The Wright Center Welcomes Medical Students The Wright Center welcomed four medical students from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), who will complete rotations at The Wright Center’s community health centers and other locations throughout the region. This year marks the launch of the partnership between The Wright Center and LECOM, which is open to third- and fourth-year medical students. “The goal is to train these medical students in underserved communities, and hopefully, they will stay in Northeast Pennsylvania to complete their medical residencies after graduation,” said Carla Blakeslee, The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s clerkships coordinator. Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine students, from left, are Sulav Shrestha, Tazeen Malik, Katherine Weir, and Elena Myalo.
The Wright Center Welcomes New Workers The Wright Center for Community Health and residents of Northeast Pennsylvania are offering two new community health workers (CHWs) with specialized services to patients, thanks to a unique program through the National Health Corps (NHC). Harry Yanoshak of Plains Township to work with The Wright Center’s geriatric care teams and Kristin Zaorski of Covington Township will collaborate with The Wright Center’s behavioral health teams. Both CHWs are funded through the NHC’s Community Health Fellowship, a grassroots community health service program that trains local community residents as CHWs. The new employees are committed to addressing the unmet needs of underserved populations and honing their skills as community health leaders. The Wright Center employs CHWs to help connect patients and community members to various resources. In addition to connecting them to food pantries and helping them find safe, affordable housing, CHWs can also help patients address utility bills, transportation to and from doctor’s appointments, health insurance applications, and a variety of other needs. “They bridge the gap,” said Kathleen Doyle, director of patient-centered services at The Wright Center. “They help address basic needs so patients can focus on their health and medical needs. This ties in directly to The Wright Center’s mission to improve the health and welfare of our communities through inclusive and responsive health services.” The NHC program funds CHWs to work in specialized areas to facilitate integration with The Wright Center for Community Health’s whole-person primary health services. “This is one more step in offering whole-person, integrated care,” said Lou Strazzeri, community and agency referrals coordinator for The Wright Center. “We can now offer a CHW who can focus specifically on what a patient being seen by our geriatric care team might need or what one of our behavioral health patients may need.” Nicole Lipinski, director of The Wright Center’s Geriatric Service Line, looks forward to the unique resources and support Yanoshak will be able to offer to patients and their families. “We are able to help this vulnerable population navigate through the care continuum as they age in place or require additional assistance with care in facilities,” she said. “Having a CHW will only enhance what we can offer.” CHWs are one of the fastest-growing occupations in today’s health care field, with a projected 12% increase in jobs between 2021 and 2031, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Participants in the AmeriCorps-funded NHC program must complete 1,700 hours of service within a term spanning 42-46 weeks. They also must complete a CHW training course offered by the Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center. They receive a living stipend and are eligible for food and child care assistance, tuition reimbursement, and access to health insurance, including medical, vision, and dental. The Wright Center, headquartered in Scranton, operates 10 primary and preventive care practices in Northeast Pennsylvania, including a mobile medical and dental vehicle called Driving Better Health. Its locations offer integrated whole-person primary health services, meaning patients typically have the convenience of going to a single location to access medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services. For more information, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.
