David Holmberg

WEXFORD, Allegheny County — Officials with the Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health want to change the way patients access health care, and a new facility a few miles south of Cranberry Township will help do that.

More than 100 people turned out for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 175,000 square-foot facility on Route 19.

The building on 16 acres on the west side of Perry Highway cost $100 million and is expected to employ more than 200 people.

It includes 75 exam rooms, 700 parking spaces, a landscaped plaza with walking trails, gardens and a cafe.

Called the Wexford Health and Wellness Pavilion, the facility will open Oct. 1.

It will allow patients to access a wide range of services at any time. Those include walk-in appointments, X-rays, lab testing, subspecialists and doctors, eye care, mental health care and even a nutritionist.

Services also include occupational and physical therapy and an outpatient surgery center.

Susan Manzi, chairman of the department of medicine in the Allegheny Health Network, said she's lived in Wexford for 22 years and understands the frustrations of navigating a complex medical system.

It can be hectic for patients who have to go to different locations for appointments, X-rays, prescriptions and follow-up care. That's why she was excited Tuesday morning to help celebrate the coming of the new facility in Wexford.

Officials at the ribbon-cutting touted the facility as one of the country's biggest and most innovative “medical malls.”

David Goldberg, executive vice president of the Allegheny Health Network's central region, said that the facility offers any service needed, but it does not have an emergency room.

It will be open at all hours to help patients who work during the day or late at night. The idea of keeping the building open and accessible is part of a philosophy from the health network to put patients' needs first, he said.

“We are changing the health care game, with the patient coming first,” he said.

John Paul, president and chief executive officer of the Allegheny Health Network, said it was hard to believe that the facility would be open in a week, adding that the design and construction phase took only 22 months.

“In my 40 years of being in health care in Western Pennsylvania, I don't think there's a prouder moment I've had than this one,” he said.

Paul added that he's thrilled the facility will include an Austin's Playroom, a place for children to go when their parents are using the medical services at the pavilion.

The playroom was funded by the Mario Lemieux Foundation, and is the 30th of its kind in Western Pennsylvania. Lemieux attended the ceremony but did not speak.

The playroom is named after the hockey great's son Austin, who also was in attendance.

David Holmberg, the president and chief executive officer of Highmark Health, said that although he's only been on the job four months, he understands how the new pavilion will change health care in the North Hills.

“We've come together to make a difference for the people in this community,” he said. “We're building a foundation that will be here long after we're gone.”