WVIA To Broadcast a Mind Over Matter Discussion

WVIA will broadcast Mind Over Matter: The State of Mental Health in NEPA live from the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton, PA on Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m. 

Part of WVIA’s Mind Over Matter mental health initiative, The State of Mental Health in NEPA will feature Moderator Tracey Matisak and a panel of regional mental health experts to discuss the state of mental health in NEPA based on a critical needs assessment. Hear stories from people who are coping with mental health challenges and find out where to get help. Admission is free but limited.

Panelists include:

  • Dr. Sanjay Chandragiri, Associate Professor of Psychiatry
  • Sarah Wodder, Psy.D., LP, LPC, President, and CEO, Scranton Counseling Center
  • Dawn Zieger, Associate Vice President, Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Geisinger

Reservations can be made at: wvia.org/mindovermatter

Misericordia University Hosts BOOM in the Night Event

Misericordia University Open House - Scranton Chamber of Commerce

BOOM in the Night is Back at Misericordia University with the student organization Dead Alchemist Society. The society plans to present a spectacle with the annual event “Things that go Boom in the Night!” on Wednesday, October 26, from 6-8 p.m. in the Henry Science Center on campus. The event is open and free to the public.

Students in the Dead Alchemist Society will offer new and expanded activities for children, including hands-on experiments such as making bath bombs, slime, shrinky dinks, and foam, beginning at 6:00 pm in the Henry Science Center. There will be giveaways and hands-on learning for kids and adults of all ages. The program will move to the Wells Fargo Amphitheater at 8:00 pm for the finale. This season’s popular event features new experiments and, of course, the famous puking pumpkins.

Geisinger Offering Drive-through and Walk-in Flu Shots

Geisinger is hosting its second Super Saturday flu vaccine event this upcoming Saturday, Oct. 8, at 42 locations across the system’s footprint.

Flu shots are free and available to all in the community – no appointments are needed. Simply drive up and receive a shot without leaving your vehicle. At locations without drive-in shots, walk-in shots are available.

The Super Saturday flu shot clinics run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The last Super Saturday event this year will be on Nov. 5.

“It’s so important to get vaccinated to not only protect yourself, but to protect those vulnerable of severe illness which include children, the elderly, and those immunocompromised,” said Stanley Martin, M.D., director of Geisinger’s Division of Infectious Diseases. “We could see more cases this year than we have in the past five years, so to keep everyone healthy, we want to vaccinate as many people as possible.”

The following Geisinger community medicine clinics will host drive-through events for anyone age 3 and older. Shots will be available at:

  • Geisinger Healthplex State College (132 Abigail Lane)
  • Geisinger Philipsburg  (210 Medical Center Drive)
  • Geisinger Bellefonte (819 E. Bishop St.)
  • Geisinger Lewistown   (21 Geisinger Lane)
  • Geisinger Medical Clinic Lock Haven (68 Spring St.)
  • Geisinger Medical Center Muncy (255 Route 220 Highway)
  • Geisinger Berwick (2200 W. Front St.)
  • Geisinger Medical Clinic Buckhorn (240 Mall Blvd.)
  • Geisinger Frackville (701 West Oak St.)
  • Geisinger Kulpmont (119 Nevada Drive)
  • Geisinger Lewisburg (250 Reitz Blvd.)
  • Geisinger Orwigsburg (300 Hollywood Blvd.)
  • Geisinger Pottsville (529 Terry Reiley Way)
  • Geisinger Selinsgrove (201 Roosevelt Ave.)
  • Geisinger Woodbine Lane (16 Woodbine Lane)
  • Geisinger Dallas (114 Lt. Michael Cleary Drive)
  • Geisinger Kingston (560 Pierce St.)
  • Geisinger Mountain Top (35 S. Mountain Blvd.)
  • Geisinger Mt. Pocono (126 Market Way)
  • Geisinger Pittston (42 N. Main St.)
  • Geisinger Mt. Pleasant (531 Mt. Pleasant Drive)
  • Geisinger Tunkhannock (10 Trieble Drive)

Those 65 and older can receive shots at Geisinger 65 Forward locations.

