TYRONE - A new medical office building is expected to open in the spring on the Tyrone Hospital campus.
Jeff S. Long Construction began site work this week for a 12,000-square-foot building to be located behind the hospital's helipad.
The $1.5 million project will provide space for three physicians.
Hospital CEO Stephen Gildea said he approached Long, a Tyrone-area native, about the project about a year and a half ago.
"We had a need for providers who wanted to locate here, but we didn't have office space. This will provide space for some new physicians who want to locate here," Gildea said.
Gildea called construction of the new building exciting news.
"There has not been a lot of new construction in Tyrone. It has been a number of years since a building was constructed here. This new construction is new life for the hospital and the community," Gildea said.
The last new building built on the campus was the office building housing Tyrone Medical Associates, which was constructed in 1996.
Long will own the building and will lease the space. He said he hasn't lined up any doctors yet but is working on some good leads.
Gildea credits Long for giving back to the community.
"He is a local guy, and he wants to make the community stronger. It says a lot about his character and interest in the community," Gildea said.
Long said he expects to begin construction in about three weeks and said the new facility should be ready to open in April or May.
"He [Gildea] is really turning that hospital around and when he asked me to do my part, I had to step up," Long said.
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.