The Wright Center Encourages Men to be Proactive The Wright Center believes stereotypes aside, it’s safe to say that men often tend to be less proactive about their health than women. That’s why public health campaigns like Men’s Health Month in June play an admirable role. The annual monthlong observance raises awareness on the many ways in which males – boys and adults – need to take charge of their health care. June is also home to International Men’s Health Week, which took place last week, and June 14’s Wear Blue Day, which is sponsored by the Men’s Health Network and encourages individuals, organizations, and employers to wear blue and host awareness and/or fundraising events on behalf of the cause. If we’re being honest, society hasn’t done the greatest job of promoting proactive health care among males, no matter the age group. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average life expectancy for men in the United States is 5.4 years less than it is for women. Meanwhile, males are at a higher risk for a number of serious diseases, among them heart disease, lung cancer, and HIV, and experience illnesses completely unique to the gender, such as prostate cancer. And for men from underrepresented groups, the numbers are even worse. So, it’s a good thing that for this year’s Men’s Health Month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) is focused on bettering health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) men through its theme, “Be the Source for Better Health: Improving Health Outcomes Through Our Cultures, Communities, and Connections.” The initiative aims to understand better how the unique environments, cultures, histories, and circumstances – the social determinants of health or SDOH – of minority men impact their overall health. OMH has committed to working with public health and community-based partners to provide racial and ethnic minority and AI/AN men and boys with high-quality medical care and services that are “responsive to diverse cultural health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, economic and environmental circumstances, and health literacy levels.” The thinking is that when patients are provided with culturally and linguistically appropriate information, they’ll ultimately have healthier outcomes for themselves, their families, and their communities as a whole. And by communities, we can certainly include our own right here in Northeast Pennsylvania. With encouragement from health care professionals, as well as family members and friends, there’s no reason why men can’t adopt more healthful practices, whether it’s improving their diet and getting a gym membership or better managing their stress levels through yoga, meditation, or therapy. That also includes making a long-term investment in their medical care, from annual visits to their primary care physician to receiving regular prostate testing and colonoscopies, or Cologuard stool testing, to reduce the chance of metastatic prostate or colorectal cancer. Health education should also start at a very young age so families can instill the importance of lifelong healthy habits in their boys. Most people do not seem to appreciate exercise’s profound impact on reducing the risk of most diseases and even slowing the aging process. Thirty minutes of exercise can prevent decline and decay for both men and women. Let’s all do our part to promote better men’s health by encouraging the important men in our lives – fathers, husbands, sons, friends, coworkers, etc. – to take their long-term health seriously. Douglas Klamp, M.D., is a board-certified internal medicine physician who serves as senior vice president, chief medical education officer, and physician chair of resident and fellow talent acquisition of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, as well as program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Klamp is accepting adult patients at The Wright Center for Community Health – Scranton, 501 S. Washington Ave.
The Wright Center and NE PA AHEC Workshop Collaboration Nevena Barjaktarovic, M.D., a dually board-certified physician in internal medicine and rheumatology at The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, will present a free educational session on lupus for Northeast Pennsylvania primary care and emergency room doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. The Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (NE PA AHEC) is sponsoring the internal medicine didactic session, which will be held from 8-10 a.m., Wednesday, July 31, in The Wright Center for Community Health – Scranton Auditorium, 501 S. Washington Ave. Participation is limited and registration is required by Friday, July 19. To register, visit bit.ly/3QRJqTf. Participants may join in person or virtually through Webex video conferencing. The video conferencing link will be provided after registration. The session is a part of the American College of Rheumatology Rural Health Outreach Project, aimed at improving lupus referral, diagnosis, and treatment in underserved communities. It also will help raise awareness among health care providers of lupus signs and symptoms, what to do if lupus is suspected, and when to consider lupus in the differential diagnosis for individuals at high risk. About 1.5 million Americans have a form of lupus, 90% of whom are women, with about 16,000 new cases annually, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. Lupus is two to three times more prevalent among Black, Hispanic/Latina, Asian American, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander women than white women. Those with lupus can experience significant symptoms, including pain, extreme fatigue, hair loss, cognitive issues, and physical impairments that affect every facet of their lives. Many suffer from cardiovascular disease, strokes, disfiguring rashes, and painful joints. For others, there may be no visible symptoms. Dr. Barjaktarovic specializes in diagnosing and treating a broad spectrum of rheumatic and inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis, back pain, connective tissue disease, fibromyalgia, gout, joint pain, osteoporosis, psoriasis, and lupus. She also serves as a physician-faculty member at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, where she mentors residents and fellows. A Clarks Summit resident, Dr. Barjaktarovic joined The Wright Centers in 2020 and earned her medical degree from the Medical School of Belgrade University, Serbia. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at James J. Peters VA Medical Center, affiliated with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and her rheumatology fellowship training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Montefiore Medical Center, also in the Bronx.
