"It's clear we have a serious problem with access to care," said Robert E. Wright, M.D., the president of the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education in Scranton. "People have trouble getting appointments to see doctors."

"Right now, I only have hospital privileges at Marian," he said, explaining that the Carbondale hospital is almost always where he referred patients. "You have to have places for your people to go, but it means patients will have a longer ride to get hospital care."

"In the Scranton area, there's great promise for development," said Molly Talley, director of resident and student initiatives for the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians. "The Wright Center is really bucking the national trend because of an innovative curriculum."