'We will take care of a lot of people here'

Dec. 15—WILKES-BARRE — Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Center for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, Wednesday said the new center on North Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre is a deep investment in the city's downtown.

Thomas-Hemak said that investment will enable the Wright Center to grow its operations and its collaborative, inter-professional relationships to ensure everyone in the service area has equitable access to whole-person primary health services, regardless of their ZIP code, insurance status, or ability to pay.

"We will take care of a lot of people here," Thomas-Hemak said. "We are equally committed to pipeline, community-driven partnerships to open up dream mapping about health care career opportunities, so the demographics of our future health care workforce can better and more inclusively reflect the demographics of our regional community."

The center is scheduled to open Monday, Jan. 9, at 8 a.m., but workers from Sordoni Construction Co. were on-site as Wednesday's news conference was held. Walls were open and wires were hanging throughout the building.

The Wright Center for Community Health recently completed the purchase and is re-purposing the 34,460-square-foot building at 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave. The more than 3-acre site enables the nonprofit community health center to expand opportunities for regional residents to receive integrated, whole-person primary health care at one convenient location.

The new primary care clinic will educate primary care physicians, medical students, and inter-professional health students from regionally and nationally affiliated academic institutions.

Thomas-Hemak added that the Wright Center for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education will increase access to high-quality, comprehensive, affordable primary health services and health care career development opportunities through relocation and expansion of their Kingston primary care and workforce development center into downtown Wilkes-Barre.

Joining Thomas-Hemak for the news conference were Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown and Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, in addition to Amanda Shimko, chief of staff for state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Scranton. Also speaking was Dr. Jignesh Sheth, chief medical officer and senior vice president of The Wright Center for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education.

"We always look for ways to do good things," Pashinski said. "This amazing facility will be a one-stop shop for health care. I'm proud to have worked together with our mayor and our senator and the Wright Center."

Mayor Brown added, "We are seeing more and more people coming into the city. We have to be able to meet their needs."

Thomas-Hemak said the Wright Center is honored to have the opportunity in Luzerne County to expand the delivery of our mission to improve the health and welfare of the communities served through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired and competent workforce that is privileged to serve.

"We are grateful for and inspired by Gov. Tom Wolf's validating, generous Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program award," she said. "We look forward to giving back through the regional and local community benefit impact we deliver. Together, we are building a preferred future in which everyone will benefit from a health system that prioritizes equity, quality, and affordability of comprehensive primary health care services and career opportunities."

The Wright Center's network of clinics in Northeast Pennsylvania primarily serves patients from Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties.

The Wright Center is no stranger to Luzerne County. The enterprise has operated teaching health centers in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston for many years and partnered on several public health initiatives with community resource agencies.

The first phase of the new clinical, educational and administrative center in Wilkes-Barre will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on holidays that occur Monday through Saturday.

The center has ample, off-street parking and is within walking distance of downtown Wilkes-Barre, the James F. Conahan Intermodal Transportation Center, and public transportation bus stops. It will offer family-friendly primary medical, behavioral, and addiction and recovery services across the lifespan, from pediatrics to geriatrics. Ultimately, its integrated services will offer patients the convenience of going to a single location to access full-service primary medical, dental, behavioral health, addiction and recovery services, and other supportive programs.

Over the next several months, The Wright Center will hopefully be adding more than 25 medical examination rooms, 30 behavioral health rooms, and 10 dental operatories to increase access.

The new facility will also include state-of-the-art conference and learning rooms, complete with audio-visual technology, computers, and more for provider care teams and learners, as well as dedicated space for partnering community resource agencies. The full project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

To make an appointment at The Wright Center for Community Health Wilkes-Barre Practice, call 570-491-0126 or go to — TheWrightCenter.org.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.