Drive-through:

  • Kingston (499 Wyoming Ave.)
  • Scranton (3 W. Olive St., Floor 1, Suite 205)

Walk-in:

  • Buckhorn (240 Mall Blvd., Floor 1)
  • Milton (5170 State Route 405 – South Gate Plaza)
  • Scranton (3 W Olive St., Floor 1, Suite 205)
  • Shamokin Coal Township (9333 State Route 61, Suite 2)
  • Wilkes-Barre (41 South Main St.)

Walk-in flu shots for patients ages 6 months and older will also be available at the following CommunityCare and Geisinger Pediatrics locations:

  • CommunityCare Hazleton (426 Airport Road)
  • CommunityCare Kistler Clinic (175 S. Wilkes-Barre Blvd.)

Pediatrics:

  • Pottsville (529 Terry Reiley Way)
  • Mt. Pocono (126 Market Way)
  • Scranton (5 Morgan Highway, Suite 8)
  • Forty Fort (190 Welles St., Suite 122)
  • Lewisburg (55 Medical Park Drive)
  • Woodbine (16 Woodbine Lane)
  • Lock Haven (68 Spring St.)
  • Muncy (255 Route 220)
  • Healthplex State College (132 Abigail Lane)
  • Lewistown (21 Geisinger Lane)
  • Philipsburg (210 Medical Center Drive)

There’s no need to preregister to get a flu shot. Remember to wear a mask and loose-fitting clothing that allows easy access to the upper arm.

For more information on fighting flu this season, visit geisinger.org/flu.

Artworks Gallery To Host Art Exhibit

Join us at ArtWorks Gallery and Studio on the First Friday, October 7th, from 5-9 pm for Jessica Maietta: Synergy. Maietta is an artist based in Northeastern Pennsylvania who creates two-dimensional works using various mixed media techniques.

About her work, the artist states, “mixed media enables me to channel my subconscious mind and discover personal truths. Some of my art is non-archival, mirroring the ever-changing impermanence of life. Everything has a beginning, an end, and the now. I create my own pictorial language using symbols. My pieces reflect personal views of human life in relation to time, space, nature, and spirituality. The symbols I use are universal, allowing variable interpretations. Being aware of these alternative dimensions elevates me from being a robotic gear in the clock of life.”

In addition to her work, Maietta is an accomplished tattoo artist in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Join us in celebrating Jessica’s work for the entire month of October. Beyond First Friday, the gallery is open to the public 8 am – 4 pm M-F. Masks required.

Geisinger To Host Dinners for Local Veterans

To thank local military veterans for their service, Geisinger will host drive-through Veterans Appreciation dinners at 11 locations across the health system’s service area from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10. Geisinger Healthplex State College will serve meals from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

The dinners for U.S. military veterans and a guest are being provided at no cost to participants. Anyone interested should make a reservation by Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Geisinger will again serve this dinner as a drive-through event for the safety of the community, staff and volunteers. Last year’s event served more than 2,300 meals.

This year marks the 20th anniversary for the event at Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, where it originated before expanding to other Geisinger facilities. This year’s event will grow from nine locations to 11.

Veterans may contact their preferred location to register themselves and one guest for the meal. Servings are limited, and those interested are encouraged to sign up now.

Locations are:

Pittston Township

Scranton

Wilkes-Barre

Bloomsburg

Danville

Jersey Shore

Lewistown

Mifflintown

Muncy

Shamokin

State College

  • Geisinger Healthplex State College, 132 Abigail Lane, Port Matilda
  • To make a reservation, visit go.geisinger.org/vetsdinner/statecollege or call 814-272-5032.
  • Meals will be served at this location from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

The University of Scranton Events

The University of Scranton Open House Dates Set

The University of Scranton, a nationally recognized Jesuit university in northeast Pennsylvania, will host two Open House events for prospective students and their families on Sunday, Oct. 23, and Sunday, Nov. 6.

