Excellent Medical Care
At Rural Health Corporation of Northeastern Pennsylvania, our skilled medical staff delivers high-quality medical care in a compassionate and professional manner utilizing state-of-the-art technology to ensure all our patients receive the care they need in an efficient, comfortable and exceptional manner.
Services Provided
Rural Health Corporation is committed to providing patients and our communities with the highest quality care and health services available – specializing in both Family Medicine and Pediatrics. Our most common services include:
- Preventative care services from birth through adulthood
- Phlebotomy services
- Electrocardiography
- Holter monitor placement and interpretation (on-site)
- Well-child exams
- School physicals
- Sports physicals
- Adult and pediatric immunizations – including flu, shingles, and COVID-19
- Vaccines for Children participant
- Family planning exams and services
- Adult physical exams
- Female healthcare and gynecological services
- CDL exams at select centers
- Preoperative clearances
- Post-operative exams
- Minor surgical procedures
- Acute and chronic care services
We accept ALL major medical insurances and participate in Medical Assistance programs – including CHIP. For our underinsured or uninsured patients, we offer a Sliding Fee Program based on income and family size to ensure affordable dental care. Van transportation is also available for ALL Rural Health patients to and from your front door!
We welcome you to visit one of our centers today! Rural Health Corporation offers comprehensive and preventive dental services to both children and adults at all three locations listed below.
George Yurko, DO
BLACK CREEK HEALTH CENTER
The residents of Nuremberg, Weston, and surrounding communities raised approximately $50,000 through the sale of non-interest bearing bonds in the 1960’s to construct a medical facility and attract a physician to this rural area. The building plans were purchased from the Sears Roebuck Foundation which also provided advice during the construction phase. After several unsuccessful experiences with physicians, the community group asked RHC to take over the facility. The Black Creek Medical Center opened in August, 1971. RHC signed a six-year lease which included an option to buy. At the end of the lease, the facility was purchased for $36,872 and each purchaser of the bonds was repaid. Remodeling of the waiting area and some exterior repairs were completed in 1989. In response to community requests for dental services, Black Creek Dental Center was opened in January, 1978, approximately one-quarter mile from the medical center. A new addition to the Black Creek Health Center was constructed in 1991 to house the Dental Center operation.
George Yurko, DO
Diane Petrovich, PA-C
P.O. Box 670, 75 Pineapple Street
Nuremberg, PA 18241
Medical Services: (570) 704-4235
FAX: 570-384-3454
M, T, W, TH, F – 8:30am – 4:30pm
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Gregg Novak, DO
MONROE-NOXEN HEALTH CENTER
In 1969, Dr. Lester Saidman, who had a long established and very busy practice in Noxen, began plans to relocate to Kingston. Concerned about where his patients would have access to health care, Dr. Saidman was instrumental in the development of Rural Health Corporation at Noxen. In January, 1971, the Harvey’s Lake-Noxen Center opened in the offices which had formerly housed Dr. Saidman’s private practice. In January 1972, the Harvey’s Lake-Noxen Dental Center opened.
Dr. Saidman remained very involved with the health needs of his former patients and served as RHC’s Medical Director for a number of years. Highly respected by the Noxen community long after his departure, Dr. Saidman persuaded a local landowner to sell to RHC property located about one and one-half miles from the original site. Construction of a facility followed, and in October, 1977 the new Monroe-Noxen Health Center opened.
Gregg Novak, DO
JoAnn Dutko, PA-C
2888 SR 29 S.
Monroe Twp., PA 18636
Medical Services: (570) 704-4234
FAX: 570-298-2444
Pharmacy – M-F – 8:30am – 4:30pm
M, T, W, F – 8:30am – 4:30pm
TH – 8:30am – 6:00pm
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Jurgen Straub, MD
SHICKSHINNY HEALTH CENTER
Shickshinny was one of the original four sites in the bi-county area identified by concerned citizens in 1969 as having a shortage of medical care. In September, 1972, the Shickshinny Medical Center opened in a building which had recently housed the Pennsylvania State Police barracks. In 1973, a dental component was added to the medical services and remained a part of the health care system until 1979.
Approximately ten years after the Shickshinny Medical Center opened, RHC acquired land adjacent to that site from the redevelopment authority and began construction of the present facility which opened in November, 1983.
Jurgen Straub, MD
Cheryl Bunk, PA-C
26 North Main St.
Shickshinny, PA 18655
Medical Services: (570) 704-4230
FAX: 570-991-6725 or 570-542-2580 (old)
M 8:30am – 7:00pm
T, W, TH, F – 8:30am – 4:30pm
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Dixon Kitonyo, CRNP
FREELAND HEALTH CENTER
Freeland was the third of the original four areas throughout Luzerne and Wyoming Counties in which local residents were concerned about the shortage of health care. In March, 1973, the Freeland Medical and Dental Center opened in a three-story building which had previously been a convent. The building was remodeled and extensive interior renovations were undertaken at several different times to convert the convent for better use as a medical and dental facility. In May 1995, the practice was relocated to 404 Ridge Street in Freeland. This facility provides access to all services on one floor.
