MIDDLETOWN - Construction on the city's new health care center moved forward this week as the contractor began site work Tuesday. Primary Health Solutions has the $5.9 million project to build a 22,000-square-foot health center at Yankee Road and Verity Parkway. A contract valued at more than $4.3 million was awarded to Danis Building Construction Co. in November, said Marc Bellisario, chief executive officer of Primary Health.

Once complete, services offered at Middletown Community Health Center on Ninth Avenue next door will be moved to the new facility and the Ninth Avenue facility will offer additional services, Bellisario said.

"It's really exciting," he said. "It's like up to this point everything's been on paper."

Primary Health, a federally qualified health center, received a federal stimulus facilities improvement grant of $4.7 million for the center. Formerly Butler County Community Health Consortium, services are offered on a sliding scale to those without insurance. It has two other facilities in Hamilton.

At about three times the size of the current Middletown office, the new site allows for expanded pediatric care and hours, as well as a clinical lab, pharmacy and X-ray lab, according to project plans.

A ceremonial groundbreaking occurred in August, but the site has sat still for the more than three months while the bid was let for construction work and a loan was secured.

Additional financing includes $200,000 from Primary Health and a $1 million loan, Bellisario said. After the loan was secured Dec. 6, the biggest delay has been the weather, he said.

Money raised in the future will help pay off the loan. Bellisario noted that the center is expected to be up and ready by Nov. 1.

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