Scranton Fringe Wraps Up 2026 Festival Scranton Fringe wraps up a successful 2026 festival with the largest attendance since 2020. With over 3,500 attendees at one or more event, almost 50 productions, and hundreds of artists and creators, Scranton Fringe is eager to expand to the 2027 festival. During the festival, SOHO Playhouse of New York City came to scout for their 2027 Fringe Encore Series. Scranton Fringe highlighted the historic Scranton Iron Furnaces through a 3D projection mapping that drew over 600 attendees across both nights. The festival featured over 20 local venues and 4 staple hotels. The 2027 Scranton Fringe Festival will take place from Thursday, October 14 – Sunday, October 24, 2027. Save the date!
The Wright Center receives grant to help patients in need with transportation, hygiene supplies, and household items. Getting to doctors’ appointments will be a little easier for some patients in need, thanks to The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education and a grant from the Scranton Area Community Foundation. The $18,750 grant will be used to buy bus passes, transportation vouchers, and gas cards for patients enrolled in The Wright Center for Community Health’s Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Support (Healthy MOMS) Program and patients being helped by The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s new street medicine program to get to and from appointments at The Wright Center for Community Health’s network of community health centers and at community partners across the region. The grant will also help The Wright Center provide hygiene supplies and essential household items to patients receiving care at its Ryan White HIV/AIDS Clinic. Healthy MOMS focuses on helping mothers-to-be and mothers with substance use disorder, bringing together healthcare, legal, housing, and social services organizations from more than seven counties in Northeast Pennsylvania. Participants can join before giving birth and remain in the program until the child turns 2. An assigned case manager helps with a range of support services, including medications for opioid use disorder, counseling, primary and OB-GYN care, parenting tips, legal advice, and more. Since its launch in August 2018, the program has helped more than 654 mothers and welcomed 355 babies. The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s new street medicine team, composed of medical assistants, community health workers, addiction recovery specialists, resident physicians, and more, visits the Community Intervention Center in Scranton twice a week. Since it launched in January, the team has completed more than 547 medical exams aboard the 34-foot mobile medical and dental unit known as Driving Better Health. Often, care provided by The Wright Center’s street medicine team leads to referrals for follow-up care, either at The Wright Center’s community health center in Scranton or with other providers who can assist them. “Transportation assistance is essential to help patients access critical services and reduce barriers to care,” said Dr. Douglas Klamp, who leads the street medicine team and serves as The Wright Center’s senior vice president, chief medical education officer, and physician chair of resident and fellow talent acquisition. “By improving transportation access, patients will be better able to attend appointments, adhere to treatment, and remain engaged in care, especially if they are experiencing financial difficulties, housing insecurity, or other challenges.”
City of Carbondale Selected for Appalachian Regional Commission Training and Funding Opportunity The City of Carbondale was selected for the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) READY Local Governments training program, which helps local government officials better identify, secure, manage and implement federally funded economic development projects to maximize positive outcomes. The City will be represented by Economic Development Director Todd Pousley and Mary-Pat Ward, Chief Operating Officer of NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania, the City’s nonprofit partner. They will participate in the nine-week virtual training program alongside other local government leaders from across the Appalachian Region. Participants will build skills to manage the entire federal grant lifecycle, including: Federal Grant Funding Opportunities and Readiness Federal Grant Project Identification, Application Development and Submission Strategy Federal Grant Regulations, Administration and Compliance Federal Grant Financial and Risk Management Leveraging Federal Grants for Long-Term Success Upon successful completion of the training program, the City will be eligible to apply for $50,000 in funding (no-match required) to enhance organizational ability to better meet Carbondale’s economic needs. “We’re always looking for new sources of funding to expand services for our residents and pursue economic development opportunities,” says Mayor Michele Bannon. “This ARC training program will position the City to better utilize federal grants to improve our community.” “We’re excited to partner with the City of Carbondale in this effort and invest in building the skills and knowledge needed to pursue new opportunities for the community,” said Mary-Pat Ward, Chief Operating Officer of NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania. “The stronger our ability to navigate these resources, the more opportunities we have to bring new investment and resources to Carbondale and support the community’s long-term goals.”