The Wright Center Announces Fellowship Dr. Kristina Tanovic, a board-certified internal medicine hospitalist at The Wright Center for Community Health, has been elected a fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the society of internists. The distinction recognizes achievements in internal medicine, the specialty of adult medical care. Dr. Tanovic was elected upon the recommendation of peers and the review of ACP’s Credentials Subcommittee. She may now use the letters “FACP” after her name in recognition of this honor. Dr. Tanovic see patients of all ages at The Wright Center for Community Health – Scranton Counseling Center, 329 Cherry St., where she is accepting new patients. Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Obesity Medicine, Dr. Tanovic is also a core faculty member of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency, where she trains the physicians of tomorrow. The Wright Center’s residency and fellowship programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. A graduate of the University of Belgrade School of Medicine in Serbia, Dr. Tanovic completed her internal medicine residency at Icahn School of Medicine at James J. Peters VA Medical Center, a Mount Sinai School of Medicine-affiliated facility in the Bronx, New York. Dr. Tanovic and her husband, Dr. Ivan Cvorovic, live in Scranton, with their daughter Iskra Cvorovic. The Wright Center, headquartered in Scranton, operates 10 community health centers in Northeast Pennsylvania, including a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health. Its locations offer affordable, high-quality, indiscriminate whole-person primary health services, meaning patients typically have the convenience of going to a single location to access integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services. For more information, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019. ACP is the largest medical specialty organization and the second physician group in the United States. ACP members include 143,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physician are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. For more information about ACP, go to acponline.org.
The Wright Center Announces Fellowship Dr. Ivan Cvorovic, a board-certified internal medicine hospitalist at The Wright Center for Community Health, has been elected a fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the society of internists. The distinction recognizes achievements in internal medicine, the specialty of adult medical care. Dr. Cvorovic was elected upon the recommendation of peers and the review of ACP’s Credentials Subcommittee. He may now use the letters “FACP” after his name in recognition of this honor. Dr. Cvorovic sees adult patients at The Wright Center for Community Health – Scranton Counseling Center, 329 Cherry St., where he is accepting new patients. Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Cvorovic is also a core faculty member of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. A graduate of the University of Belgrade School of Medicine, Dr. Cvorovic completed his internal medicine residency training at Icahn School of Medicine in New York, where he served as the chief resident. Dr. Cvorovic and his wife, Dr Kristina Tanovic, live in Scranton, with their daughter Iskra Cvorovic. The Wright Center, headquartered in Scranton, operates 10 community health centers in Northeast Pennsylvania, including a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health. Its locations offer affordable, high-quality, indiscriminate whole-person primary health services, meaning patients typically have the convenience of going to a single location to access integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services. For more information, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019. ACP is the largest medical specialty organization and the second physician group in the United States. ACP members include 143,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. For more information about ACP, go to acponline.org.
The Wright Center Welcomes Alumnus as Graduation Speaker The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s 45th graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 22, at Mohegan Pennsylvania Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre will feature an alumnus who works as a University of Pennsylvania hospitalist and clinical instructor as the keynote speaker. The Wright Center’s graduation ceremony will honor and recognize 67 resident physicians from seven disciplines: 32 in Internal Medicine; 14 in Regional Family Medicine; 16 in National Family Medicine; one in Psychiatry; one in Cardiovascular Disease; two in Geriatrics; and one in Gastroenterology. Keynote speaker Dr. Humza Quadir of Philadelphia graduated from The Wright Center’s Internal Medicine Residency in 2022. He joined the staff of Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and is also affiliated with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. At The Wright Center, Dr. Quadir served in several leadership roles, including chief resident during the final year of his three-year residency. He also served as vice president of the house staff council, a voting member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC), and a member of GMEC’s Quality and Safety Committee. Dr. Quadir received his medical degree from Ziauddin University in Karachi, Pakistan, in December 2014. “Dr. Quadir is a leader who understands the importance of our mission to improve the health and welfare of our communities through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce that is privileged to serve,” said Dr. Jumee Barooah, senior vice president of education and designated institutional official for The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. “He’s carried those same values to his roles as a hospitalist and clinical instructor. We’re looking forward to hearing the wisdom he will impart to our graduates as they embark upon the next chapter of their careers.” The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education was established in 1976 as the Scranton-Temple Residency Program, a community-based internal medicine residency. Today, The Wright Center is one of the largest U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortiums in the nation. Together with consortium stakeholders, The Wright Center trains residents and fellows in a community-based, community-needs-responsive workforce development model to advance their shared 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.
