams at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education have had their abstracts accepted for presentation at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Drs. Angelina Singh and Erica Schmidt, resident physicians in the four-year psychiatry residency, and Dr. Sanjay Chandragiri, program director of the psychiatry residency and a psychiatrist at The Wright Center for Community Health’s Scranton Practice, co-authored the scholarly paper, “Catatonia Presenting as Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Features: The Case for Increasing the Use of the Lorazepam Challenge.”

The team’s case report demonstrates the importance and challenges of recognizing and treating catatonia, such as schizophrenia, in severely depressed patients with psychotic features, including delusions, hallucinations and paranoia.

Drs. Bilal Khan and Nathan Hoff , resident physicians in the psychiatry residency, co-authored the paper, “Serotonin Syndrome in a 50-Year-Old Female,” with Bretty Aziz, a fourth-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and Chandragiri.

The case report illustrates the potential for severe side effects that may result from interactions between multiple serotonergic agents in patients with serotonin syndrome.

The American Psychiatric Association was founded in 1844. It is the oldest medical association in the United States and the largest psychiatric association in the world with more than 37,400 physician members specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses. The annual meeting in May, with the theme, “Social Determinants of Mental Health,” is the largest conference in the world for psychiatrists and mental health professionals. 

For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health, call 570.343.2383 or go to TheWrightCenter.org.

 The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) on Jan. 21 notified The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education that its Sponsoring Institution was being placed on probationary accreditation status following a recent site visit.

All residency and fellowship programs at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education School remain accredited and a repeat ACGME site visit is already scheduled for August 2022. The probationary status will not impact incoming, current or graduating residents and fellows. 

“We take probationary accreditation status very seriously and are moving forward quickly so we can improve and remove probationary status as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Jumee Barooah, designated institutional official of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. “We will be working hard not just to meet, but to exceed ACGME standards when it comes to re-attaining full accreditation status.” 

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education has not received the full report from the ACGME, which can take up to 60 days. The ACGME site visit was in response to The Wright Center’s lower-than-national average scores on annual resident surveys. Based on initial feedback from ACGME, The Wright Center anticipates corrective action plans for administrative issues that were reviewed and discussed with the ACGME site-visit team.

Some of the steps The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education has taken or plans to take include:

1. Increasing resources, including hiring additional staff, to support the graduate medical education office and residency and fellowship programs;
2. Retaining an independent, national expert on ACGME accreditation to evaluate the operation, oversight and supervision of the graduate medical education program and to make recommendations for improvement;
3. Enhancing and bolstering the Resident & Fellow Wellness Resiliency program;
4. Furthering open communication efforts with residents and fellows through climate surveys, town halls and one-on-ones with executive management;
5. Launching Sanctuary Model training for all employees that will provide guiding principles and specific tools to address the ways trauma, adversity and chronic stress influence individuals as well as entire organizations.

“With the backing of The Wright Center’s powerful mission and tireless support of our amazing residents, fellows and staff, we are confident that we are well on our way to achieving total compliance with ACGME standards,” Dr. Barooah said. “We are grateful for everyone’s ongoing efforts in this regard.”

The Wright Center for Community Health is accepting appointments for 12- to-15-year-olds to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech third-dose booster shot at community practices in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties after U.S. health authorities gave emergency authorization for the third dose on Jan. 5.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have authorized anyone who is 12 or older to receive the Pfizer booster shot five months after receiving their primary two-dose series. The recent decision also reduced the time between Pfizer’s primary vaccine and booster from six to five months.

Vaccination appointments are being accepted at the following community clinics:

• Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn: 570.230.0019
• Children’s Service Center Practice, 335 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre: 570.591.5283
• Scranton Practice, 501 S. Washington Ave., Scranton: 570.941.0630 

Patients can also visit TheWrightCenter.org to make an appointment online.

The Wright Center for Community Health is also administering booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for all adults. The guidance has not changed for the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Anyone 18 and older who received their Moderna primary vaccine series at least six months ago or received a Johnson & Johnson dose at least two months ago is eligible. 

Appointments for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines also are being accepted at select Wright Center community clinics. Please go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570.343.2383 to schedule an appointment for the primary vaccine series or booster series.