North Versailles, PA Drs and Health Practioners

Pharmacist and Murray Avenue Apothecary founder Susan Merenstein works closely with patients and their doctors to blend compounded medicines as an alternative to one-size-fits-all treatment options. These custom remedies—which Susan concocts alongside a staff of lab technicians and one other pharmacist—may be special ordered by physicians when a specific remedy is no longer on shelves or if a patient is allergic to certain ingredients in standard medications.

Besides her 30 years of pharmacy experience, Susan has honed her skills over more than 300 hours in continuing-education classes, developing specialties in topics such as general wellness and supplements, hormone balance, sexual health, and skincare. Her team also churns out pet-friendly compounds that soothe greyhounds’ corns and calluses, moisturize dry paws, and safely dye dalmatians' fur to match this season's firefighter uniforms.

Doctor of Chiropractic Brent Shealer has been burgeoning the strength of his clients' backs for more than a decade, combining practiced techniques of diligent examination, gentle rehabilitation, and careful spinal adjustments. Specialized in helping bodies recover from distinct spinal ailments resulting from whiplash, sports injuries, or worm-dancing marathons, Shealer and his team work to smoothly manipulate dorsal landscapes and educate patients to help prevent future injury.

After 50 years in and around the eyecare business, Optical Outlet owner Shelly Droz is as well versed in attractive frames as any art dealer. Shelley grew up watching first her father, then her mother operate a wholesale business for frames and lenses for doctors in Pennsylvania, leading her to eventually take the reins next to her mother. Now operating her own business, Shelley builds upon her family’s legacy by offering vision services as well as the designer frames and lenses for which her family is known.

Inside the shop, licensed optometrists check clients’ visual acuity and overall eye health before writing prescriptions for lenses. Clients can then peruse the shop’s selection of designer eyeglasses and sunglasses from top brands such as Versace, Ray-Ban, Ogi, and Dolce & Gabbana. After an average of two–four weeks, they can pick up their new prescriptions and finally realize they’ve been wearing shoeboxes instead of shoes.

In August 2010, Sosniak Opticians was rechristened as 3 Guys Optical Center. When the founding family passed the baton, it was entrusted to a group of opticians that could uphold the level of care established over the past six decades. True to its roots, the company provides top-notch vision services and brand-name frames by designers such as D&G, Oakley, and Ray-Ban. The business operates out of two Pittsburgh locations—one in Oakland and one downtown—welcoming walk-in customers and eagles that want to look distinguished.

Twenty years ago, the founders of Med Health Services were fraught with frustration. Avoidable health emergencies such as strokes and heart attacks were killing too many people nationwide. They pondered how to shift medicine's emphasis from treatment of acute symptoms to disease prevention and early detection. Their answer was an OSHA-certified outpatient facility that partners with physicians to perform diagnostic medical tests.

Today, at more than 50 area locations, Med Health Services’ team of pathologists, radiologists, and cardiologists addresses problems plaguing the American health-care system. Many patients undergo expensive tests at hospitals when they're already very sick, and many doctors don't have the right equipment to perform these tests in their offices. By taking some of these tests out of the hospital, Med Health Services helps doctors and patients catch serious problems in their early stages. Appointments are easy to schedule, and results turn around quickly, like a somersaulting carousel.

Assessments range from ultrasounds and x-rays to blood and nerve-conduction tests. Board-certified physicians and registered technologists perform the tests and analyze the results to ensure accuracy and peace of mind. To make the tests as accessible as possible, Med Health Services works with a wide range of health plans and Medicare providers.

At Pittsburgh Alternative Health, friendly staffers join Doctor of Naturopathy Darrell Misak and needle-free acupressure specialist, Dr. Wan Huang to restore and maximize bodily health and mental well-being with holistic treatments. Toxins are expelled during sauna sessions, where infrared light saps contaminants from muscles, and relaxing ionic footbaths, which kiss the feet with gentle electrical charges. Relaxed patrons can glide into a private mental-rest room, where a programmed audio-visual show lures minds into a state of alert relaxation with music, lights, and footage of baby pandas learning to cartwheel. The health center can also aid patients on the road to health with analytic testing. During an EAV test, technicians use a fusion of mechanical methods and ancient acupuncture pressure points to study the body’s energy. The results can pinpoint sensitivities to foods, chemicals, or existentialist poems that may be decreasing energy or causing other health problems.