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.”
The Wright Center Explains Alzheimer’s and Dementia Complex The Wright Center states there’s a pretty good chance that someone close to you has been affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is indeed a devastating condition with profound impacts on those afflicted and their families. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 6.7 million people 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s dementia in the United States, including more than 280,000 Pennsylvanians. The disease’s impact goes beyond those diagnosed, affecting their families significantly. In Pennsylvania, for example, there were an estimated 404,000 family caregivers statewide in 2022. These caregivers often provide extensive and demanding care, facing emotional, physical, and financial challenges as they support their loved ones through the progression of the disease. Medical progress on the disease has been frustratingly slow, but awareness campaigns like Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month in June certainly help the cause. The observance educates people about the disease’s risk factors, signs, and symptoms and the importance of early detection and diagnosis. It’s also a vehicle for raising funds geared toward much-needed Alzheimer’s research. The month is also known for the Alzheimer’s Association’s The Longest Day, the June 21 observance when people from around the world come together to “fight the darkness” of Alzheimer’s through a fundraising activity of their choice. The Wright Center is doing its part via their Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care (ADC) Program, which is based on the award-winning model established at UCLA and designed to help patients and families with the complex medical, behavioral, and social needs of Alzheimer’s and related dementias. First launched in 2020, the program is led by a dedicated group of geriatricians, advanced practitioners, and dementia care specialists who collaborate closely with patients’ primary care physicians to ensure care is comprehensive and coordinated for both the patient and their caregivers. ADC has several core components, including a 90-minute in-person visit with a dementia care specialist; a personalized care plan developed with the primary/referring physician; follow-up phone calls and/or in-person visits to ensure the plan is implemented or modified as needed; 24/7, 365-day-a-year access to caregivers for assistance and advice in order to avoid emergency department visits and hospitalizations; and ongoing patient monitoring with at least one annual in-person visit to ensure that ongoing and emerging needs are being met. The Wright Center is proud to announce that the program recently received some major visibility when it was listed in Best Programs for Caregiving, a partnership between the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging and Family Caregiver Alliance, a free, searchable, and interactive database that helps families and caregivers find the right program for their loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia. The website includes descriptions of the program, whether it is offered in-person or online, information on providers, eligibility criteria, how to enroll, languages offered, and more. ADC is part of the comprehensive list of services we provide under the Geriatric Care service line, geared to aging adults who may find themselves unfairly categorized as frail or not being listened to by other doctors. The Wright Center employs a holistic, whole-person approach to every patient at every age, giving them the tools and care to live a full and healthy life. The approach has been recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an Age-Friendly Health System Partner for providing a full spectrum of whole-person primary health and support services for our patients who are young at heart. The Wright Center is hopeful that as awareness increases and more families seek testing and treatment early, they may see some real breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s and dementia care treatment within the next few years. Nonetheless, they will continue to ensure that their patients are getting exemplary care and that caregivers are receiving the tools and support needed to get through this difficult experience. Tanureet Kochar, M.D., is a dual board-certified internal medicine and geriatric physician at The Wright Center for Community Health. She also serves as a core faculty member of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency and Geriatric Fellowship programs. In addition, Dr. Kochar is the regional director of medical education for A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona.
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.”