“Best 388 Colleges,” “Best Buys in College Education,” “America’s Best Colleges,” “A Focus on Student Success,” “Best Undergraduate Teaching,” “Best Catholic Colleges” – these are just a few of the ways that the nation’s leading college rankings and guidebooks consistently refer to The University of Scranton. For 29 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Scranton among the 10 top Master’s Universities in the North. The Princeton Review included Scranton in its list “Best Colleges” for 21 consecutive years and in its ranking of the nation’s “Best Science Labs” (No. 7) for six years, among other rankings.

At the Open House, participants can learn about Scranton’s 69 undergraduate majors, meet with faculty, students, admissions counselors and financial aid representatives. Student-led campus tours will be conducted throughout the day and will include residence halls, dining halls, computer labs, science labs and academic facilities.

In addition, representatives of student organizations, athletic teams and Scranton’s programs of excellence, such as the undergraduate Honors Program, Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program, Magis Honors Program in STEM, Business Honors Program and Business Leadership Honors Program, will also be available.

Misericordia University Fall Open House Date

Misericordia University will hold an open house for high school students and their parents in the fall on Saturday, November 12, 2022, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Check-in will begin at 9:00 AM at the Anderson Health and Wellness Center.

The open house event for high schoolers and their parents is the chance to experience the campus, meet students and visiting professors, and speak with admissions and financial aid representatives. Students and their families will tour the campus before meeting with faculty in their academic program. After lunch, learn more about the admissions and financial aid process, hear more from current students, and then tour some of the specialized facilities with students in their major.

Prospective students can tour numerous buildings, including the 40,000-square-foot John J. Passan Hall, 100 Lake St., Dallas. Passan Hall houses state-of-the-art simulator laboratories and classrooms in the nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology programs of the College of Health Sciences and Education. Also slated for touring is the Frank M. and Dorothea Henry Science Center, which embodies a commitment to advanced technology and infrastructure that lends itself to superior teaching, learning, and research with a state-of-art facility.

If students and their parents are looking for a college that delivers a robust education and a personal experience, look no further than Misericordia University. Misericordia is a small, private university that offers a hands-on, transformative education to all who seek it. Misericordia ensures that each student receives a personalized experience and the resources to achieve their goals.

For more information, contact the Misericordia University Admissions Office at 570-674-6264 or email at admiss@misericordia.edu to register now, visit our website at https://www.misericordia.edu/admissions/admissions/open-house.

The Wright Center Tribute Dinner

A tribute dinner in honor of pioneering physician and longtime community leader Dr. Robert E. Wright and his late wife, Carole, will be held this fall to benefit one of the couple’s favorite charitable causes: the tuition-free NativityMiguel School of Scranton.

Event sponsorships and reserved dinner seats are currently available for the school’s 2022 Tribute Dinner fundraiser, which is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at the University of Scranton’s DeNaples Center.

Donations honoring the Wrights by those who are unable to attend the dinner are also being accepted. Proceeds from the campaign will support the school’s mission of “breaking the cycle of poverty, one student at a time.”

The Wrights left an enduring legacy on Northeast Pennsylvania’s educational landscape by, in part, helping to establish the NativityMiguel School of Scranton, an independent Catholic co-educational middle school for students of greater economic need in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre areas. The school began instructing its first class of fifth-graders in 2015. Today, the small but impactful institution educates more than 60 students in grades five through eight.

Dr. Wright, a Lackawanna County native, also founded and led the Scranton-Temple Residency Program, forerunner of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, and was instrumental in the startup and ultimate success of The Commonwealth Medical College, now known as the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.

Carole Wright supported those monumental projects, which collectively serve the region as a physician workforce pipeline to help meet the ongoing need for primary care doctors and other health care practitioners. A practice manager, Carole Wright also was vital to the establishment and growth of her husband’s hematology/oncology practice – the first of its kind in the region. And she was a consistent servant-leader, aiding many area nonprofits as a volunteer, a board member and a benefactor.