The Wright Center for Community Health will expand access to essential health services in Luzerne County in March with the opening of a new on-site pharmacy at its community health center in Wilkes-Barre.

The 1,400-square-foot pharmacy, located at 169 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre, will be open to patients of The Wright Center as well as members of the surrounding communities. The pharmacy provides convenient access to prescription medications and pharmacist support as part of The Wright Center’s integrated, whole-person primary and preventive health services delivery model.

The pharmacy will open Monday, March 16 and serve the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Operations will be led by three licensed pharmacists. Most common prescriptions can be filled while customers wait, while some specialty medications may require 24 hours' notice.

“The opening of our Wilkes-Barre pharmacy reflects The Wright Center’s ongoing commitment to expanding access to the health services our communities need and deserve,” said Dr. Jignesh Sheth, senior vice president and enterprise chief operations and strategy officer. “Several pharmacies around the region have closed over the past few years, so we’re excited to offer this service to our communities, whether they are Wright Center patients or obtain medical care elsewhere.”

The pharmacy will operate alongside a new 1,400-square-foot laboratory that will be operated by HNL Lab Medicine for routine testing, further enhancing the services available at The Wright Center for Community Health Wilkes-Barre. Together, the pharmacy and laboratory help reduce barriers to care for patients who might otherwise struggle to access these resources, Dr. Sheth said.

The new laboratory in Wilkes-Barre, which opens March 23, marks the third HNL Lab Medicine patient service center located within a Wright Center community health center, joining sites at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn, and The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton, 501 S. Washington Ave.

Plans call for the Wilkes-Barre pharmacy to also deliver patient prescriptions to Wright Center locations in Lackawanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. Patients will eventually be able to pick up prescriptions at the community health centers most convenient for them.

The Wright Center is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2026. Founded in 1976, The Wright Centers for Community Health, Graduate Medical Education, and Patient & Community Engagement are a physician-led, community-owned nonprofit and a cornerstone of health care in the region. The organization employs more than 665 professionals – including nearly 200 resident and fellow physicians, and trains more than 200 interprofessional health care learners each year.

In fiscal year 2024-25, The Wright Center served about 38,300 unique patients across its growing network of community health centers in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties, including its mobile medical and dental unit, Driving Better Health. As a nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike and safety-net provider, The Wright Center serves all patients, regardless of insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay. No patient is turned away due to an inability to pay.

For more information, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-491-0126.

Operating for over 25 years, HNL Lab Medicine is a leading multi-regional, full-service medical laboratory providing testing and related services to physician offices, hospitals, long-term care facilities, employers, and industrial accounts throughout Pennsylvania. HNL Lab Medicine has more than 50 patient service centers in Pennsylvania and has 31 acute care laboratories within partners’ hospital sites. The HNL Lab Medicine team consists of over 2,022 employees, including over 109 industry-leading pathologists and scientific directors. HNL Lab Medicine’s multidisciplinary team of experts is focused on providing expert medical and technical diagnostic guidance so that patients may get diagnosed and treated faster.