John Maday, who among his volunteer work is president of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association and executive director of the Riverfront Parks Committee, can often be seen striding through downtown Wilkes-Barre. He’s grateful for the care he receives from a medical team at Geisinger 65 Foward’s Wilkes-Barre office, located in the heart of his favorite city.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Geisinger 65 Forward helping John Maday stay healthy
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John Maday and his physician, Dr. George Avetian, talk not only about medical matters but about the family-friendly events in downtown Wilkes-Barre that Maday tirelessly promotes.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
After his first check-up at Geisinger 65 Forward in downtown Wilkes-Barre, John Maday was ready to wave a cheerful good-bye and say “See you next year.”
But the doctor said, “No, I’ll see you in three months.”
Momentarily worried, Maday asked if something was wrong. He was greatly relieved to hear he was in good health and “That’s just the way we do things here.”
The more he thought about it, the more Maday liked the idea of four regular check-ups per year. The Geisinger 65 Forward medical team would be keeping tabs on him, ready to be proactive and prevent any small problems from becoming larger problems.
And, already, he was pleased with the location of the downtown medical facility, at 41 South Main St. in Downtown Wilkes-Barre’s Midtown Village.
“Convenient? It couldn’t get any more convenient,” said Maday noting the clinic is between his home in South Wilkes-Barre and his office on North Franklin Street.
A veteran who served as a medic in Vietnam and is retired from IBM, Maday tirelessly promotes downtown Wilkes-Barre through so many unpaid positions, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think of him as “Mr. Downtown W-B.”
President of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association, he’s also executive director of the Riverfront Parks Committee and serves on the board of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority as well as the Diamond City Partnership.
Chances are, if you brought your children to an Easter Egg Hunt on Public Square, that was John Maday you saw in the bunny costume. If you attend RiverFest (in June) or ChalkFest (set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 28 on the River Common) or a Wonders of Nature educational program (next up is an Eagle program, 6 to 7 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Riverfront Amphitheatre), know that Maday has had a hand in organizing the event,.
All this, and he runs six miles, five days a week, is careful about his diet, and regularly works out with weights.
“I wish all my patients were like John,” said Dr. George Avetian, his physician at 65 Forward. “He listens, he’s engaged, he does it all as far as exercise and diet. He makes life easy for a physician.”
Maday, for his part, has enjoyed interacting with the staff at 65 Forward, where he has been a patient for about three years.
“You can tell they really care about what they’re doing,” he said, citing an atmosphere reminiscent of the television show “Cheers,” where “everybody knows your name.”
Geisinger’s 65 Forward locations — established not only in Wilkes-Barre but in Kingston, Hazleton, Scranton and several other towns — are designed as one-stop places where patients can meet a variety of needs. They can have blood drawn, have an EKG or x-ray if needed, receive immunizations, consult a dietitian and take exercise classes in the same place they have their seasonal check-ups.
Maday, for example, talked to a dietitian because his doctor said he could stand to gain a few pounds.
The dietitian “wants me to have more protein,” Maday said, and “suggested a switch from skim milk to 2 percent.”
As for the exercise classes, they don’t fit into Maday’s busy schedule. But he gets plenty of exercise on those nearly daily jogs. “I’ve been a runner since 1978,” he said.
The rhythm of the running is conducive to thinking and dreaming, Maday said and it feels like it’s good for his brain.
“I like to hear my feet hitting the pavement,” he said. “I don’t wear a headset; this is my time to come up with ideas.”
The Geisinger 65 staff doesn’t rush a patient through an appointment, Dr. Avetian said. They want to take enough time to evaluate how the person is doing mentally and emotionally as well as physically.
And they’re committed to helping their patients stay healthy, Dr. Avetian said. In Maday’s case, that should mean he can keep on jogging, and continue to promote downtown Wilkes-Barre indefinitely.
“He’s my connection to Wilkes-Barre,” Dr. Avetian said of Maday, noting he is new to Northeastern Pennsylvania after moving from the Philadelphia area. “He’s told me about lots of social events.”
No sooner had Dr. Avetian said his three grandchildren were “the magnet” that drew him to NEPA, but Maday was asking their ages. “They would enjoy Chalk Fest,” he said, referring to the Sept. 28 event, which gives families a chance to draw with chalk at the Milennium Circle.
“All my patients are fun,” Dr. Avetian said with a grin. “But John is an especially fun patient.”
To be eligible for Geisinger 65 Forward, a person must be 65 or older and have Geisinger Gold (Medicare Advantage) insurance.