Wright Center participates in pilot program involving naloxone
The Wright Center for Community Health has partnered with a health care technology company to test a new digital platform that promotes naloxone readiness and empowers individuals to respond to overdoses.
Contingency Management Innovations (CMI), a division of Q2i, developed the groundbreaking digital platform, NALCAM, which combines mobile technology with behavior reinforcement and public health education to strengthen community overdose response capacity. CMI contacted the Wright Center, which has worked with the company on another project, to test the new platform.
In all, seven patients involved in the Wright Center’s state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence participated in the recently completed research pilot.
“We know that Narcan prevents overdose deaths,” said Scott Constantini, associate vice president of primary care and recovery services integration at the Wright Center for Community Health, in a news release. “The Wright Center is always looking for ways to innovate, so when programs like this are developed, we want to participate.”
Through the NALCAM app, participants who register their naloxone kits will receive digital check-ins and brief learning modules to ensure they carry their kits and know how to use them. Completing check-ins and modules provides participants with small rewards to motivate them to carry naloxone and stay ready to use it.
The Wright Center for Community Health, a Scranton-based provider of whole-person primary health services, became a state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence in 2016. Since then, it has provided outpatient addiction treatment and recovery services, including medication-assisted treatment, to thousands of people in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The Wright Center is one of many approved, community-based distribution sites, officially known as “recognized entities,” that receive naloxone kits through the Pennsylvania Overdose Prevention Program. The program was launched in 2023 as a joint initiative between the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
To learn more about the services available through the Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence, call 570-230-0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org/services/coe. For more information on NALCAM, visit nalcam.com.
Greater Scranton YMCA receives grant for Summer Scholars Program
The Greater Scranton YMCA has received a $5,000 grant from the PPL Foundation. The funds will support the Y’s Summer Scholars Program, a free six-week summer learning program.
The goal of Summer Scholars is to prevent summer learning loss through a combination of literacy instruction, enrichment activities aligned to literacy instruction and positive youth development opportunities. The program targets struggling readers and serves rising first, second and third grade students attending the Dunmore and Mid Valley school districts.
“The Greater Scranton YMCA is so grateful to the PPL Foundation for their generosity,” said Rich Surridge, president and CEO of the Greater Scranton YMCA, in a news release. “By investing in literacy for rising first, second and third grade students, the PPL Foundation is investing in the future of our community. Together, we’re helping children build the skills and confidence that set them up for lifelong success.”
For more information about the Summer Scholars Program, contact Helen Cruser, education director, at hcruser@gsymca.org.
Johnson College receives Lowe’s Foundation Gable Grant
The Lowe’s Foundation has awarded a $450,000 Gable Grant to Johnson College as one of only 12 community and technical colleges receiving the competitive awards in the country.
Through expanded training opportunities, the grant is helping Johnson College build the next generation of skilled tradespeople at a time when the industry needs it most. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the skilled labor gap drives a $10 billion annual economic loss in the housing industry.
Johnson College is using the grant to purchase advanced training equipment for its newly expanded heating, ventilation and air conditioning and electrical construction technology laboratory and to update equipment in the carpentry and cabinetmaking technology laboratory on its Scranton campus. Additional equipment will be purchased to expand HVAC and electrical construction labs at Johnson’s satellite campus in the CAN DO Training Center in Hazle Twp.