Linda Thomas-Hemak, MD
The Safety Net Voice
President & CEO, The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education
Last verified November 6, 2026
Overview
The closest thing to a genuine safety-net representative on this committee. Quintuple board-certified (internal medicine, pediatrics, addiction medicine, obesity medicine, nutrition), Harvard-trained, returned to her hometown of Jermyn, PA to run what is now 15 community health center locations. Runs an HRSA-funded Teaching Health Center GME Safety Net Consortium. No corporate ties. No PE backing. No controversies found. One voice among 18. In August 2026 HRSA granted the Wright Center full Federally Qualified Health Center status after a 15-year effort. A 16th site is planned. Its National Family Medicine Residency ended in June 2026 after producing 167 family physicians.
Since March 2026
What has changed
- May 13, 2026Public Citizen review: president and CEO of the nonprofit Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education; has donated to both Democratic and Republican campaigns. source
- May 18, 2026At the first HAC meeting she described herself as a first-generation internal medicine and pediatric physician and medical educator leading the Wright Center's teaching health center consortium. source
- August 10, 2026HRSA granted The Wright Center for Community Health full Federally Qualified Health Center status through the New Access Point program, up from Look-Alike status held since 2019; a 16th site in Blakeslee, Monroe County is planned for late fall. source
- August 10, 2026Rep. Rob Bresnahan marked the FQHC designation after a 15-year effort; Thomas-Hemak called it 'the humbling culmination of my 25 years of service'. source
- August 20, 2026The Wright Center opened a Friendship House site in Carbondale, PA offering primary care, addiction and behavioral health services. source
- October 7, 2026Received the inaugural 2026 Program Leader of the Year Award from the Sheps Center's GME Technical Assistance Center, accepted at the Rural and Health Center National GME Conference, Rockville, MD, Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. source
- October 7, 2026The same release says the Wright Center's National Family Medicine Residency concluded in June 2026 after producing 167 family physicians. source
Career arc
Professional timeline
2012–Present
President & CEO
The Wright Center
2007–2012
President
The Wright Center
2001–2007
Physician
The Wright Center
Member
HRSA Council on Graduate Medical Education
Founding board member
American Association of Teaching Health Centers
Red flags
Conflicts and concerns
Institutional funding (HRSA grants, Medicaid reimbursement, 340B) creates modest financial dependency on CMS policy: structural to FQHCs, not a personal conflict.
One voice among 18 on a committee whose charter prioritizes MA sustainability over FQHC funding.
NACHC Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 connects her institutionally to Kyu Rhee (NACHC CEO, fellow committee member).
Physician-owned hospitals
Thomas-Hemak represents genuine physician-led community health. Her presence provides the committee credibility it otherwise lacks. However, her institutional interests (FQHC funding, HRSA grants) are distinct from and do not advance physician-owned hospital expansion.
Sources