Primary Care (Hope Drive)

Our goal is to provide world-class health care for your child and to partner with you, the parent, as your health care advisor in keeping your child healthy and developing well. 

We will care for your child from infancy through adolescence by providing routine check-ups as well as evaluation and treatment of illnesses. 

We also coordinate health care and provide referrals to specialists when needed.

Phone:  717-531-7300

Select:

  • Option #1 if you wish to schedule an appointment for a sick child or if you wish to speak to a nurse
  • Option #2 if you need a referral or have questions regarding a referral.
  • Option #3 if you need a prescription refill
  • Option #4 if you need to schedule, change or cancel an appointment or to speak with staff


Our phones are in operation Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. to assist you with scheduling an appointment. If you need to contact our office to schedule an acute appointment after hours or on the weekend, please call 531-7300 and stay on the line to be transferred to our after hours CareLine nursing staff.

Hours of Operation

  • 8:00 a.m. – 8:15 p.m. (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday)
  • 9:00 a.m. – 8:15 p.m. (Tuesday)
  • 8:00 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. (Friday)
  • 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Saturday)
  • 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Sunday) - During Winter months only

 

Referral Coordinators

Many insurance companies require referral forms or special approval before a patient can see a specialist or have a special test.  Please ask your doctor to help make sure you have the appropriate papers before going to a specialist.  Our insurance coordinators can be reached at (717) 531-2075 during daytime office hours to answer any of your questions.  Or, you can call (717) 531-7300 and select Option #2 from the main menu.

 

  • Cheston M. Berlin, Jr., M.D. was born in Pittsburgh, PA.  He received his undergraduate degree (BA) in chemistry at Haverford College and M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School.  He served his residency at Boston Children’s Hospital and has been employed by PSHMC since 1971.  Dr. Berlin’s interests are in pediatric pharmacology, nutrition, lactation, neuromuscular disorders, phenylketonuria, Tourette Syndrome and general pediatrics.  He currently sees patients with Tourette Syndrome and PKU only.

 

  • Edelveis Clapp, D.O. graduated from Des Moines University in Iowa in 2004, and completed her residency training here at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in 2007.  In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Clapp teaches both residents and medical students.  She also spends time as the newborn nursery attending.  Dr. Clapp has a special interest in newborn medicine, early childhood development and obesity.  She is married and has one child.

 

  • Kathryn Crowell, M.D. graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1998 and completed her residency here at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.  Areas of special interest include developmental pediatrics, medical education and child abuse.  She serves as an advisor for residents and students, and is involved in curriculum development for 3rd and 4th year medical students.  With Dr. Duda, Dr. Crowell is developing a consultative service for cases of suspected abuse.  She is married and has three children.

 

  • Laura Duda, M.D. graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine in 1993 and served her residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  She joined Penn State Hershey Pediatrics in 2005, where she has been teaching residents and medical students, and providing care for patients in our acute “sick child” clinic.  With Dr. Crowell, Dr. Duda is developing a consultative service for cases of suspected child abuse.  and is also seeing patients with tic disorders and Tourette Sydrome.  She is married and has three children.

 

  • Maryellen E. Gusic, M.D. graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of medicine and completed her pediatric training at Children’s Hospital in Boston.  Clinical areas of interest include childhood immunizations and care of children with special health care needs.  Dr. Gusic sees patients in our acute “sick child” clinic one day per week.   She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Clinical Education at the College of Medicine and in this role, the majority of her time is spent in medical education, faculty development and medical education research.

 

  • Kelly Kline, D.O. joined the practice in 2005.  She is a native of Lancaster County.  She graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Penn State Children’s Hospital.  Dr. Kline has a special interest in children with special needs and adolescent medicine.  Dr. Kline is married, has three children of her own and currently resides in Lancaster.

 

 

  • Benjamin Levi, M.D. graduated from the University of Illinois, College of Medicine in 1995 and is a philosopher whose doctoral training is in the area of ethics.  He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Humanities at Penn State HMC.  Dr. Levi is in clinic two days per week, and spends the remainder of his time at the College of Medicine conducting research in bioethics and teaching ethics to medical students, residents, and faculty.  His major areas of research include respecting patient autonomy, mandated reporting of suspected child abuse, parental resistance to childhood immunizations, and advance care planning.

 

  • Laura Murphy, M.D.

