Wendi Cerra-Hand, left, leads a class through some chair yoga exercises at Geisinger 65 Forward on Wednesday. Geisinger recently announced an expansion of the program including two new Luzerne Couny locations coming in the fall.
                                 Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

Wendi Cerra-Hand, left, leads a class through some chair yoga exercises at Geisinger 65 Forward on Wednesday. Geisinger recently announced an expansion of the program including two new Luzerne Couny locations coming in the fall.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

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KINGSTON — With expansion on the horizon, Geisinger 65 Forward is looking to offering its extensive list of services to senior citizens across Luzerne County and beyond.

“We’re excited to be able to reach a wider audience and treat as many people as possible,” said Dr. Jovan Adams, the Kingston facility’s newest physician — she just started with Geisinger two weeks ago.

“I liked what Geisinger had to offer in terms of care,” Adams said. “They had a lot of programs that lined up with what I wanted to do.”

Geisinger 65 Forward opened on Wyoming Avenue last year, and has a location in Scranton as well. Now, the healthcare provider is hoping to open up two more Luzerne County locations by the end of the year in Hazleton and in downtown Wilkes-Barre. They’re also looking at opening up a Shamokin Dam location in Snyder County.

“Now’s the time to do it,” Adams said. “We’re trying to make health care easier for seniors.”

The 65 Forward program offers patients 65 years and older a place to receive specialized care, with more time seeing their own doctor as well as nutritionists and wellness coordinators all working together under one roof.

In Kingston on Wednesday, the wellness aspect of 65 Forward’s plan was in full effect as coordinator Wendi Cerra-Hand led a group of patients in a “chair yoga” class.

“We’ve just started doing these classes inside again, in June we were outside,” Cerra-Hand said. “It’s nice to get back in the swing of things.”

Cerra-Hand was slated to teach a brand-new “drum aerobics” course earlier on Wednesday. The focus is on hand-eye coordination, and Cerra-Hand demonstrated some of the technique, drumming on an exercise ball. Wednesday’s course didn’t go off as planned.

“We didn’t have any sign-ups … I think the patients are just hesitant because it’s new,” Cerra-Hand said. “We have to ease into it a bit.”

She did have four sign-ups for chair yoga, a class that works on flexibility and balance while also making it easier for patients that have trouble moving or standing for long periods of time.

With soft music playing throughout Geisinger 65’s aerobics room, Cerra-Hand led the group through stretches and poses while sitting on their chairs.

The smaller class size was designed with COVID-19 in mind, and social distancing markers were placed on the floor to ensure six feet of separation for everyone.

The pandemic has been first and foremost on everyone’s mind at Geisinger, and it factors into the expansion, as well.

“Even in a pandemic, Geisinger is still growing,” Adams said. “We’re growing our patient list and we need to be able to care for new patients. Having more locations in places like Wilkes-Barre allow for that.”