Geisinger is planning to open a new primary care and urgent care facility later this year near Bellefonte.
The $15.5 million project is currently under construction at 226 Buckaroo Lane, behind the Weis Markets plaza in Spring Township.
Geisinger Primary Care Bellefonte will bring primary care and ConvenientCare walk-in clinic services to the same location, according to a news release this week. Dermatology, ultrasound, X-ray and lab services also will be located on-site.
“The relocation of our primary care and ConvenientCare walk-in clinics in Bellefonte is a benefit for community members looking for easy-to-access health care services closer to home,” Michelle Holt, associate vice president for Geisinger community medicine, said in a statement. “The addition of this site to our expanding network not only makes health care easier for our neighbors now, but it also includes space for more outreach services in the future.”
All providers and staff from Geisinger’s current primary location at 819 E. Bishop St. will move to the new site.
Providers and staff from Geisinger’s Bellefonte ConvenientCare location at 174 Buckaroo Lane, which has been temporarily closed since the fall, also will relocate.
ConvenientCare — which is meant for health issues that can be addressed in a single visit, such as cold and flu, earaches, sprains and minor cuts — will be open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Walk-in patients will be accepted until 7:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 5:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The new facility is expected to open in “late 2024,” according to the release.
It’s one of two major construction projects underway in Centre County for the Danville-based health system.
A $12 million expansion of Geisinger Healthplex State College, formerly known as Geisinger Gray’s Woods, is also set for completion at the end of 2024. The two-story addition will allow for growth of specialty services and increased appointment availability. It will include space for family practice/community medicine, imaging services orthopedics and pediatrics.
Other services at the Healthplex, located at 132 Abigail Lane, Port Matilda, include bariatrics, cardiology, ENT, GI/GI nutrition, lab, ophthalmology, pharmacy, pulmonology, surgery and urology.
Geisinger isn’t the only health system investing in Centre County facilities.
Mount Nittany Health is constructing a new four-story outpatient medical center expected to open in 2024 at Toftrees West in Patton Township, and a $350 million, 10-story patient tower addition at the medical center in College Township, scheduled for completion in late 2026.
Penn Highlands Health Care’s new State College-area hospital, located at 239 Colonnade Boulevard in Patton Township, is nearing completion and expected to open this summer.
