Nov 18, 2015 2 min read

Washington Hospital is proposing a 9,000-square-foot, $3.1 million outpatient center in California Technology Park in Coal Center.

Previously approved by the board of Washington County Redevelopment Authority, sale of the five-acre parcel to the hospital for $250,000 is expected to be approved this morning by Washington County commissioners.

The tract lies between Hampton Inn and Suites and U.S. Corrugated Inc. along Technology Drive.

The one-story building near the Mon-Fayette Expressway could be completed in late 2016, and the design calls for the single-story structure to look the same from the front and back so it can be clearly identified from both the turnpike extension and from within the technology park.

Besides a reception area, nurses station and examining rooms, the facility will house radiology, a laboratory and office space for medical specialists.

What is now labeled as an outdoor play area with seating may, in the future, become part of an expanded outpatient center.

Larry Pantuso, vice president of planning and business development for Washington Health System, said the California center will be similar in size and scope “to the facility we have on Route 50 in Cecil. California will almost mirror-image what we have in Cecil.”

Dr. Allison Verenna, a family practice physician, will be moving from offices at 415 Third St., California, where she has been since 2010, to the new building. Pantuso said the new location will offer greater visibility, parking and access.

“She and Beth Theiss (certified nurse practitioner) have a very busy practice there, but they’re also landlocked,” Pantuso said. “We’re at the point that we’ll be recruiting anther physician to help her with her patient load.”