News
Joshua Wert, DO, Joins St. Luke’s Spine and Pain Associates
Tamaqua, PA (11/10/2016) – How far will a kid from the south side of Bethlehem go to achieve his dream?
With the right motivation, pretty unbelievably far.
Joshua Wert, DO
Joshua Wert, DO, who recently joined St. Luke’s University Health Network as a pain specialist, graduated from Freedom High School in 1998 and completed all the prerequisite courses for his BS degree in the most economical way he could by attending Northampton Community College before heading off to Shippensburg University to complete his bachelor’s degree in biology.
He had a “great childhood,” he said, learned his work ethic from his blue collar family, and made his dreams happen by working as a store clerk, a Fed Ex package handler, and in construction.
“I was a roofer for five years … in order to help me pay my way through college and medical school. And learning the meaning of hard work from my parents as well as my personal experiences helped me to not only become the man and physician I am, but also has helped me to identify and to connect with the patients that I treat as many of my patients are blue collar workers,” Wert said.
But the meaning behind choosing pain management as a specialty goes even deeper for Dr. Wert.
“I went into pain management because my father suffered from chronic pain since I was very little, and I felt like it would be a nice legacy to leave my father if I could help patients who suffered like he did,” Wert said.
Dr. Wert completed his medical education at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2010 and went on to complete an anesthesiology residency at Temple University Hospital in 2014. He was an instructor of anesthesiology and an attending anesthesiologist at Hahnemann University in 2015 and most recently received fellowship training in pain medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Wert recently joined St. Luke’s as a pain specialist at St. Luke’s Spine and Pain Associates located at St. Luke’s Tamaqua Medical Center, 120 Pine Street, and see patients there on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. His specialties include treatment for back and neck pain, joint pain, disc herniations, spinal stenosis, pain after shingles and more.
For information or to make an appointment at the Tamaqua office, call 570-645-1510.
Dr. Wert also sees patients on Mondays and Wednesdays at St. Luke’s Spine and Pain Associates in Bethlehem, 830 Ostrum Street. For information or to make an appointment there, call 484-526-PAIN (7246).
