SCRANTON, PA — The Wright Center for Community Health created a new position that will focus on improving patients’ health and well-being by ensuring they have access to integrated, whole-person primary health services, inclusive of medical, dental and behavioral health services.

Kelli Zimmerman, the new vice president of population health and practice transformation, has more than 16 years of experience as a health care professional, concentrating on operations management, strategic planning, value-based care and staff development. 

She has a master of health leadership degree from Western Governors University in Salt Lake City, UT and is a licensed practical nurse. 

In the new role, Zimmerman will serve as a key leader for The Wright Center’s population health strategy. As part of the center’s mission, she will work to implement and monitor continuity of care to ensure patients receive the treatment they need. That includes annual well-visits and preventive care as well as chronic care management and integrated, specialized health services. 

She will also monitor the completion of population health screenings and social determinants of health assessments. This will ensure patients’ timely access to primary care, behavioral health, dental, addiction and recovery services, as well as basic needs, including food, clothing and transportation to and from medical appointments. 

Among other positions, she has served as the regional manager for health and wellness at Geisinger Health System in Danville.

The Wright Center, headquartered in Scranton, operates 10 health centers in Northeast Pennsylvania, including a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health. The locations offer affordable, high-quality, nondiscriminatory, whole-person primary health services to people of all ages regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code or ability to pay. For more information, visit www.TheWrightCenter.org or call 570/230-0019.