BAYADA Home Health Care founder visits new Pittston location

PITTSTON — A new office in the city brought Mark Baiada back to Pittston for the first time in more than 12 years.

The founder of BAYADA Home Health Care visited his company’s new pediatrics location at 33 N. Main St. this week to get acquainted with the space.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s really nice.”

Baiada was visiting nearby Marywood University in Scranton and seized the opportunity to stop by the Pittston location.

The office opened in May, only a few months after the space was vacated by gift store Live With It by Lora Hobbs.

Barbara Pirrella-Sico, regional director for BAYADA Pediatrics, is working out of the Pittston office after electing to leave the Wilkes-Barre location.

“We just got so busy that we had to open an additional office and hire additional people,” Pirrella-Sico said. “It was either all of them move out, or I move out. So, I did the right thing. I moved out, gave them my office space, but now I have a Pittston office space — my hometown. And I wanted a Main Street presence.”

BAYADA was founded in the mid-1970s by Mark Baiada when he was just 27 years old.

“Everybody in my family had a business and I wanted to have my own,” he said. “I wanted something in helping other people, so that was important to me. And (health care) was also a growing need across the country.”

BAYADA Pediatrics focuses on home health care for sick children and has 27 different offices within Pennsylvania and serves almost 2,000 clients.

With a growing need for nurses, the hope is that being located across the street from Geisinger Careworks will play to its favor.

“One of the reasons we wanted to be on Main Street was to attract nurses’ attention,” Baiada said. “Our clients need more nurses than we can currently supply. We want compassionate, and excellently reliable pediatric nurses.”

With BAYADA Pediatrics continuing to grow, as is Pittston City’s Main Street, Baiada hopes both can help each other.

Baiada’s main office is in Moorestown, N.J. and he hasn’t visited Pittston since 2006, but he said there is a huge difference between then and now.

“It’s unbelievable how it’s grown and how it serves so many more people,” Baiada said.

Mark Baiada, chairman of BAYADA Home Health Care, made a stop at the new pediatric administration office in Pittston this week.

https://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_Bayada-Visit-1-1-.jpgMark Baiada, chairman of BAYADA Home Health Care, made a stop at the new pediatric administration office in Pittston this week. Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

Helen Schmid, a BAYADA director, takes a photo of Barbara Pirrello-Sico, pediatric regional director, and Mark Baiada, chairman of BAYADA Home Health Care, in front of the company’s recently opened pediatric administration office in downtown Pittston.

https://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_Bayada-Visit-2-1-.jpgHelen Schmid, a BAYADA director, takes a photo of Barbara Pirrello-Sico, pediatric regional director, and Mark Baiada, chairman of BAYADA Home Health Care, in front of the company’s recently opened pediatric administration office in downtown Pittston. Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

Joleen Lazecki, co-chair of the Pittston City Art Walk, stands next to Mark Baiada, BAYADA Home Health Care chairman, at the company’s new office space in the city’s downtown.

https://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_Bayada-Visit-3-1-.jpgJoleen Lazecki, co-chair of the Pittston City Art Walk, stands next to Mark Baiada, BAYADA Home Health Care chairman, at the company’s new office space in the city’s downtown. Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch