How to Find a Doctor Taking New Patients in Berks County

If your doctor retired or you've just moved here, the quickest way to find a primary care doctor who's taking new patients in Berks County is to pick up the phone. Each of the four health systems with offices in the county, and Berks Community Health Center, has one line to call for a first appointment, and two of them, Penn State Health and St. Luke's, say "accepting new patients" on a doctor's page. Before you call, check that the office is in your insurance plan's network, and if you're on Medicaid, that your card lists that office as your primary care provider before the first visit. The doctors in Berks County show each office's town and phone, so you can see who's near you before you dial.

What does "primary care" mean, and which kind of doctor do you need?

Primary care is the office you go to first and keep going back to, and it comes in three kinds. Family medicine treats people of all ages, from infants to seniors, so one office can see the whole household. Internal medicine doctors, called internists, specialize in adult medicine and in complex, long-term conditions. Pediatrics covers children from birth into the young adult years; Tower Health's pediatric office in Wyomissing sees patients to age 21.

An MD and a DO are both fully licensed physicians in Pennsylvania, and DOs get special training in the musculoskeletal system in medical school. A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse the State Board of Nursing has certified to diagnose and prescribe, working with a physician under a written agreement. A physician assistant works under a written agreement with a supervising physician who doesn't have to be in the building. For the wider picture, read our guide to healthcare providers in Berks County.

How to find a primary care doctor who's taking new patients in Berks County.

Each health system publishes one way in for a new patient, and here's who's taking new patients and how to reach them.

Where	How a new patient gets in	What it says about new patients
Tower Health (Reading Hospital's practices)	One line for every office: 1-833-348-6937, or the request form on its site.	Its appointment page says to call that number; its pediatric page gives the same number for a new patient appointment at its adult offices.
Penn State Health (St. Joseph's practices)	610-378-2000 for a new patient; central scheduling is 610-378-2100.	A doctor's page carries a sentence such as "is accepting new patients of all ages."
St. Luke's	866-785-8537, or the office line: Spring Township 484-658-6500, Kutztown 484-658-2801, Hamburg 610-628-7206.	"Now welcoming new patients"; every clinician on an office page is marked "Accepting new patients."
Lehigh Valley Health Network (part of Jefferson Health)	888-402-5846 or the online appointment form; Moselem Springs 610-944-8800, Hamburg 610-562-3066, Kutztown 610-683-8363.	The online form asks whether you're a new patient.
Berks Community Health Center (Reading, three sites)	610-988-4838; the call center takes your name, date of birth, address and phone and books the first visit.	Takes Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP and commercial plans; a sliding fee for anyone without insurance.
Reading Pediatrics (Wyomissing, Exeter, Temple, Robesonia)	610-374-7400; a "Meet and Greet" first if you want one.	Old records first; in the practice's words, "It is our policy to receive your previous medical records before we can assume care and schedule an appointment."
The Children's Clinic of Wyomissing	Well line 610-378-1722; call for a Meet and Greet.	"Yes, we always welcome new patients to our practice!" with prior records, or at least the vaccine records and last well summary, sent ahead.
Penn State Health Medical Group, All About Children (West Reading)	610-372-9222, or the Penn State Health line above.	A Penn State Health office; the system line above applies.

How the county's four health systems, its community health center and three pediatric practices take a new patient, from their own pages as of October 28, 2026.

Two of them, Penn State Health and St. Luke's, show acceptance on the page before you call; for Tower Health and Lehigh Valley Health Network, the phone line or the online form is the answer.

Berks Community Health Center, the county's federally funded community health center, books first visits through its call center. Its three Reading sites are open weekdays 8 to 6, and it accepts Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP and commercial plans. Other clinics in Berks County are on the site too, each with its town and phone.

Where you live shapes the short list: the county's primary care offices cluster in Reading and Wyomissing, and St. Luke's and Lehigh Valley Health Network have offices in the north, around Hamburg, Kutztown and Fleetwood. This is general information about how finding a doctor works here, and a question about your own health goes to your doctor's office, a nurse line if your plan offers one, or, in an emergency, 911. If something can't wait for that first appointment, we've written separately about when to use urgent care or the ER in Berks County.

