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SUMMIT TWP — A new, $20 million medical office building is in the works for the Butler Health System this year.
“It’s a very exciting time,” said Thomas Genevro, vice president for facilities and human resources.
The 48,000-square-foot building will have facilities for cardiology testing, medical and interventional cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, electrophysiologists, orthopedic surgeons, laboratory/X-ray/pre-admission testing, general surgeons, women’s imaging, obstetricians/gynecologists, medical oncology and palliative care.
It is being built on 8.5 acres near the system’s heart and vascular center, known as the Butler Health System East Campus, at the intersection of Routes 38, 68 and 422. The new three-story building will have 20 to 25 doctors and advanced practice providers and 50 to 60 support staff.
Added parking also is part of the site plan, Genevro said.
Genevro said the new building will help make Butler Memorial Hospital, which is a quarter mile away, less crowded and allow for more inpatient service growth at the hospital.
CEO Ken DeFurio said the health system’s growth made the facility necessary.
“We need it now,” DeFurio said in a previous interview.
Site preparation began in December, and steel beams started going up Feb. 9.
Genevro said it is planned the building will be ready, as expected, this fall.
“We’re tracking on time, right now,” Genevro said.
He said that this is the only big construction project the system has under way.
Dr. Steven Paterno, an OB/GYN, practices at the heart and vascular center and will have his offices moved to the new building.He said part of the reason he began practicing with the system last year was the promise of the new building. He said he likes that the building basically will have a comprehensive women’s health center.“I think that there are multiple purposes for the new building,” Paterno said.The building, which likely will be paid for using the system’s cash reserves, was designed by the Design Group of Columbus, Ohio, and will be built by Turner Construction of Pittsburgh.Roxann Stickney, zoning officer for Summit Township, said because the system is a nonprofit, the township will not receive any property taxes from the building. However, she said township officials are excited to have the facility there, saying it will increase access to health care locally.“We’re excited because it’s not only going to help the residents of Summit Township, but it will help Butler in general,” Stickney said.The project was approved by township supervisors on Nov. 19.The system’s last major construction project was the seven-story tower at Butler Memorial, which opened in the summer of 2010.That 150,000-square-foot building cost $150 million, and included a new entrance off Jefferson Street and a new parking area. The project added 57 beds to the hospital.Before that, the heart and vascular center opened in 2008, expanding the system’s heart care services.
