St. Clair Hospital officials and site developers broke ground Thursday for Peters Township's newest medical center, St. Clair Hospital Outpatient Center. 

The two-story, 40,000-square-foot building is located at 3928 Washington Road in McMurray—in the former space of Al Lorenzi Building Products. The first floor will include full-service diagnostic capabilities and the second floor will house physicians’ offices—an on-site cafe will also be constructed.

Officials said the outside will have a campus feel with landscaping and planted islands. The building will be "fundamentally green" and include a Safe Zone Walkway to the parking lot, which includes 180 parking spaces. 

A traffic light already exists at the entrance of the location, however turning lanes will be added to Route 19. 

Hospital officials said the outpatient facility is being constructed to better serve the large concentration of physicians and patients in the area—a study shows a 34 percent increase in the number of patients from the Peters area.

Groundbreaking participants were Jim Collins, president and CEO, St. Clair Hospital; Jack Piatt, chairman of the board, Millcraft Industries; Barry Zaiser, senior vice president, Operations & Strategic Development; Mel Rex, chairman, board of directors, St. Clair Hospital Corporation and its subsidiaries; Barry Deems, St. Clair Hospital facilities consultant; John Schrott, president, IKM, Inc. and Ray Volpatt Jr., president, Volpatt Construction.

For more information, see the fact sheet in the media box above.

Will you use this new facility? Tell us in the comments.