Is the doctor in your insurance plan's network, and listed on your card as your primary care provider?

Check the network before you fall for a doctor. In-network means a doctor your plan has a contract with, and the place to check is your plan's own provider directory, which can show whether a doctor is accepting new patients. Then call your insurer at the number on your card about that office, and call the office to ask whether it takes your plan.

The step a lot of people miss comes next. Many plans require the office you pick to be listed on your card as your primary care provider, your PCP, before the first visit. Berks Community Health Center says it plainly on its new-patient page: call the member services number on your card, make sure you've chosen the office as your PCP, and have that in effect before your first visit.

If you're on Medical Assistance, Pennsylvania's Medicaid, your coverage runs through a HealthChoices plan, and that plan has to have the doctor in its network. Five of those plans serve Berks: AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania, Geisinger Health Plan, Jefferson Health Plans EverWell, Highmark Wholecare and UPMC for You.

If you don't have insurance, Berks Community Health Center sees you anyway and schedules you with its outreach staff for the sliding fee program, a bill scaled to your income; the details are on Berks Community Health Center's primary care page on BerksConnect. We've also written up Pennie open enrollment for Berks County residents and how to apply for Medicaid in Berks County.

What do Berks pediatric practices need before your child's first appointment?

Records, mostly, and before the appointment is even booked. Reading Pediatrics (610-374-7400; Wyomissing, Exeter, Temple and Robesonia; open 365 days a year) wants your previous medical records before it assumes care and schedules an appointment, and offers a Meet and Greet so you can meet a provider first.

The Children's Clinic of Wyomissing (well line 610-378-1722) welcomes new patients and asks that prior records, or at least the vaccine records and the last well-visit summary, be sent before the appointment is made. The health systems' own pediatric offices are Penn State Health Medical Group All About Children in West Reading (610-372-9222), Tower Health Medical Group Pediatrics in Wyomissing (484-628-7540) and Lehigh Valley Health Network's pediatric office in Kutztown (610-333-8880).

Ask the old office to send records straight to the new one; the pediatric practices make that the first step, so the records request is the first call, not the last.

How do you check a doctor's license and board certification?

Any doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant in Pennsylvania has a license you can look up on the state's PALS site, pals.pa.gov. It shows the license number and status and whether the person has ever faced disciplinary action by their licensing board.

Board certified is a separate credential: it means the doctor passed their specialty's own exam, apart from the state license. The American Board of Family Medicine's public Find a Physician directory lists board-certified family doctors, and the American Board of Pediatrics' lookup shows whether a pediatrician is certified and actively maintaining certification.

What should you ask when you call, and what do you bring to the first visit?

The American Academy of Family Physicians tells patients to ask a list of questions, and it's the list I'd keep next to the phone: are they taking new patients, do they accept your insurance, what are their office hours, do they have after-hours walk-in hours, do they have on-call hours, what's the average wait to get an appointment with the doctor, what hospital does the doctor use, and whether labs and imaging are done in the office. The American Academy of Pediatrics adds three: where the doctor admits children if they're hospitalized, how phone calls are returned, and how same-day sick visits are handled.

For the first visit, Berks Community Health Center's own bring list is the one to copy: your insurance card, a photo ID, a list of your current medications and your copay, and it asks you to arrive 20 minutes early for the forms. Berks Community Health Center posts its four forms (registration, medical history, permitted contacts and a records request) to download ahead.

Here's what I'd do tonight. Pick two or three offices from the doctors in Berks County near you, make the insurance call first, then the office calls with the list above, and ask the old office to send your records the same week.

Questions people ask about finding a doctor in Berks County.

How long can my old doctor's office take to send my records?

Your old office has to act on a written request for your records within 30 days, with one 30-day extension allowed, and it may charge only a reasonable, cost-based fee for copying and postage.

