Geisinger Community Medical Center among seven Geisinger hospitals that received Gift of Life Donor Program recognition Seven Geisinger hospitals were recently awarded Titanium and Platinum Gift of Life Donor Program (GLDP) designations for their efforts to raise awareness and educate employees, patients and communities about the importance of organ donation through the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP). Geisinger Community Medical Center, Geisinger Medical Center and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center received Titanium GLDP designations. Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, Geisinger Medical Center Muncy and Geisinger Shamokin Area Community Hospital received Platinum GLDP designations. “Organ donation has the power to transform lives and give hope to patients waiting for a lifesaving transplant,” said Jason Mitchell, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer, Geisinger, and a member of the HAP Board of Directors. “These recognitions reflect the dedication of our teams to raising awareness about the importance of organ donation and supporting patients, families and communities throughout the donation and transplant journey. Every donor leaves a legacy, and we’re proud to help advance a culture that encourages people to consider giving the gift of life.” The annual HAP Donate Life Pennsylvania Hospital Challenge encourages hospitals across the commonwealth to increase awareness of organ, eye and tissue donation. HAP partners with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the state’s two organ procurement organizations, the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) and Gift of Life Donor Program, to support the challenge. A full list of winners can be found at haponline.org. To learn more about organ donation or to become a living donor, visit geisinger.org/transplant.
The Wright Center hosts ribbon-cutting for Carbondale location 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. “For generations, Friendship House has helped children, adults, and families build resilience through an extraordinary continuum of care that includes mental and behavioral health services, autism and developmental disability programs, social services, school-based behavioral health support, and integrated primary care,” Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Center, said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The Wright Center complements that work by providing comprehensive whole-person primary and preventive health services while educating and training the next generation of physicians and interprofessional healthcare teams. Together, we are making it easier for individuals and families to access compassionate, coordinated care in one trusted setting – care that recognizes each person’s inherent dignity, supports recovery and resilience, promotes lifelong wellness, and helps people achieve their fullest potential.” 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. The Wright Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026. Founded in 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 health care in the region. The organization employs nearly 680 professionals – including nearly 200 resident and fellow physicians – and trains more than 200 interprofessional health care learners each year. In fiscal year 2025-26, The Wright Center served more than 39,000 unique patients across all care settings in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. As a Federally Qualified Health Center and safety-net provider, The Wright Center serves all patients, regardless of insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay. No patient is turned away due to an inability to pay. Learn more at TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.
Geisinger to hold Narcan distribution events in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre Geisinger’s pharmacy, emergency medicine, addiction medicine and Free2BMom teams are collaborating again this year on two Narcan® (naloxone) distribution events in northeastern Pennsylvania. Geisinger personnel will hand out boxes of nasal naloxone, fentanyl and xylazine testing strips, and teach attendees how to properly use them at community resource events in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. At the Scranton event, the Geisinger team will be joined by community health partners who will set up information tables and offer resources to those in recovery or seeking recovery. The first event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, in the Linden Street courtyard of Courthouse Square at 200 N. Washington Ave. in Scranton. The second event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, during the Farmers Market on Public Square in downtown Wilkes-Barre The events are free and open to the public. No registration is required.
The Wright Center’s Internal Medicine Resident Wins Award for Case Study A Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education resident physician’s chance meeting with a patient at a local hospital led to the opportunity to present a winning scholarly abstract about a medical rarity at the American College of Physicians (ACP) Internal Medicine Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Maimona Chaudhary, an Internal Medicine resident physician, first encountered the subject of the abstract, a 25-year-old woman, while on rotation at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The patient arrived at the emergency department with lesions on her legs. What medical personnel initially diagnosed as second-degree burns ended up being a rare symptom of biclonal multiple myeloma – a cancer that only affects people under the age of 40 in about 2% of cases. “Upon follow-up, the lesions were diagnosed as paraneoplastic pemphigus, which is rare in itself,” said Dr. Chaudhary. “But then they found she had multiple myeloma, without any of the usual symptoms, without any family history. There were a lot of oddities in this case.” Dr. Chaudhary, a first-year resident physician from Hamilton, Ontario, followed the patient’s case over the next several months and produced a case report with colleagues from The Wright Center, including Drs. Ali Shah and Lehka Yadukumar, Internal Medicine residency physicians; Dr. Milos Babic, associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency; and medical student Omaima Chaudhary, who received her medical degree from the University of Limerick School of Medicine and will join The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency in July. The researchers submitted the case report, “Paraneoplastic Pemphigus as the Presenting Sign of Biclonal Multiple Myeloma in a 25-Year Old Female: A Case Report,” to the ACP’s resident/fellow national abstract competition, which receives several hundred entries annually. The abstract was one of 20 awarded a certificate of merit by the ACP. Dr. Chaudhary delivered the five-minute presentation on the case. “It was difficult to cover everything in five minutes,” she said. “I think this case really stood out to the ACP judges because it was so unusual.” Dr. Chaudhary monitored the patient’s case, although she is not involved in her ongoing treatment. The woman’s cancer treatment was delayed for months as doctors worked to heal the skin lesions caused by paraneoplastic pemphigus, along with other complications. She recently began chemotherapy, and all signs point to a positive outcome. As for Dr. Chaudhary’s future, she’s still deciding what type of medicine to pursue. “I’m still exploring,” she said. “I want to do something I really enjoy. We get to pick electives in our second year, so I can start to see where I want to go from here.”
Geisinger to Host Education Event: Medical Marijuana in PA As part of its ongoing series of community health education programs, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine will host “Medical Marijuana in Pennsylvania” on Thursday, July 27 at 5:30 p.m. at the school’s Medical Sciences Building at 525 Pine Street. This session will inform the public on: Identify evidence for benefits of medical marijuana useThe risks of medical marijuana useHow physicians certify patients for medical marijuana use Victor O. Kolade, MD, MS, clinical professor of medicine, will discuss the latest research on medical marijuana and explore data regarding its efficacy for certain health conditions. There will also be time for questions. Board certified in internal medicine, Dr. Kolade is an internist at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre. See for details: To register visit go.geisinger.edu/communityedseries.
