Partnership with TechA11y brings continuous accessibility infrastructure to The Wright Center’s digital properties, supports broader access to information

The initiative also extends to The Wright Center’s PDF documents and digital media, providing a more comprehensive approach to making online information and resources accessible to people of all abilities.

For The Wright Center, the initiative reflects both a desire to address accessibility requirements and a broader commitment to ensuring that patients, families, learners, and community members can access important information and digital resources without unnecessary barriers.

“Access has always been central to the work of The Wright Center, and today that has to include digital access,” said Paul Krzywicki, executive director of marketing and communications at The Wright Center. “Our websites and digital resources are important ways that patients, families, learners, and members of our communities connect with our enterprise. We want those experiences to be welcoming and accessible to everyone. Our partnership with TechA11y gives us a continuous approach to improving accessibility as our digital content evolves.”

Rather than treating accessibility as a one-time project, the partnership establishes an ongoing accessibility program across The Wright Center’s digital presence.

TechA11y’s continuous compliance infrastructure monitors covered websites for accessibility issues, generates and deploys remediation, responds to changing and dynamic web content, and documents remediation activity over time. The engagement also includes accessibility remediation services for PDF documents and digital media.

The partnership includes accessibility services for:

• TheWrightCenter.org, The Wright Center’s primary digital presence;
• HealthyMOMS.org, supporting information and resources connected with the Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Support (MOMS) program;
• TheWrightGraduation.org, supporting The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s graduation community;
• PDFs and other digital documents;
• digital media requiring accessibility remediation; and
• other digital assets.

For TechA11y, the collaboration represents an important expansion into the healthcare sector and an opportunity to work with an enterprise whose mission strongly aligns with the principles of digital inclusion.

“The Wright Center is an exceptional organization for TechA11y to partner with as we expand our work in healthcare,” said Kirk Uhler, CEO of TechA11y. “Digital accessibility is ultimately about people. When someone is looking for health information, trying to understand available services, learning about a community program or simply trying to navigate an organization’s website, disability should not be the reason they encounter a barrier.

“The Wright Center understands that accessibility is more than a compliance exercise,” Uhler continued. “It is part of making sure people can participate fully. That shared commitment makes this partnership especially meaningful to us.”

For individuals with disabilities, accessible digital resources can affect the ability to locate health information, learn about available programs and services, understand educational opportunities, access documents and media, and interact effectively with an organization online.

By integrating accessibility into the ongoing operation of its digital properties, The Wright Center is extending its commitment to access into the digital experience.

A bilingual doctor with more than a decade of experience in emergency medicine, general medicine, and pediatrics is accepting pediatric patients at The Wright Center for Community Health Wilkes-Barre.

A graduate of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency Program has returned to The Wright Center for Community Health to serve patients while helping train the next generation of physicians and advance health policy and advocacy efforts.

Dr. Sandra Rabat, who completed her Internal Medicine residency at The Wright Center in June 2026, is accepting adult patients at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley. In addition to providing whole-person primary and preventive health services, she will serve as an internal medicine physician faculty member and physician liaison for health policy and advocacy.

During medical school, Dr. Rabat participated in the Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center’s (AHEC) prestigious Scholars Program, which strengthened her focus on caring for vulnerable populations, community engagement, integrating behavioral health services into primary care, and advancing access to healthcare. She received an honorable mention for the 2024 AHEC Alumni/Advocate of the Year Award.

Dr. Rabat’s interest in advocacy developed during her residency at The Wright Center, where she became increasingly involved in local and federal advocacy. Working alongside Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO at The Wright Center, as well as The Wright Center’s advocacy team, colleagues, and enterprise leadership, she championed the vital role of teaching health centers and addressed the needs of rural and underserved communities. Her work with Dr. Thomas-Hemak and The Wright Center advocacy team helped shape her passion for health policy and advocacy.

In her final year of residency, she served as chief resident of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, acting as a liaison between resident physicians and faculty members, mentoring junior residents, and helping facilitate clinical training. She previously served as a resident physician leader for advocacy in her second year of residency and as a resident physician leader during her first year.

She has also led a community-oriented primary care project focused on increasing routine breast cancer screening rates, emphasizing preventive care and patient education.

Dr. Rabat signed her employment contract on Feb. 17, 2026 – the 50th anniversary of The Wright Center. Founded on Feb. 17, 1976, The Wright Centers for Community Health, Graduate Medical Education, and Patient & Community Engagement is a physician-led, community-owned nonprofit and a cornerstone of healthcare in the region. The enterprise employs nearly 680 professionals – including nearly 200 resident and fellow physicians – and trains more than 200 interprofessional healthcare learners each year.

The Wright Centers for Community Health, Graduate Medical Education, and Patient & Community Engagement have appointed eight new members to their governing boards, bringing decades of combined experience in healthcare, business, education, and community service to the nonprofit enterprise.

The new board members will help guide The Wright Center’s mission to improve the health and welfare of communities through responsive, whole-person health services for all and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce that is privileged to serve.

Joining The Wright Center for Community Health’s Board of Directors are:

Joining The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Board of Directors are:

Joining The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement Board is:

An experienced pediatrician with ties to the region has returned to The Wright Center for Community Health to serve as a pediatrician and physician faculty member.

Dr. Nina Poliak is accepting appointments at The Wright Center for Community Health Wilkes-Barre, 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave., for pediatric well visits, same-day sick appointments, routine vaccinations, newborn care, back-to-school/daycare physicals, sports and camp physicals, asthma management, mental health screenings, and more.

To make an appointment, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-491-0126.

Dr. Poliak has authored multiple peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on pediatric topics. She also served as an editor for Pediatric Board Review Materials and Questions, a comprehensive study resource designed to help pediatric residents and physicians prepare for and pass their board examinations.

At The Wright Center, Dr. Poliak will serve as a pediatric physician faculty member, working closely with medical residents and medical students in the clinic, developing curriculum, and mentoring trainees.

The Wright Center for Community Health Friendship House – Carbondale, located inside Friendship House’s new Whole-Person Care Center at 30 N. Main St., Suite 100, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its opening on Aug. 13. The new health center is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Wright Center for Community Health celebrated the opening of its newest community health center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Aug. 12, in Carbondale.

The Wright Center for Community Health Friendship House – Carbondale, located inside Friendship House’s new Whole-Person Care Center at 30 N. Main St., Suite 100, began seeing patients Thursday, Aug. 13. Led by Medical Director Bryan Boyle, a longtime board-certified physician assistant, the community health center is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The new location provides whole-person primary and preventive health services, including checkups, health screenings, and treatment for common illnesses and injuries. Care is available for everyone, regardless of insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay. Patients do not need to be a Friendship House client to receive care at the community health center.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-591-5298.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Carbondale Mayor Michele Bannon welcomed the new community health center and expressed her appreciation to the Friendship House and The Wright Center for investing in the city and expanding access to healthcare for local residents.

“You are bringing care closer to the people who live and work here,” Bannon said. “Here in Carbondale, it’s about relationships, partnerships, and waking up every morning and asking, ‘How can we make things better?’”

The community health center in Carbondale marks The Wright Center’s second partnership with Friendship House. Since November 2024, The Wright Center’s clinical team has provided primary care at more than 3,500 patient visits at Friendship House’s Whole Person Care Center in Scranton, located at 200 Wyoming Ave.