About
Twcch was originally incorporated in 1994 as the wright center medical group, PC, a TAX-exempt professional corporation (PC) and the ambulatory primary care practice plan affiliated with the wright center for graduate medical education (twcgme). Twcgme is a nonprofit acgme-accredited sponsoring institution and the founding educational member of a teaching health center graduate medical education safety-NET consortium (THC GME-SNC). Twcgme integrates federal GME funding from the u.s. Health resources and services administration (HRSA), the veteran administration (VA), and acute hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities funded by the centers for medicare and medicaid services (CMS). The wright center medical group, PC intentionally converted its corporate structure from a PC to a pennsylvania nonprofit corporation subsidiary of twcgme in 2018, and then notably again transformed its identity into an autonomous, community-owned and governed, independent 501(c)(3) entity that was eligible to pursue HRSA designation as a federally qualified health center LOOK-alike (FQHC LAL), a designation successfully achieved in 2019. This was achieved through the mission-driven, selfless, unanimous votes of physician and NON-physician primary care provider stakeholders (then board members) to remove themselves from governance entirely to transfer fiduciary authority to community members, primarily patients and consumers of the entity's health services. Engaged patients and community members assumed those 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 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 LAL essential community provider of primary health and continued RYAN white services. Proudly and gratefully, at the close of fiscal year ending JUNE 30, 2023, 88% of the governing board members of twcch were engaged "users" of its primary health services as defined in the HRSA FQHC compliance manual. Twcch served 33,653 unique patients and engaged in 122,014 total billable visits between JULY 2022 and JUNE 2023, which included 76,685 medical visits, 13,737 behavioral health visits, 13,099 dental visits, and 18,493 inpatient hospital visits. These numbers include house calls and also visits in skilled nursing, assisted living, 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. We have memoranda of understanding and shared care compacts with numerous primary and specialty medical, dental, and mental health providers, hospitals, integrated delivery systems, and social service resource agencies that comprise an extensive, enriched, NON-discriminatory community resource network. We are 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. We offer 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. We are deeply invested in community-based living and aging in place and we offer empowering services of community health workers, certified recovery specialists, enrollment service providers, spiritual aides, case workers, and nurse care managers. We serve the full AGE spectrum of patients without discrimination in nine FQHC LAL teaching health centers, staffed with mission driven interprofessional care teams that also provide house calls and hospitalist, skilled nursing facility, and inpatient acute rehabilitation services for our patients in partnering community-based institutions. Our collaborative care teams integrate family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, rheumatology, infectious disease, addiction medicine, obesity medicine, nutrition, geriatrics and both general and child/adolescent board-certified psychiatrists, as well as primary care trained physician assistants and primary care, geriatrics, and mental and behavioral, as well as addiction trained health trained nurse practitioners. Progressive careers of r.n. And LPN nurses, medical assistants, community health workers, enrollment specialists, certified recovery specialists, mental health PEER specialists, case workers, medical and licensed clinical social workers, enrollment specialists, licensed professional counselors, dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, expanded function dental assistants, pharmacists, nutritionists, and electronic health record specialists have enriched our interprofessional PCMH team based care delivery model and the services we provide to patients and families. We are passionate champions for electronic medical record (EMR)/electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use and AVID promoters of health information exchanges and connectivity and health information interoperability to enable trauma competent, whole person health services, including the responsible address of complex barriers related to socioeconomic determinants of health. Our FQHC LOOK alike governance platform is amplified in the patient and community driven governance of its subsidiary nonprofit corporation the wright center for patient and community engagement (twcpce) that organizes engaged and empowered patients and families to make meaningful contributions to their health care delivery system and primary care workforce development programs. Twcpce missions to empower patients to make meaningful contributions to the delivery, enhancement, and transformation of health care services and interprofessional workforce development and to improve the health of our communities through education, advocacy, and patient-centered services and efforts directed toward the socioeconomic determinants of health. This subsidiary engages community-based partnering organizations and organizes and conducts community blood drives, POP-up food pantries, back-to-school backpack giveaways, winter clothing distributions and more. Twcch's teaching health centers are the primary, ambulatory, longitudinal clinical learning environments for twcgme's internal medicine, family medicine, and psychiatry residents, as well as its geriatric fellows. Additionally, in 2022, twcch proudly supported the graduation of 2 advanced education general dentistry residents in collaboration with NYU langone dental and also hosted fellows in training from geisinger's HRSA funded addiction fellowship. During fiscal year 2022-2023, twcch trained 177 interprofessional students in partnership with more than a dozen academic institutions, including the geisinger commonwealth school of medicine in northeast pennsylvania 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 public health initiative.
In care of Sandra Yastremski CFO
Donations are tax-deductible