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.

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

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

Baiada said he was visiting nearby Marywood University in Scranton, so he figured it was the perfect chance to stop by.

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

Barbara Pirrella-Sico, regional director for BAYADA Pediatrics, will be working out of Pittston after she elected to leave the Wilkes-Barre location.

“We just got so busy that we had to open an additional office and hire additional people,” she 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 Baiada when he was just 27.

“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 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 continuing to grow, along with Pittston’s Main Street, Baiada hopes both can help each other.

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

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

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 recently opened pediatric administration office in downtown Pittston.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_Bayada-Visit-2-1-1-1.jpg.optimal.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 recently opened pediatric administration office in downtown Pittston. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

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.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_Bayada-Visit-3-1-1-1.jpg.optimal.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 Times Leader

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

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