One of the things we notice in health care is that far too often women neglect their own well-being because they’re so focused on the needs of their children, their spouse or their aging parents.

 So, it’s important to promote awareness campaigns like Women’s Health Awareness Month in May, which provides us with a terrific opportunity to stress the importance of women taking a proactive approach to their overall health.

 National Women’s Health Week occurs every year beginning on Mother’s Day and is led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Women’s Health. The theme for this year’s observance is “Empowering Women, Cultivating Health: Celebrating Voices, Wellness and Resilience,” and is focused on empowering women to be proactive in their health journeys. 

Each day of the campaign spotlights a relevant women’s health topic. They are: 

Day 1 – May 12: Empowering Women in their Health Journey

Day 2 - May 13: Safe Sexual Health

Day 3 - May 14: Shining a Light on Maternal Mental Health

Day 4 - May 15: Talk About It—Reducing Women’s Health Stigma 

Day 5 - May 16: Understanding Care is There

Day 6 - May 17: Reproductive Health from Puberty to Menopause and Beyond

Day 7 - May 18: Women and Heart Health

Here at The Wright Center, we offer a variety of services that allow women to balance their own wellness with their many daily responsibilities. Our local primary and preventive care community health centers provide integrated whole-person primary health services that give patients the convenience of going to a single location to access all their physical, dental and behavioral health care needs. That’s why our patients are encouraged to make us their medical home.

Our women patients can access such health services as regular gynecological checkups, pelvic and breast exams, cervical cancer screenings, well-woman visits, bone density testing, age-appropriate immunizations, Pap smears and HPV testing, STI testing and treatment and hormonal testing.

And to spare women—really, all patients—from the needless suffering associated with preventable illness and many of today’s leading causes of death (heart attack, stroke and certain cancers among them), The Wright Center is increasingly focused on preventive care through our Lifestyle Medicine and Obesity Medicine programs. Our dedicated team of dieticians, counselors, and other professionals can help patients adopt a personalized care plan to manage—or outright avoid—chronic diseases.

We accept almost all insurances, including Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), plus private plans. If you’re uninsured, our enrollment assisters can help to educate you about the options and the sign-up process, and our sliding-fee discount program ensures high-quality whole-person primary health services are affordable and accessible for everyone, regardless of insurance status, ZIP code or ability to pay.

We’re proud to offer first-rate women’s health care, and we’ll continue to do all we can do to exceed that care in any way possible.

Supriana Bhandol, M.D., a board-certified family medicine physician, serves as the associate program director and physician faculty in The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Regional Family Medicine Residency. Dr. Bhandol is accepting patients of all ages at The Wright Center for Community Health – Scranton, 501 S. Washington Ave.

About The Wright Center

 The Wright Center’s mission is to improve the health and welfare of the communities we serve through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce that is privileged to serve. This mission is delivered through a Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortium model that engages two complementary entities: The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education (TWCGME) and The Wright Center for Community Health (TWCCH), a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike, as well as four partnering national Federally Qualified Health Centers. The shared passionate purpose of these organizations is to demonstrate an “Achievable by All” Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortium model that co-creates transformational health care teams of leaders who empower people, families, and communities to own and optimize their health, as well as their health care delivery and workforce development systems. Our niche is delivering world-class, innovative, and responsive primary health services in the context of community-centric, incumbent and future workforce development and renewal.

 TWCCH is a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike with a growing network of community health centers throughout Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties that provide safety-net, nondiscriminatory, comprehensive primary and preventive health services, including medical, dental, mental and behavioral health, addiction and recovery, and Ryan White HIV services to vulnerable and medically underserved populations, regardless of a patient’s insurance status or ability to pay.

 TWCGME is the  nation’s largest HRSA-funded Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety Net Consortium that is dedicated to training compassionate, highly skilled physicians in community-immersed health centers and clinical learning networks collectively striving to address our nation’s primary care physician shortage, misdistribution, and related health, health care, and health careers access disparities.

 The Wright Center for Patient and Community Engagement (TWCPCE) is a nonprofit that complements TWCCH and TWCGME’s mission through patient and community engagement in the delivery, enhancement, and transformation of primary health care services; interprofessional workforce development; and public health improvements through education, advocacy, and responsive address of the socioeconomic determinants of health that disproportionately affect underserved and rural communities. TWCPCE accomplishes its mission by providing project-based programming to organize volunteer engagement for community-based educational and outreach initiatives that include health fairs, blood drives, distribution of healthy nonperishable food, fresh produce, winter coats and clothing, and programs that address transportation, social isolation, and more.

For more information, visit TheWrightCenter.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.