His works include first meta-analysis on taste changes for people with COVID-19

The chief fellow for The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Gastroenterology Fellowship recently published the 100^th scholarly article during his fellowship, “Scope of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Gastrointestinal Oncology,” in Cancers, a peer-reviewed journal of oncology that is published semimonthly. 

Dr. Hemant Goyal, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, was invited to review literature that addressed the most current information available about the role of AI in diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, which cause more than 2.8 million deaths annually worldwide. He and his co-authors labeled the advancements and use of AI in endoscopic procedures as a “significant breakthrough in modern medicine.” The diagnostic accuracy of AI systems has markedly improved in screening, diagnosing and treating various cancers by accurately analyzing diagnostic clinical images, but it needs additional collaboration among physicians.

Goyal, a gastroenterologist-in-training and doctor of internal medicine, accepts adult patients at The Wright Center for Community Health’s Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn, for treatment of Hepatitis C.  

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Institutional Review Board-approves research studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Overall, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education has had 75 scholarly abstracts written on a wide array of topics in medicine accepted for presentation at professional conferences since the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year.

For more information about The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, call 570.343.2383.

The Wright Center for Community Health has been selected as one of 15 health centers across the nation to participate in a grant-funded Community Vaccine Ambassador Project, aimed at increasing COVID-19 immunizations among groups that historically have been marginalized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will fund the initiative, which involves health centers in 12 states. The project is being conducted in partnership with the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and the National Association of Community Health Centers. 

The Wright Center will receive $200,000 in grant funding to focus on administering vaccines to individuals with substance use disorders and individuals who experience homelessness. These populations have been identified as being at increased risk for COVID-19 infection because, among other reasons, they “experience barriers to accessing health care and might have low levels of trust in the medical system due to previous experiences of trauma or stigma,” according to the project’s organizers. 

The Wright Center’s community health workers and certified recovery specialists will serve as project “ambassadors,” providing vaccination education and information over the year-long project to people in the organization’s five-county service area in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Since December 2020, when the new COVID-19 vaccines first became available, The Wright Center has administered more than 40,500 vaccine doses. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration earlier this year presented a 2021 Community Health Quality Recognition award to The Wright Center, recognizing the nonprofit organization’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts in response to the public health crisis. 

The Wright Center, which serves as one of about 50 Pennsylvania-designated Opioid Use Disorder Centers of Excellence, has significant experience in treating and supporting individuals who are coping with substance use disorder. It has assisted individuals living in recovery who have been involved in the criminal justice system, and it co-founded the region’s Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Support (MOMS) program, which assists pregnant and new mothers who have a substance use disorder.

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

The Wright Center for Community Health is accepting appointments for 16- and-17-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 Dec. 9.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave emergency authorization of the vaccine for this new age group, provided they are six months past their last dose of their primary COVID-19 vaccination series. The newly approved booster offers the same dosage as the primary vaccine.

The Wright Center for Community Health is also administering booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for all adults. Anyone 18 and older who received their Pfizer or Moderna primary vaccine series at least six months ago or received a Johnson & Johnson dose at least two months ago is eligible. In addition, the pediatric dose of the Pfizer vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds was authorized by the CDC on Nov. 2.

Appointments for these series of 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, booster series or pediatric vaccine.

The Wright Center for Community Health recently appointed Cyndi Colman, a registered nurse, as an infusion therapy nurse at its Mid Valley Practice in Jermyn to improve the health and welfare of the community.

A Clarks Summit resident, Colman’s role will support physicians to carry out a variety of treatments and procedures in nursing care, including COVID-19 positive patients. Colman will assist in assuring effective and efficient coordination of nursing activities within the Scranton Practice by preparing, administering and managing infusion therapy of monoclonal antibody therapy in an outpatient infusion suite.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has approved the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s application to add an additional three resident physicians to the psychiatry residency.

To meet the growing national demand for psychiatric care, the current workforce of about 45,580 psychiatrists must increase by 2,800 behavioral specialists by 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Today’s estimated 6.4% shortage of psychiatrists is expected to nearly double to 12% by 2025

The federal Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) has accepted a scholarly research abstract from The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education for presentation at its highly competitive national conference in April.

Dr. Nirali Patel, a board-certified internal medicine and board-eligible geriatrics physician and associate program director of the Geriatrics Fellowship and core faculty for internal medicine, will present the paper, “Value Impact of a Community-Based, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-Accredited Geriatrics Fellowship Immersion in an Essential Community Provider’s COVID-19 Response.” She co-authored the abstract with Drs. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO; Jumee Barooah, designated institutional official, Edward Dzielak, a geriatrics and internal medicine physician and program director of the Geriatrics Fellowship, and Ronakkumar Patel, a resident physician in the internal medicine program.

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The abstract, one of 72 accepted for presentation, illustrates how HRSA’s investment in The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Geriatrics Fellowship led to the successful training of its first graduating class during the height of the pandemic. Fellows acted as a key pandemic workforce, offering safely managed and supervised in-person clinic, home-based and telehealth visits for geriatric patients.

In addition, fellows also engaged in deployment of The Wright Center for Community Health’s 34-foot mobile medical unit, Driving Better Health, to deliver primary health services, as well as COVID-19 testing, monoclonal antibody infusions and vaccinations at senior living facilities. Along with primary care residents, geriatric fellows formed a vital workforce for the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Education Support and Clinical Coaching Program that provided support to personal care, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. 

HRSA’s abstract review committee chose the research article for its Bureau of Health Workforce Virtual All Grantee and Stakeholder Meeting. The focus of the meeting is for participants to learn from grantees and trainees about programs, ideas and research that can improve the health workforce.

Overall, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education has had 75 scholarly abstracts, written on a wide array of topics in medicine, accepted for presentation at professional conferences since the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year.

The fellowship in geriatrics is a one-year program that emphasizes quality of care and a deep understanding of socioeconomic determinants of health for older patients that face the unique health challenges that come with aging. 

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