Mo Valley medical building to open soon

The Moshannon Valley will soon put an end to a nine-year drought without a large medical facility to call its own.

Penn Highlands Healthcare unveiled the 23,000-square-foot Moshannon Valley Community Medical Building in Rush Township in a private outing Friday. It will also host the public 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.

The medical care facility will open its doors to patients Wednesday, the culmination of years of planning.

“This facility has been years in the making, so we are excited to unveil it to the community,” Penn Highlands Clearfield President Gary Macioce said. “Residents of the Moshannon Valley have been asking for additional medical services in the region, and we believe the Moshannon Valley Community Building will serve those needs.”

Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership Executive Director Stan LaFuria said it was worth the wait.

“It’s outstanding for a few things and, first, for the investment,” LaFuria said. “You’re talking about a major investment in your Moshannon Valley and Philipsburg region. Otherwise, besides the school district and two prisons, it’s one of the largest facilities ever made in the region.”

The $6 million project near the intersection of North Front and Railroad streets was aided by two grants, one totaling $1.75 million from the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, as well as a $1 million Highmark Community Investment grant.

The completion of the project followed a year of cutbacks, in which there were layoffs, for Penn Highlands.

“Like many hospitals across the state and nation, Penn Highlands Healthcare has had to adapt to a changing health care environment, and that led to a systemwide restructuring early in the year,” Penn Highlands spokeswoman Amy Duke said. “Trends in the health care industry — with an emphasis on outpatient care — are changing the way hospitals operate.”

Duke was asked if expansion into the Moshannon Valley was viable.

“Moving forward, the health system’s goal is to continue to invest in the communities it serves and strengthen health care and economic resources in the region,” she said. “An example of this is the new Moshannon Valley building. The new facility will improve access to high-quality, patient-centered medical care.”

About 35 people will be employed at the facility, and some are doctors who will relocate from Penn Highlands Clearfield to the new medical care facility.

They include internal medicine doctors Wilkerson Compere and Salman Azim, pediatrics doctor Clare Ocampo, general surgeon Robert E. Steward Jr., ophthalmologist Ryan Bisbey, orthopedists Mark A. Nartatez and Rodolfo Polintan and physician assistants Jared Ricotta and Mackenzie Gonder.

Outpatient diagnostics will also move and provide laboratory services, blood draws, EKG, general X-rays, cardiac monitors and ultrasound. The facility will also introduce digital mammography, bone mineral density testing and MRI.

The facility will also have a walk-in clinic called QCare, short for quick care, designed to treat coughs, earaches, sprains, rashes, minor eye problems, cuts, bladder infections, insect bites and minor animal bites. It will also provide physicals.

Hours for QCare are 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. It is also closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

“This brings all of these health care services closer to so many people,” LaFuria said. “If you bring all of these health care services to the facility, a lot of people won’t have to go to Altoona, DuBois or State College. They can be treated right here.”

LaFuria said there is no update on the future of the 15 acres where the Philipsburg Area Hospital, which closed in 2006, operated. He hopes to work with the state, which owns the property, to promote and market it.

“Hopefully we give job creation a chance first,” he said. “Future housing is also a possibility.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Mo Valley medical building to open soon."