About Us
Our goal is to provide the highest quality of medical care to infants, children, and teenagers.
Meet Our Providers
Rebecca L. Yukica, DO
Dr. Rebecca grew up as a Jersey Girl. She moved to Massachusetts for college, and although she has moved many times since, she has landed in the Upper Valley to stay. Dr. Rebecca graduated from Smith College and then spent two years teaching high school chemistry at National Cathedral School in Washington DC before heading to medical school. She graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2001.
Following her internship year at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Rebecca transferred to New Hampshire to complete her residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She stayed to do a Chief year and then moved to Baltimore, MD, to help start a hospitalist program at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. After two years in the city during which she was married and had twins, her family found it was time to return to the Upper Valley. It was in 2007 that Dr. Rebecca first joined Upper Valley Pediatrics as an attending pediatrician. She left once more to work in Washington State, but after 13 months decided that the west coast was never going to be home. So, she returned to VT and shortly after took over ownership from founding physician Mark Harris, MD.
When not at work, you will most likely find Dr. Rebecca skiing, mountain biking, hiking or pursuing some other adventure with her husband and three sons.
Abigail Henderson, CPNP-PC
Abigail Henderson is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who grew up in Rutland County. In 2015 Abbi graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She then worked in adult medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, leaving in 2018 for the Emergency Department at Rutland Regional Medical Center where she still cares for both adults and children. During this time as an ED nurse Abbi became credentialed as a Sexual Assault Forensic Nurse Examiner (SANE) , allowing her to help adults and children who have suffered abuse. She is passionate about this work and continues to serve in this role today.
As working with children has always been her passion, Abbi went back to school to become a pediatric primary care nurse practitioner and graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Maryville University in 2023. She absolutely loves working with children and families and is overjoyed to be fulfilling her dreams at Upper Valley Pediatrics.
Abbi lives with her husband, son, two dogs, and cat. She enjoys almost all outdoor activities but especially mountain biking, snowboarding, hiking, running, and horseback riding. She and her family are expecting their second child in August of 2023.
Renée Cather, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
Renée Cather is a Family Nurse Practitioner who earned her RN/BSN degrees in 1990 from the Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts. She started her career as a pediatric nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital. After moving to the Upper Valley, she worked at DHMC in the pediatric ICU and on the Dartmouth Hitchcock Advanced Response Team as a flight nurse.
As her children grew up and started to leave for college, she completed her Master’s Degree in Nursing Education (MSN) in 2017 from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and taught in the nursing program at Norwich University in Northfield Vermont. She then completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in 2021 at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont; with a concentration in family practice.
Renée joined Upper Valley Pediatrics as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2021, and she continues to work several days a month in the emergency department at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Renée lives in Thetford, Vermont with her husband, son, and her pug/Boston terrier mix named Poppy. Her other three children (two daughters and a son) live in Salt Lake City, Burlington and Boston.
Our Mission
The mission of Upper Valley Pediatrics, as a Patient Centered Medical Home, is to provide pediatric and adolescent patients with comprehensive and respectful care in a timely manner and in a safe environment.
We take pride in and place an emphasis on quality of care, accessibility and a trusting relationship between the providers, staff, and the patients we care for. We offer access to evidence-based care and self-management support incorporated into quality health care services. Our care will not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, immigration status, geographic location and/or socio-economic status. We strive to foster a sense of community.
