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By JENNIFER LEARN; Times Leader Staff Writer
Sunday, May 05, 1996 Page: 6
HAZLETON — Three owners of massage centers in the city agree the massage
industry needs policing, but they are not sure who should do it.
In Pennsylvania, anyone with the means can open a massage center because
the state does not require standards, inspections or licenses.
Gary Eichhorst, owner of Shear Heaven in Hazleton, and John Degenhart,
owner of Degenhart Chiropractic Health Center, say the state should step in
and draft regulations and enforce them.
But Rich Pastorella, owner of Pastorella Health Center, said he worries
giving the state that power will create a bureaucracy and leave room for
political favoritism. He said he believes doctors should design and publicize
their own form of certification for centers, and he said he is working with
other doctors to that end.
Eichhorst said he wants the state to regulate massage centers so consumers
will not have to worry about getting a massage from someone inexperienced or
unlicensed.
Degenhart, a chiropractor, said state intervention is badly needed now
because the number of massage centers is increasing. Degenhart said massage
has “taken off” in the Hazleton area in recent years.
“Since there are no laws, anybody can put up a shingle and advertise a
massage parlor in the yellow pages,” Degenhart said.
But Pastorella said he worries politics will creep into the licensing
process and allow shady massage parlors to operate or stop legitimate ones
from opening. “I see state involvement as being a hindrance,” Pastorella said.
Pastorella said he worries consumers will avoid massages because a few
corrupt massage centers dabble in masturbation and prostitution.
He said he finds irony in the clash between what he calls the world’s
oldest form of medicine and what many call the world’s oldest profession.
“It’s a shame that the oldest form of medicine known to man has to be used
by some as a form of prostitution,” Pastorella said.