Dixon Kitonyo, CRNP
Danielle Spadafora, CRNP
404 Ridge Street
Freeland, PA 18224
Medical Services: (570) 704-4232
FAX: 570-636-0985
M, T, W, TH, F – 8:30am – 4:30pm
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VALLEY MEDICAL
On May 2, 1977, Rural Health’s Wilkes-Barre Pediatric Center opened on Linden Street across from Wilkes-Barre General Hospital to provide pediatric health care to an underserved population, children residing in the greater Wilkes-Barre area who lacked access to pediatric services because their families received medical assistance. In June, 1988, its name was changed to Valley Pediatrics and the practice was relocated to the Thomas P. Saxton Medical Pavilion in Edwardsville. Patient care continued to grow and Valley Pediatrics moved just across the street to a newer medical office building in the Gateway Shopping Plaza in 2018. After a few years, the market and patient population shifted. Soon the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the center then saw the need for more of a general medicine approach to meet the patients’ need. In the summer of 2020, Valley Pediatrics made the official switch to family medicine and Valley Medical was established to treat patients of all ages in the Edwardsville/Kingston Area.
Gunnar Kosek, MD
Jessica Cleary, CRNP
Alex Melendez, PA-C
75 S. Wyoming Ave., Suite 2 & 3
Edwardsville, PA 18704
Medical Services: (570) 704-4233
FAX: 570-763-4489 or 570-288-461 (old)
M – 9:00am – 5:00pm
W – 9:00am – 7:00pm
T, TH, F – 8:30am – 4:30pm
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Mary Elizabeth Sokach, DO
EXETER TOWNSHIP MEDICAL CENTER
Exeter Township Medical Center was the last of the six RHC sites, opening in November 1979. Two long term members of RHC’s Board, Jewell Miller and John Bainbridge were part of a local community group who were concerned about the lack of health care services in the area. The group formed a non-profit corporation, Exeter Township Medical Center, Inc., and borrowed funds to purchase land from the local school district and built a medical center. The Exeter Township Medical Center was constructed adjacent to the former school building where a senior citizen’s center is now located. The non-profit corporation continues ownership of the facility today. The mortgage has been satisfied and Rural Health Corporation rents the facility from the citizen group.
Mary Elizabeth Sokach, DO
Joel Dorman, PA-C
2795 Sullivan Trail
Falls, PA 18615
Medical Services: (570) 704-4117
FAX: 570-388-2046
M – 8:30am – 5:30am
T, W, TH, F – 8:30am – 4:30pm
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RHC MCKINNEY CLINIC
In 1987, Rural Health Corporation was one of the only one hundred and nine successful applicants nationwide responding to a federal initiative to extend health services to the homeless. Funded under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act the RHC McKinney Clinic opened in 1988 at the St. Vincent De Paul Soup Kitchen to provide free primary health care services to homeless men, women and children. Hospitalization and emergency services are provided at no charge at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. RHC sub-contracts a portion of the grant to Catholic Social Services – Mother Teresa Haven for patient transportation and location leasing. In 2020, RHC expanded its agreements to provide outreach, mental health and substance abuse services with Wyoming Valley Alcohol and Drug Services (WVADS), Children’s Service Center (CSC), and Northeast Counseling Services.
Kim Grzybowski, CRNP
39 East Jackson Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701
Healthcare for the Homless
Medical Services: (570) 704-4145
FAX: 570-824-8924
T, TH, F – 9:00am – 12:00pm & 1:00pm – 4:00pm
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Ahmad Atiyeh, MD
HAZLETON PEDIATRICS
In 2020, Rural Health Corporation saw its first expansion in over 30 years. Our newest location Hazleton Pediatrics was acquired due to the retirement of Dr. Robert W. Childs. Dr. Childs had a private practice where he diligently saw the pediatric patients of the Hazleton area with a strong commitment to health and well-being of all children in the area. Dr. Childs was a very altruistic man of practice and reached out to Rural Health Corporation due to the matching mission of serving the underserved and those most in need regardless of their ability to pay. As Dr. Childs transitioned out of practicing medicine, Rural Health then renamed the center, Hazleton Pediatrics and can be found at the east end of Hazleton serving all pediatric and adolescent patients. Many patients are Hazleton area residents, however, this location helped Rural Health Corporation to expand its footprint into both Schuylkill and Carbon counties to serve those patients most in need of pediatric-focused care.
Ahmad Atiyeh, MD
Andrea Shaul, CRNP
1730 E. Broad Street
Hazleton, PA 18201
Pediatric Services (570) 455-9589
FAX: 570-455-8848
M, T, TH, F – 9:00am – 5:00pm
W – 9:00am – 7:00pm
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