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.”