 

  • Jennifer Miller, M.D. graduated from Upstate Medical University in 1998 and served her residency at PSHMC, finishing in 2001.  She spends the majority of her time seeing patients at Penn State Hershey Pediatrics and has special interest in newborn medicine, behavior and development, and caring for children with chronic medical conditions.  In addition, Dr. Miller is the Medical Director of the Newborn Nursery at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, and is the Associate Director of the Pediatric Residency Program.  Dr. Miller is married and currently resides near Mt. Gretna. 

 

  • Robert Olympia, M.D. graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1996, completed a pediatric residency and chief residency at The Dupont Hospital for Children in 2000, and completed a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY in 2003.  His wife is an adolescent medicine specialist at HMC.  Research interests include sports/orthopedic injuries, emergency preparedness, and pain management for pediatric injuries.  Hobbies include collecting sports memorabilia, ice hockey (especially the Hershey Bears).  Dr. Olympia and his wife have a one year old daughter, Abigail.

 

  • Ian M. Paul, M.D. graduated from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in 1998, and completed his residency training at Duke University Medical Center in 2001.  In addition to his responsibilities as a general pediatrician in clinic and in the newborn nursery, Dr. Paul spends much of his time working on a variety of research projects and clinical trials that seek to improve healthcare for children and families.  His current research interests include models of care for mothers and babies after childbirth, factors associated with weight gain during early life and treatment for childhood cough due to colds.  Dr. Paul lives in Lancaster with his wife and daughter.

 

  • Jody Ross, M.D., a Harrisburg native, graduated from Wright State University School of Medicine in 1994.  Areas of special interest include travel medicine and caring for international adoptees and children in foster care.  She has been a pediatrician here for the past 9 years where, in addition to her responsibilities as a general pediatrician, she teaches third year medical students and supervises residents for continuity clinic.  She considers her greatest accomplishments managing her career and raising her four children with her husband.

 

  • Deepa Sekhar, M.D. completed medical school at Brown University in Providence, RI in 2003.  She subsequently went on to her pediatric residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, NY.  After a chief resident year at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, NY she relocated to Dallas, TX in 2007.  Dr. Sekhar worked in Dallas as a pediatric hospitalist, caring for patients admitted to the general pediatrics service.  In July 2008 she, her husband and son moved to Hershey, PA.  Dr. Sekhar is fluent in both Spanish and English.

 

  • Adam Spanier, M.D.

 

  • Alawia Suliman, M.D. graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum, sudan, an affiliate of Cambridge University.  She served her residency here at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.  Her interests include breastfeeding, growth and development, as well as medical student and resident education.  Research interests involve development of new vaccines.  She has served on the medical students’ selection committee, and the Dean’s council for diversity.  She is the Board Secretary for the Arthritis Foundation of Central Pennsylvania.  She is currently serving as the Medical Director of the Penn State Hershey Pediatrics practice.   Dr. Suliman has practiced pediatrics internationally in Sudan, England and America.  She has been married for 31 years, is the mother of three children and is fluent in Arabic.

 

  • Akane Tanaka, M.D.

 

  • Mark Widome, M.D. is a general pediatrician,who has been at Penn State and Hershey Medical Center since 1977.  His major interests include medical education, health supervision, public health, and prevention of injuries.  He completed his pediatric training at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and public health training at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  Most of his time is spent seeing patients, supervising pediatric residents and teaching medical students.  His other responsibilities include providing care for newborns at the Medical Center and recruiting new pediatric faculty.  Dr. Widome serves as the chief of the Division of General Pediatrics.  He and his wife live in Hershey and have two grown children.

 

  • Duane Williams, M.D.

Penn State Hershey Pediatrics
35 Hope Drive, Suite 102
Hershey, PA 17033

Our office is located on the Penn State Hershey Medical Center campus at 35 Hope Drive, Hershey, PA  17033.  For more detailed directions from your home to our office, please click here.

From the North/East on Route 78 or 81 South

Take the Hershey exit, Exit    from 81 South.  Turn left onto Route 39 East.  Cross the intersection of Routes 39 and 22 (traffic light)  Follow Route 39 to Hershey Park Drive (traffic light).  Turn right and continue straight ahead past Pizza Hut and McDonald's.  Bear left under the overpass (Route 322 East - following the signs to Ephrata).  At the 3rd traffic light, turn right onto Cherry Drive. Take the first right onto Hope Drive, then the first right into our parking lot.