Is Berks Community Health Center changing?

In August 2026 it announced an agreement to join Union Community Care, another community health center, and the merger is under regulatory review. The center says the health center, its providers and its services stay the same, and its new-patient line is still 610-988-4838.

Do all doctors take Medicare?

Most doctors, providers and suppliers accept Medicare's approved amount as full payment, which Medicare calls accepting assignment, but always check that yours does. If you're choosing a plan as well as a doctor, we've written up how to compare Medicare plans in Berks County.

Sources

• Tower Health, "Make an Appointment" and "Find a Provider" (read October 28, 2026): the system line and the provider search; Tower Health Medical Group Pediatrics - Wyomissing: the new-patient sentence, the birth-to-21 line and the weekend hours; Tower Health, "Primary Care": family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics described.
• Penn State Health, "Make an Appointment" (read October 28, 2026): the new-patient block and 610-378-2000; St. Joseph Medical Center: central scheduling 610-378-2100; a doctor page: the "accepting new patients" wording; the Spring Ridge, Fleetwood, Muhlenberg, Family and Community Medicine and All About Children location pages.
• St. Luke's, "Primary Care" (read October 28, 2026): "Now welcoming new patients", 866-STLUKES and the family medicine and internal medicine definitions; the Spring Township, Kutztown and Hamburg office pages: "New patients are welcome", the per-clinician "Accepting new patients" marks and the office phones.
• Lehigh Valley Health Network, "Find a Doctor" (read October 28, 2026): the new-patient form and 888-402-LVHN; the Moselem Springs, Hamburg, Kutztown and Pediatrics-Kutztown pages: addresses, phones and hours.
• Berks Community Health Center, "Become Our Patient" (read October 28, 2026): the call center, the PCP-on-your-card instruction, the forms, the bring list and the sliding fee; "Locations": the three Reading sites and hours; "An Important Update for BCHC Patients" (August 17, 2026): the agreement to join Union Community Care.
• Reading Pediatrics, "Join Our Practice" and "New Patients" (read October 28, 2026): the records-first policy, the Meet and Greet, the four offices and 610-374-7400; The Children's Clinic of Wyomissing, FAQ and "Join Our Practice": "we always welcome new patients", the records request, the phone lines and the $50 after-hours charge.
• Medical Practice Act of 1985 (Act 112), definitions and § 13 and Osteopathic Medical Practice Act (Act 261 of 1978), definitions: what an MD and a DO are licensed to do, and the physician assistant's written agreement and supervision; American Osteopathic Association, "What is Osteopathic Medicine?": DOs' musculoskeletal training.
• 49 Pa. Code § 21.251 (State Board of Nursing definitions): what a certified registered nurse practitioner does and the collaborative agreement.
• American College of Physicians, "About Internal Medicine"; American Academy of Family Physicians, "Family Medicine, Definition of"; American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org, "How to Choose a Pediatrician" (updated August 12, 2025): the three kinds of primary care, and the pediatrician questions.
• American Academy of Family Physicians, familydoctor.org, "How to Choose a Family Doctor" (updated October 21, 2025): the questions to ask when you call.
• HealthCare.gov, "Getting medical care": check the directory, call the insurer, call the office; Independence Blue Cross, "Find a doctor at ibx.com": provider profiles show whether a doctor is accepting new patients; Medicare.gov, "Does your provider accept Medicare as full payment?": "always check to make sure that yours do."
• Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Statewide MCO Map (read October 28, 2026): the five HealthChoices physical health plans in the Lehigh/Capital zone, which includes Berks.
• Pennsylvania Department of State, "Verify a Professional or Occupational License": what the PALS lookup shows; American Board of Family Medicine, "Find a Physician" and American Board of Pediatrics, "Verification of Certification": the public board-certification lookups and their status wording.
• 45 CFR § 164.524, access of individuals to protected health information: the 30-day deadline, the one extension and the reasonable, cost-based fee.