The Wright Center’s Mobile Medical Clinic to Offer Routine Physicals for Students

To promote the health of school-aged children and teens, The Wright Center for Community Health will begin offering a new service next month aboard its mobile medical and dental unit known as Driving Better Health.

The Driving Better Health clinician team will provide students with routine physicals, piloting this expanded service in the Hazleton Area School District.

The first event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Hazleton Area School District Administration Building, 1515 W. 23^rd St., Hazle Township. A second event at the same location, and during the same time span, is scheduled for Oct. 25.

Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Appointments are required. Please bring student’s identification and insurance cards, if available. The Wright Center will never turn anyone away due to inability to pay. For more information or to make an appointment for a student physical, call 570.230.0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org.

The Wright Center’s traveling clinicians noticed a need for this service as they conducted an ongoing series of back-to-school vaccination clinics at multiple school districts in Northeast Pennsylvania, said Christine Wysocky, co-director of certified nurse practitioner and physician assistant services for The Wright Center for Community Health.

“In Hazleton, there’s a large pediatric population that has fallen behind in obtaining their vaccines and their yearly physicals,” she said, noting that Pennsylvania requires physicals for every child entering kindergarten, sixth and 11^th grades, as well as any new students enrolling from out of state. “With our mobile unit, we can take these services to them.”

In addition to physicals, participants at the Driving Better Health clinics on Oct. 17 and Oct. 25 will be able to get routine childhood vaccines for which they are eligible, including chicken pox; measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); polio; pertussis; tetanus, diphtheria and tetanus (DTaP); hepatitis B, meningitis; and the flu. COVID-19 vaccines and tests may also be available.

For vaccine-only visits, appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are accepted. For these appointments, children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and should have identification, vaccination records and insurance information, if applicable. Uninsured children can be vaccinated under the federally funded Vaccines for Children program. For more information or to schedule a vaccine-only appointment, call 570.230.0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org.

A medical clinic on wheels, Driving Better Health allows The Wright Center for Community Health to treat patients where they are in Northeast Pennsylvania – from traditionally underserved city neighborhoods to rural areas. The 34-foot vehicle includes two fully equipped exam areas, which can be used either for health care services or dental services. The vehicle also has a wheelchair lift. Since it was put into service in late 2020, Driving Better Health has repeatedly been deployed to area schools, senior living centers, homeless shelters and other community gathering spots.

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provided a grant that enabled The Wright Center to acquire and outfit the custom-built vehicle, which initially served to help populations of special concern during the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding access to coronavirus testing and vaccines.