SCRANTON, PA — On September 28, U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan, Jr. (PA-08) announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded six federal grants totaling $2,836,500 to The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education.

“The Wright Center understands that improving healthcare is about more than putting a doctor in an exam room,” said Rep. Bresnahan. “It means training physicians who understand the communities they serve and making sure patients have access to primary care, behavioral health services, substance use treatment, and continued support. These grants will help The Wright Center continue that mission and build a stronger healthcare workforce right here in our region.”

The six grants were awarded through the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program (THCGME) and will go towards The Wright Center’s geriatrics, family medicine, and internal medicine teaching health center programs. 

“We are profoundly grateful for this nearly $2.84 million federal investment through the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program. Most importantly, this is an investment in the patients, families, and communities our physician learners are privileged to serve,” said Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Center. “These vital resources will strengthen our geriatrics, family medicine, and internal medicine training programs and help us to continue preparing competent and compassionate physicians in the community-based settings where their service is needed most. For The Wright Center, this is about far more than funding residency positions. It is about sustaining and renewing the primary care physician workforce, expanding access to essential primary health services for everyone, and ensuring our communities have the physicians and essential health systems they need today and for generations to come.”

Last year, Bresnahan joined colleagues in sending a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson urging for a multi-year reauthorization of the THCGME program, which would support funding for teaching health centers across the country.