Lackawanna Blind Association to Host “Swing for Sight” Memorial Golf Tournament The Lackawanna Blind Association is hosting the William J. Jordan, MD “Swing for Sight” Memorial Golf Tournament on Monday, June 10, 2024. This year’s tournament features a $10,000 hole in one prize, skill prizes, raffle prizes and a blind putting contest where contestants will get a heightened awareness of the challenges faced by those who are blind or visually impaired.
The Wright Center Launches New ‘Care Team’ Approach The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education have launched an innovative program to enhance patient care while nurturing the skills of tomorrow’s physician workforce. Medical residents at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education are now members of “care teams” that provide whole-person primary health services to people of all ages, income levels, and insurance statuses. The novel initiative elevates the standard of care provided at The Wright Center’s nine community health center locations in Northeast Pennsylvania while providing a platform for residents to refine their skills as compassionate healers. By seamlessly integrating hands-on experience with comprehensive training, the program embodies The Wright Center’s mission to improve the health and welfare of communities through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce that is privileged to serve. “Patients get two sets of eyes – the resident and the doctor,” said Dr. Timothy Burke, a primary care physician at The Wright Center for Community Health – Mid Valley in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, and the associate program director of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency. “Seeing the same resident and the same doctor each time means the patient doesn’t have to repeat their medical history over and over. Both know who you are, the care you’re receiving, and the obstacles you face.” Patients will benefit from building personal relationships with The Wright Center’s resident physicians, according to Dr. Erin McFadden, a primary care doctor who also serves as deputy chief medical officer and medical director of The Wright Center for Community Health’s locations in Scranton, North Scranton, and the Scranton Counseling Center. “That’s the beauty of primary care. It’s not just learning the medicine, it’s learning how to develop the relationship with the patient,” Dr. McFadden said. “It’s important to build that patient-doctor trust so you can see how their health is changing and, hopefully, improving.” Dr. McFadden, for example, said a resident physician will prescribe a patient with diabetes a particular drug to help with blood sugar levels. Now, as part of the patient’s care team, they can monitor how effective that medication is – and what side effects the patient may or may not experience – at subsequent appointments. “We’re giving an opportunity to our patients and our resident physicians to build a relationship,” she said. “If you want to take care of a disease and improve health, you need multiple pictures over time to watch cause and effect.” The care team concept is not new at The Wright Center for Community Health, which typically integrates medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services, at a single location for the convenience of patients. To ensure residents could become more involved in patient care teams, The Wright Center collaborated with its Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendor to redesign the scheduling of patient appointments to honor patient continuity. The program also means changing the way resident physicians are scheduled for rotations, which are completed at The Wright Center’s community health centers, local hospitals, and other medical settings in the region. Typically, resident physicians cycle through a number of assignments, each lasting a few weeks to a month. Now, the residents who are part of the new care teams are assigned to their doctor’s clinic location once a week. “That came from a buy-in across the medical residency program leaders that continuity was important and a priority, so no other rotations were going to supersede their regularly scheduled continuity clinics,” said Tiffany Jaskulski, vice president of health innovation and strategic initiatives at The Wright Center. First-year Internal Medicine resident Dr. Ketaki Pande sees patients at The Wright Center for Community Health – North Scranton on Fridays with Dr. McFadden. She’s enjoyed getting to know patients on a deeper level and says the team approach is helping her become a more effective physician. “One of the big parts of primary care is managing chronic conditions,” Dr. Pande said. “For example, not everyone responds to a particular medication the same way. So, I prescribe something, and now I can follow up weeks and months later, to see how it’s working and if something else is needed.”
Wayne Bank Welcomes New Vice President and Manager Jim Donnelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wayne Bank, is pleased to introduce Deborah Kennedy as Vice President and PA Retail Banking Market Manager. According to Mr. Donnelly, “We are incredibly excited to welcome Deb to our team. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the banking industry which will be invaluable as we continue to expand our footprint and enhance our services. I am confident that Deborah’s leadership and vision will play a crucial role in driving our growth and providing exceptional customer service.” In this role, Mrs. Kennedy will direct and drive the Bank’s profitability, development, and growth in the PA Market. She will manage and coordinate the delivery and support of all bank services, including loans and other banking products. Mrs. Kennedy has over twenty years of banking experience and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Kings College and a Master’s in Business Administration from Capella University. She is very passionate about giving back to her community and is a Board Member of the Rotary Club of Scranton and the Abington Heights Civic League, as well as a Co-Chair of the Scranton Diocese Catholic Women’s Conference. Mrs. Kennedy resides in South Abington Township with her husband, John. They have three children and five grandchildren.
Outreach Center Receives Robert H. Spitz Foundation Grant Outreach’s programs and services awarded $15,000 for The Robert H. Spitz Foundation grant to support Outreach’s programs and services to the regional community. Outreach Center for Community Resources delivers a variety of programs to promote family stability and economic self-sufficiency. Outreach improves the lives of over 4,900 adults and children each year, and evidence-based family development programs support individuals as they navigate life’s challenges.For over 35 years, Outreach has made helping families thrive our highest priority. Outreach builds strong families and communities by offering resources for employment training, parenting, early childhood education, youth mentoring, community reentry, adult GED services, wrap-around case management, and more. Outreach is very grateful to the Robert H. Spitz Foundation for its continued support. This funding has helped Outreach advance its mission of assisting families in our region.The Robert H. Spitz Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations, providing support for programs that aim to break the cycle of poverty, remove economic barriers, and encourage independence in adults and children through access to safe, affordable housing, transportation, and education to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Robert H. Spitz was born in Scranton and was a 1955 graduate of Scranton Central High School and the University of Miami, Florida. Before retirement, Mr. Spitz had been employed by the U.S. Department of Labor and owned several local Arby’s restaurants. Since 2015, the Robert H. Spitz Foundation has provided over $4.6 million in funding to the community. The Scranton Area Community Foundation serves as the administrator of the Robert H. Spitz Foundation.
Johnson College Receives Grant from Robert H. Spitz Foundation Johnson College has been awarded an $8,000 grant from the Robert H. Spitz Foundation’s 2023 grant cycle to support recycling and sustainability enhancements throughout its Scranton campus. The funding will be used to update the College’s current recycling receptacles with more user-friendly containers. The College displayed the new receptacles to the campus community during an Earth Day celebration on Monday, April 22, 2024. The event featured environmental-themed games and activities throughout campus including a scavenger hunt to introduce students to the locations where the new recycling containers will be located. The new, three-stream receptacles will be placed in heavily traveled areas of the Scranton campus. They will be more consistent in appearance than previous receptacles and feature vibrant, color-coded bins to improve recycling practices at Johnson College. The new recycling bins will support the College’s campus-wide recycling and sustainability plan reducing the College’s environmental footprint. Supported efforts include reducing the amount of recyclable material going to the landfill and dumpsters currently used on campus, and turning some of the College’s highly recyclable educational program materials like lumber, copper, and wiring back to the community for use where possible.
