Renata Meyer, MD, Medical Director, Conyngham Primary Care Center, and Mike Hopkins, President and CEO, Children’s Service Center, are seen in one of the exam rooms at the new facility on South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre.
                                 Submitted photo

CSC’s Conyngham Primary Health Care Center combines mental, physical services

WILKES-BARRE — Children’s Service Center President/CEO Michael P. Hopkins this week said the organization’s plan for integrated care is based on the knowledge that people with mental health concerns who also have regular primary care have better outcomes.

“We have fulfilled a goal to improve care access with the help of like-minded partners who want to have a positive impact on the region’s health,” Hopkins said. “Almost 85% of our clients receive some form of public assistance and many face a higher level of risk in their daily lives due to disparities in income, education, housing, access to care, and social isolation. These families deserve a more seamless experience to get the care they need.”

And those families will get that experience described by Hopkins as access to health care will improve significantly for some of the region’s most vulnerable families with the opening of the Conyngham Primary Health Care Center by Children’s Service Center of Wyoming Valley (CSC) and its adult care affiliate, Robinson Counseling Center (RCC), at 335 South Franklin St. beginning this week.

Hopkins said the new $5.5 million 12,500 square foot facility houses a full-time primary care team to serve children and adults of all ages — both current clients of CSC/RCC and others in the community. He said the Conyngham Center integrates services under a single medical record to address mental health concerns, preventive medicine, disease diagnosis and management, physicals, and wellness services with an on-site pharmacy.

The Conyngham Center Medical Director is Renata Meyer, MD, who is joined by a staff that includes a nurse practitioner, wellness nurses and a medical assistant to provide preventive and treatment services for individuals of all ages.

Named for the Conyngham Family to honor its longstanding partnership of service with CSC, the Conyngham Center commemorates continuous service on its Board of Directors for more than 150 years, currently by Board Member George Conyngham Jr.

Hopkins said the $5.5 million project was fully funded by a capital campaign that drew major support from AllOne Foundation & Charities, the Harry & Jeannette Weinberg Foundation, M&T Bank, Moses Taylor Foundation, PNC, the McCole Foundation, Martha Bennet Trust, the Children’s Home, and Children’s Service Center, as well as funding from corporate and private donors.

“Children with emotional and mental health disorders often improve when their physical health is treated,” Hopkins said. “And parents often have difficulty finding services for their families, which impacts growth and development, while putting off care for themselves. The Conyngham Primary Health Care Center will deliver care comprehensively to address general health, mental health, and the social support needs of our clients in a continuous and family-centered manner.”

CSC and RCC collectively served more than 11,000 clients in 2021 across locations in Wilkes-Barre, Tunkhannock, Honesdale, Hazleton, and Danville, providing individual and family support for mental health, substance use and autism spectrum disorders.

Throughout its 160-year history, CSC has expanded to meet the growing need for behavioral health services (including crisis intervention) in Northeastern Pennsylvania, experiencing a near doubling of clients between 2017 and 2021.

Hopkins said despite many changes in the regional healthcare landscape, Children’s Service Center and its adult affiliate, Robinson Counseling Center, have maintained continuous operations due to longstanding partnerships with foundations, corporations, municipalities, school districts, and individual donors who trust our team to meet the needs of under-served populations.

“CSC and RCC have maintained continuous operations due to the guidance of a dedicated Board of Directors, a strong workforce, and longstanding partnerships with funders, municipalities, school districts, and individual donors,” Hopkins said.

A formal dedication of the Conyngham Primary Health Care Center is planned for later this year.

For appointments at the Conyngham Primary Health Care Center, call 570-301-0924.

In the five-year period of 2017-2021, Hopkins said the agency encountered an almost doubling of total clients served at all locations:

Year & total clients

2017 — 6,048

2018 — 7,679

2019 — 9,083

2020 — 10,721

2021 — 11,454

For more information

Call: 877-433-5112 or 570-825-6425

Website: www.cscwv.org

Headquarters: 335 S. Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702