Johnson College to Host Annual Community Trunk-or-Treat Johnson College will host its annual Community Trunk-or-Treat event. This free, family-friendly event provides a safe and festive Halloween celebration for Johnson College students, their families, and community members. The Trunk-or-Treat features decorated vehicles hosted by Johnson College departments, staff, and community partners who hand out candy and small prizes to attendees. In years past, the event has welcomed approximately 800-1,000 attendees, making it a cherished Johnson College Tradition that promotes connection, creativity, and fun for participants of all ages. The event will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2026 from 4:30-6:30 pm. It will be located at Johnson College Scranton Campus, outside Bingham Hall (upper campus).
Geisinger welcomes primary care providers to northeast region In September, five new primary care providers began seeing new patients at Geisinger facilities across northeastern Pennsylvania. Geisinger primary care clinics in Dallas, Moosic (Geisinger Montage), Nanticoke and Pittston welcomed the new physicians to expand access to preventive and chronic disease management in the region. The following primary care providers are seeing new patients this fall: Geisinger Dallas: Soniya Koirala M.D. Geisinger Montage: Jordan Wolfheimer, M.D. Kara Romanowski, M.D. Geisinger Nanticoke: Thomas Timmerman, M.D. Geisinger Pittston Shannon Coyne, D.O. The region welcomed eight new primary care providers earlier this year. “Strong primary care is the foundation of a healthy community,” said Roger Scott, chief of the Division of Community Medicine in Geisinger’s northeast region. “By continuing to grow access to primary care services, we’re helping patients build lasting relationships with providers who support their health at every stage of life.” Primary care physicians focus on routine care like physicals, ongoing care for chronic health conditions like diabetes or asthma, and if needed, referrals to nearby specialists. Patients can schedule same-day, evening or weekend in-person or telehealth appointments through MyChart or by calling 800-275-6401. To find more information on all Geisinger’s primary care physicians, visit geisinger.org/primarycare.
Geisinger College of Health Sciences to host Neal Barnard for its 13th Preventive Medicine Lecture Geisinger College of Health Sciences will welcome Neal Barnard, MD, FACC, a nationally recognized expert in nutrition and preventive medicine, as the featured speaker for its 13th Preventive Medicine Lecture on Nov. 5 at 5:30 p.m. Barnard, adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Barnard Medical Center, will present “Power Foods for Weight Loss and Diabetes.” The lecture will highlight research on how specific food choices can support sustainable weight loss and improve Type 2 diabetes outcomes. Barnard will discuss evidence showing that certain foods can help reduce appetite, limit calorie absorption and increase calorie burning after meals. He will also examine the role of fat accumulation in liver and muscle cells in the development of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes.
President/CEO at The Wright Center receives inaugural national award for graduate medical education leadership Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, received the inaugural 2026 Program Leader of the Year Award from the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research’s ShepsGME (Graduate Medical Education) Technical Assistance Center, which runs two federal technical assistance centers supporting the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Residency Planning and Development and Teaching Health Center programs. Dr. Thomas-Hemak accepted the award during the 2026 Rural and Health Center National GME Conference, held Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2026, at Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland. The award recognizes an exemplary leader in graduate medical education who demonstrates exceptional leadership, advances innovation and continuous improvement, and shows an unwavering commitment to developing the physician workforce and expanding training opportunities. Dr. Thomas-Hemak is a quintuple board-certified primary care physician in internal medicine, pediatrics, addiction medicine, obesity medicine, and nutrition. Alongside her executive leadership, she continues to care for generations of patients and families at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley in Jermyn, which is her hometown and the Birthplace of First Aid in America. A proud graduate of Scranton Preparatory School and the University of Scranton, Dr. Thomas-Hemak went on to earn her medical degree as a Michael DeBakey Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, followed by completing Harvard’s Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program in Boston. Guided by a profound sense of service to her community roots, she returned to Northeast Pennsylvania to practice primary care. She joined The Wright Center in 2001, became its president in 2007, and assumed the role of CEO in 2012. Dr. Thomas-Hemak has transformed The Wright Center’s approach to graduate medical education while advancing community-based physician training nationally. Under her leadership, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education has grown from the Scranton-Temple Residency Program, a single Internal Medicine residency established by Dr. Robert Wright and others in 1976 through a $1 million federal Bureau of Health Manpower grant, into an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited Sponsoring Institution with seven residency and fellowship