Geisinger just completed a $12M facility expansion in Centre County. Here’s a look

Following about a year of construction, Geisinger has finished a $12 million expansion project at its Gray’s Woods facility.

Located at 132 Abigail Lane in Patton Township, Geisinger Healthplex includes two expanded departments — the pediatric department and the musculoskeletal institute, or orthopedics department.

The 20,000-square-foot expansion of these two departments is meant to reduce patient wait times and provide additional employment opportunities for physicians other staff members, according to a press release. The newly-expanded departments opened last week.

“We’re really excited about the new space,” said Dr. Joy Drass, the Healthplex’s director of pediatrics. “It’s really easy to see from the moment that you hit the door, (the new pediatrics department) is much more kid-friendly with all of the animal pictures on the walls. ... Feedback has been really positive.”

The animal pictures adorning the department’s walls are just a small part of the additions that have been made to help children attending appointments there be more comfortable. The lighting is also brighter, the walls are decorated with nature-themed wallpaper, and the waiting room setup has changed.

Instead of one large, traditional waiting room, the new setup has two waiting rooms, one for sick patients and a “well space” for routine visits. Patients from each section enter exam rooms separately to reduce the spread of germs.

“I think having the dedicated ‘well’ and ‘sick’ spaces is newer concept that we’re able to accommodate, and that the families really appreciate,” Drass said. “We tried to be very thoughtful about patient flow through the clinic.”

The pediatrics department also added five exam rooms for a total of 28.

The expanded orthopedics department now has 41 exam rooms — a “significant capacity expansion” compared what the department previously allowed for, according to Valerie Reed, Geisinger’s senior marketing strategist.

“For patient need and access, the outfit that we had here at our Gray’s Woods location in State College has really been grown-out over the years,” said Dr. Michael Sobolewski, Geisinger’s western regional musculoskeletal institute director and an orthopedic surgeon at the Healthplex. “We’ve been expanding services and needing to improve access for patients to a multitude of sub-specialties that we now offer.”

Since the expansion, the facility’s orthopedics department has nearly tripled its capacity for patients, he said.

The orthopedics department offers a number of comprehensive orthopedic care services, including spinal care and surgery, total and partial joint surgery, surgical and non-surgical sports medicine services and podiatry.

The expansion allows for the increased usage of a state-of-the-art Mako robotic arm used during joint replacement surgeries. The doctor-controlled machine helps surgeons create a surgical plan using a virtual 3D model.

“It’s a really awesome, efficient too,” Reed said. “We’ve gotten some really great feedback from patients on it, and I know our doctors are excited to get to use it a bit more too.”

The robotic arm is capable of providing service on total hip, knee and shoulder replacements, as well as partial hip replacements.

In addition to the Healthplex expansion, Geisinger has also been busy in another parts of Centre County too, with a new Bellefonte clinic opening in November.

It’s part of a growing investment in health care in the county. in May, Mount Nittany Health opened is first ExpressCare facility, meant for treating patients suffering from minor ailments and injuries, and in August, the health system opened a new Toftrees location. Mount Nittany is also constructing a 10-floor, $350 million patient tower at the health center.

Penn Highlands also finished construction on its $90 million hospital last June.

Geisinger Healthplex State College is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.