WRIGHT Center for Community Health

In 2018, The WRIGHT Center Medical Group, PC, underwent a strategic governance transformation, first converting to a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation and subsequently evolving into an autonomous, Community and patient governed independent 501(c)(3) entity. This pivotal shift positioned the organization to pursue and successfully achieve Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike (FQHC Look-Alike) designation from HRSA, effective June 1, 2019. This remarkable governance transition was driven by the mission-focused, unanimous decision of physician and non-physician primary care provider stakeholders, then serving as board members, to validate Community ownership through relinquishment of their governance roles. They selflessly transferred fiduciary authority to Community members, predominantly patients and consumers of the entity's primary Health services, thereby ensuring that the organization's leadership directly reflects the needs and priorities of those it serves. Engaged patients and Community members authentically assumed the governing board seats, welcoming their empowered official voices in the fiduciary stewardship and directional oversight of the organization. The Community benefit impact of this unifying, Community-driven action that continues to validate HRSA's vision for patient-led governance of Community Health centers cannot be overstated. This intentional and Community empowering governance transformation allowed the entity to apply for and successfully earn the designation as a HRSA-recognized autonomous, independent, Community and patient governed FQHC Look-Alike Essential Community Provider of primary Health and continued Ryan White services. Proudly and gratefully, at the close of Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2024, 88% of the governing board members of TWCCH were engaged "Users" of its primary Health services as defined in HRSA's Health Center Program Compliance Manual. Throughout Fiscal Year 2023-2024 and continuing today, TWCCH offers clinical Health services 83 hours per week at its Mid Valley Practice in Jermyn, extended and Saturday hours in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, and 24/7 on-call access for all TWCCH clinical service lines at all locations, including both ambulatory and hospital venues. During the covered period, TWCCH served 36,734 unique patients and engaged in 132,909 total billable visits between July 2023 and June 2024, which included 85,294 medical visits, 14,443 behavioral Health visits, 13,696 dental visits, and 19,476 inpatient hospital visits. These numbers include house calls and also visits in Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living, Inpatient and Transitional Rehabilitation, and Hospice facilities. TWCCH operates NCQA-recognized Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH)(formerly NCQA Level 3) with NCQA Primary Care/Behavioral Health recognition and NCQA historical School-Based Health Center recognition as well. TWCCH has executed Memoranda of Understanding and Shared Care Compacts with numerous primary and specialty medical, dental, and mental Health providers, hospitals, integrated delivery systems, and Community-based resource agencies that comprise an extensive, enriched, non-discriminatory resource network. TWCCH is a designated Pennsylvania Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence (COE), a Pennsylvania Coordinating Center for Medication Assisted Treatment (PACMAT), and the convening, primary organization of a multi-institution Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Supports (MOMS) Program. TWCCH offers robust primary physical, mental, behavioral, dental, and Ryan White Health services within the PCMH framework, coordinating a full spectrum of whole-person Health services for our patients. TWCCH is a passionate champion for Electronic Medical Record (EMR)/Electronic Health Record (EHR) Meaningful Use and Health Information Technology Interoperability. TWCCH avidly promotes wide-spread adoption of Health information exchanges and connectivity, vocally advocating for HIPAA-compliant Health information interoperability to enable informed whole-person Health services. TWCCH's FQHC Look-Alike governance platform is amplified in its Community and patient driven governance of The WRIGHT Center for Patient and Community Engagement (TWCPCE), of which TWCCH is the sole corporate member. The mission of TWCPCE, a Pennsylvania tax-exempt non-profit corporation, is to empower and engage patients in promoting the Health and welfare of our communities while advancing the outcomes and experience of Health care and related services and workforce development. It aims to improve Community Health through education, advocacy, patient-centered services, and targeted initiatives that address patient and Community resource needs that negatively impact Health outcomes. TWCCH's Teaching Health Centers are the primary ambulatory, longitudinal clinical learning environments for TWCGME's Internal Medicine and Family Medicine residents as well as its Geriatric fellows. Additionally, TWCCH proudly supports the clinical training of Advanced Education General Dentistry (AEGD) residents in collaboration with NYU Langone's AEGD Residency accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). During Fiscal Year 2023-2024, TWCCH trained 187 interprofessional Health students in partnership with more than a dozen academic institutions, including Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), and the A.T. Still University's School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona and Central Coast Physician Assistant Training Program in California. We are an active participating provider in the Keystone Accountable Care Organization, a member of the Pennsylvania and National Associations of Community Health Centers, and a collaborating partner of the Northeast Pennsylvania Area for Health Education Center (AHEC), The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, and the Penn State Project Echo (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a knowledge-sharing network led by expert specialist teams mentoring participating Community providers.