programs and a foundational partner in one of the nation’s largest Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortiums. Today, The Wright Center trains nearly 200 resident and fellow physicians annually, along with more than 200 interprofessional learners, who help deliver comprehensive, affordable, compassionate, whole-person primary and preventive health services to more than 39,000 patients annually across The Wright Center for Community Health’s 15 Teaching Health Centers in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties and through its mobile medical and dental unit, Driving Better Health. Under Dr. Thomas-Hemak’s leadership, The Wright Center for Community Health earned full Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) designation in August 2026, which unlocks significant federal resources for the region and vastly improves access to high-quality, whole-person primary and preventive health services for patients and families. Central to Dr. Thomas-Hemak’s work has been the development of The Wright Center’s Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortium, a proven, scalable, and replicable community-owned and community-governed model that integrates physician and interprofessional healthcare workforce development with the delivery of healthcare services in underserved communities. The model is built on the principle that communities should be empowered to develop and sustain the healthcare workforce they need while strengthening the systems of care in which those professionals train and ultimately serve. “Dr. Thomas-Hemak has spent her career challenging us to think differently about what graduate medical education can and should accomplish,” said Scott E. Schermerhorn, Esq., chair of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Board of Directors. “Her legacy is not simply measured by the programs she has built or the physicians she has trained. It is measured by the capacity she has created in communities to build, sustain, and steward their own healthcare workforce. She has demonstrated that graduate medical education can be more than a system for training physicians. It can be an instrument for strengthening communities, expanding access to care, and changing the trajectory of health for generations.” One of the clearest examples of that approach was The Wright Center’s National Family Medicine Residency, a pioneering multistate residency program launched in 2013 in collaboration with A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona and Federally Qualified Health Centers: El Rio Health in Arizona, HealthPoint in Washington State, HealthSource of Ohio, and Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C. The program connected geographically dispersed community health centers through shared educational standards, resources, and a commitment to training family physicians in underserved communities. The National Family Medicine Residency concluded in June 2026 after producing 167 family physicians, 74% of whom practice in medically underserved communities, and expanding primary care access for more than 392,000 patients nationwide. Its legacy continues through FQHC partners that have developed or are developing their own graduate medical education capacity, demonstrating the scalability and sustainability of community-based physician training. HealthPoint and El Rio Health became independent ACGME-accredited Sponsoring Institutions with their own Family Medicine Residency Programs; HealthSource achieved accreditation for a new Family Medicine Residency under The Wright Center’s Sponsoring Institution; and Unity Health Care continues developing similar capacity. Dr. Thomas-Hemak has also helped advance the Teaching Health Center movement nationally through her leadership, advocacy, federal service, scholarly work, and presentations focused on physician workforce development and the social mission of graduate medical education. She is a founding board member of the American Association of Teaching Health Centers, which represents community-based teaching health centers that train primary care physicians, and serves as governor for the Eastern Region of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Physicians (PA-ACP), the nation’s largest medical-specialty organization. In March 2026, she was appointed to serve a two-year term on the 18-member Healthcare Advisory Committee, convened by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to help guide national health policy and program innovation to strengthen care delivery and financing, improve quality, reduce administrative burden, and focus healthcare on patients. She was also appointed in 2026 to serve on the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) Board of Directors. She serves on numerous local, regional, and national healthcare and medical education nonprofit governing boards, cross-sector committees, and workgroups, including the federally funded Partnership for Quality Measurement’s Endorsement & Maintenance Committee Advisory Group on Cost and Efficiency, which brings together healthcare experts to evaluate and endorse performance measures. She is a founding member of the consortium that established the Scranton-based Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, the immediate past chair and executive committee member of the Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (NEPA AHEC), co-chair of the Community Health Hub, and an advisory board member of The Institute. She and her husband, Mark, have three children, Mason, Maya, and Antoinette. She is the daughter of the late William and Johanna Cavalieri Thomas. For more information about The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.
