Pike has been Pennsylvania’s only county without a hospital or a primary care center. That changed on Monday.
Northwell Health hosted a ribbon-cutting for its new primary and immediate care center in Dingmans Ferry, which will be open to residents and visitors in January.
“Our goal is our new practice will be your family's medical destination,” said Dr. Michael Mandarano, who will run the operation and will start seeing patients in a few weeks.
The facility, which is the New York-based nonprofit's first in Pennsylvania, will provide basic services from blood tests to x-ray imaging.
It will serve a growing region that is medically underserved.
Pike County Commissioner Ronald Schmalzle thanked Northwell for rising to the need.
He said Pike has a base population of 65,000, but that number triples during the summer. Residents and visitors — many from New York — often have to travel out-of state for immediate medical care.
“We will continue to do whatever we can to make this [healthcare center] as viable as possible. And … we are very excited about opening this facility, the one [by Lake] Wallenpaupack … and a hospital in the near future … And you showed us that you're in it to stay here, and you're in it to be a part of this good Pennsylvania community,” Schmalzle said.
Northwell Health plans to open a second primary care center in Hawley by late Spring 2026 and a micro-hospital near I-84 in the Milford-Matamoros corridor area.
Micro-hospitals are sort of like community hospitals: they provide emergency services but are smaller than a regular hospital.
Healthcare for a better future in the Poconos
Representative Tarah Probst (D-Monroe) read out a proclamation issued by the State House celebrating Northwell’s investment in Pennsylvania’s healthcare system. She said the provider will provide Pennsylvanians dearly needed services.
Probst said she grew up about 20 miles from Dingmans Ferry where she said she had access to care, but her friends who lived in Pike would have to travel out of the county and even sometimes out-of-state for medical care. Some of her friends lost family members because they could not access care in time.
She said she hopes Northwell will be able to amend that disparity in care for future generations.
“Pike County is the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania,” Probst said. It's lost 9% I think, of the youngsters, but the aging population here has really grown and we need care. So, my hope is that when you have a health care system, it will not only provide health care to families and seniors that are here, but it will bring employment.”
She also said she believes new job opportunities will entice younger families to move to Pike County.
State Senator Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) also wished Northwell Health luck in their Pennsylvania expansion and said that talks to bring in a healthcare provider for Pike’s residents were six years in the making.
Mandarano: Serving patients during 'life's unexpected moments'
Mandarano, of Dunmore, is Northwell’s first provider in Pennsylvania. The pediatrician and internist said he hopes to care for patients across all stages of life, from newborns to the elderly.
The center will offer regular check-ups and physicals alongside support during “life's unexpected moments with immediate care for things such as sprains, strains, flu and cold. Please know that while today is a celebration of the opening of a new office, it's bigger than that — we're here to celebrate community and bring the power of Northwell to Pike County,” Madarano said.
Northwell Health patients will also be able to access specialty care at the provider’s hospitals in New York and will be able to transfer their medical information to other Pennsylvania-based providers through MyChart.