From the North on Route 11-15

Follow Route 22-322 East.  Follow the signs for Hazleton-Allentown North on I-81.  Take Junction 83 South (to York - approximately 2 miles).  Follow the signs to Hershey - 322 East, continue approximately 10 miles (Route 322 exits to the right at the outskirts of Hershey - 1st exit at the Hershey/Hummelstown cloverleaf)  Turn right at the 3rd traffic light onto Cherry Drive. Take the first right onto Hope Drive, then the first right into our parking lot.

From the East on Route 422

Follow Route 422 West through Hershey.  Turn left at the traffic light onto University Drive (Friendly's Family Restaurant, at the far end of town, will be on your right and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center signs will be on your left).  At the traffic light (Hershey Medical Center will be directly in front), turn left again onto 322 East.  At the next traffic light, turn right onto Cherry Drive. Take the first right onto Hope Drive, then the first right into our parking lot.

From the South and East on Route 283

Take the Elizabethtown-Hershey Exit (Route 743 North).  Continue North for approximately 7 miles.  Continue straight onto Hockersville Road (Route 743 bears to the right).  Turn left at the 1st traffic light (Governor Road/Route 322 West).  Turn left at the 2nd traffic light onto Cherry Drive (counting the traffic light at the corner of Governor Road and Hockersville Road). Take the first right onto Hope Drive, then the first right into our parking lot.

The pediatricians at Penn State Hershey Pediatrics (35 Hope Drive) strive to partner with parents to provide quality medical care for patients. We care for children from birth through adolescence and provide routine health supervision as well as urgent evaluations for illnesses. We care for healthy patients as well as those with complex medical needs.   We work closely with the subspecialists and hospitalists at Penn State Children’s Hospital, facilitate referrals and otherwise coordinate care when necessary.

All of the pediatricians at Penn State Hershey Pediatrics carry professional responsibilities outside of the pediatric office. Hence, your child’s pediatrician may not be available every day of the week. We encourage parents to schedule appointments well in advance, increasing the likelihood that they will see the provider of their choice. We understand, however, that urgent problems arise. If your child’s pediatrician is unavailable, we have additional urgent appointments set aside each day. These appointments are staffed by pediatric residents with direct supervision from one of the faculty pediatricians.   In addition, evening and weekend appointments are available for urgent needs.

 

Clinical Research

Our faculty pediatricians conduct approved research studies within the office. From time to time, you or your child may be asked to participate in these opportunities. Participation is completely optional. To find out more about past and current or upcoming studies click here

 

Pediatric Residents

Pediatric residents at Penn State Children’s Hospital care for patients at Penn State Hershey Pediatrics during their three year training. Your child may be scheduled directly with one of the resident doctors working under direct supervision of a faculty pediatrician.   Residents review and discuss each patient with a supervising faculty member. You can be confident that your child will receive comprehensive care.

 

Medical Students

Penn State College of Medicine medical students rotate with pediatricians in our office. You may be asked to have a medical student participate in your child’s evaluation and care. Medical students are closely supervised by faculty pediatricians, and no patient will be seen by a medical student alone.

 

Telephone Advice and After Hours Care

During daytime office hours, our office pediatric nurses are available to advise you about the care of your child, and contact your physician if needed.  Overnight and on weekends, pediatric nurses are also available to provide advice. In addition, a resident and a faculty pediatrician are available for consultation. 

 
E-mail

Some patients and pediatricians communicate non-urgent issues through e-mail. You may wish to speak to your child’s physician about e-mail communication.

 

Office Fees

We make every attempt to keep our fees reasonable and fair. Professional fees are based on the care given and the time needed to provide health care for your child. Immunizations, diagnostic tests, administration of injections, and procedures are charged separately. Due to the high cost of sending bills, we expect you to pay any co-payment and fees during the visit. Financial and billing service coordinators are available to assist with billing questions and insurance issues. They can also assist you in applying for Pennsylvania’s Child Health Insurance Plan or Medicaid Insurance (low cost or free medical insurance for qualifying families). Our billing service coordinators can be reached at (717) 531-1814.

 

Referrals

Many insurance companies require referral forms or special approval before a patient can see a specialist or have a special test. Please ask your doctor to help make sure you have the appropriate papers before going to a specialist. Our insurance coordinators can be reached at (717) 531-2075 during daytime office hours to answer any of your questions.



Suggestions and Problems

We are always trying to improve the pediatric care and service we provide to our patients and families. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. Likewise, if you are dissatisfied with an experience with our office, please tell us so that we may correct the problem. We welcome your input, including that from patient satisfaction surveys that you may receive. When calling with your concerns or suggestions, please ask to speak with our office manager.