SWB to Announce New Team Name at PNC Field Fall Festival on November 7 Join the celebration on Saturday, November 7, at PNC Field as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre announces its new identity! The Adventure Begins Fall Festival will begin at 1 P.M., and the team will unveil its new moniker at approximately 5 P.M. “We are excited to host The Adventure Begins Fall Festival, brought to you by the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, as we introduce the new brand,” said Shawn Reilly, Team President & General Manager. “The day will be filled with fun for the whole family, food, and so much more. We know the whole area wants to know that new name, and this is the day we make the big reveal to tell the world!” The Adventure Begins Fall Festival will feature food trucks, craft & domestic brews, live music, a petting zoo, activities for kids, and guest appearances. Admission is free, and all ages are welcome! At 5 P.M., Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will take its baseball team down its new path as the brand is announced. After the name, uniforms, and more are unveiled, a drone show will light the sky above PNC Field. “Coming off an amazing 2026 season,” Reilly continued, “we are ready to take the future to another level. Wesaw an incredible team filled with Yankees’ top prospects and top MLB rehabs, tremendous events and momentsthroughout the year like Banana Ball and Cosmic Baseball, plus key ballpark and entertainment upgrades. TheAdventure Begins Fall Festival is an opportunity to come celebrate the region in all its glory and be a part of ourhistory as it happens.” More details regarding The Adventure Begins Fall Festival, presented by the Pennsylvania Army NationalGuard will be announced in the weeks leading up to November 7. Learn more about the rebrand or purchase 2027 season tickets at swbrailriders.com.
John Cleese Coming to the Scranton Cultural Center on April 10 Comedy legend John Cleese, is coming to the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple on April 10 for “John Cleese: Still Not Dead (Yet) – Celebrating ‘The Holy Grail’ at 50.” The event will begin at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the theater opening at 6:30 p.m. The evening will feature a theatrical screening of the immortal classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, followed by a live question-and-answer session with Cleese. Tickets start at $65.20, including fees, with a limited number of post-show VIP packages also available for purchase. Tickets go on sale October 9 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased in person at the Fidelity Bank Box Office, by calling 570-344-1111, or through Ticketmaster.
Geisinger Community Medical Center to implement entrance security screenings Oct. 5 As part of a phased implementation of entrance security screenings at each of Geisinger’s hospitals, Geisinger Community Medical Center will introduce security screenings on Monday, Oct. 5. These public-entrance screenings are intended to keep the hospital safe for all who work, receive care or visit their loved ones in the facility. Weapons of any kind, including firearms and knives, are prohibited from all Geisinger facilities. People should not bring these items with them when entering a Geisinger hospital or clinic for an appointment or visit. Any weapon found through the entrance screening will not be allowed to enter the facility and must be returned to the owner’s vehicle. Beyond the screening already in place at the emergency room, Geisinger Community Medical Center will screen patients and visitors at all public entrances on the medical center campus. Screening will take place from the time each entrance opens to 8 p.m. when visiting hours are over. After 8 p.m., all visitors must enter the hospital through the emergency room. When the screenings begin, the hospital’s public entrance on Colfax Avenue will become an employee-only entrance that requires proxy badge access. Patients and visitors arriving for Women’s Health appointments will need to use the hospital’s main entrance on Mulberry Street to reach the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Guest Services team will help guide patients during the transition. Because they will pass through metal detectors similar to those at airports and courthouses, everyone using public hospital entranceswill be asked to remove metal objects from their pockets. If the detector activates, a security officer will conduct a scan with a handheld device. Geisinger has used a similar process with metal detectors at all emergency room entrances since 2021, preventing thousands of weapons and other dangerous items from entering its facilities. “Our hospitals are places of healing,” said Sean McGinley, associate vice president of police and security operations for Geisinger. “We take security seriously and are continuing to improve and enhance our tools and training. This is yet another investment we’re making for the safety of our employees, patients and visitors.” Since March, the Pennsylvania-based health system has implemented entrance screenings at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, Geisinger Shamokin Area Community Hospital, Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital, Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital and Geisinger Medical Center Muncy. All Geisinger hospitals are expected to adopt the security measure by the beginning of 2027.
