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New hospital in West Manchester Township seen to impact wider area
Emily Thurlow//August 24, 2018
Since May, when the final steel beam was put into place during a topping-off ceremony, teams of up to 125 workers have made progress on the project: laying drywall and framing on the first and third floors, window and internal door frames have been installed, and architectural precast concrete slabs have been added to the building’s frame.
In addition to replacing and expanding the existing Memorial building, located in Spring Garden Township – which employs 600 people and has 100 beds – the construction of UPMC Pinnacle Memorial could provide a boon to businesses, even beyond West Manchester Township.
Not far from the hospital, the West Manchester Town Center mall is already seeing new development, said West Manchester Township Manager Kelly Kelch.
Most recently, a 52,000 square-foot Hobby Lobby opened at the Town Center. And though it is still early in the planning phase, the township is reviewing a building permit for a 5,000 square-foot urgent care office to be located on the corner of Brougher Lane and Town Center Drive, said Kelch.
A car wash is moving in across the street from the mall on York Crossing Drive, near Logan’s Steakhouse and a branch of First National Bank of Pennsylvania, he said.
Farther away, the RISE York medical marijuana dispensary is set to open soon at a building formerly occupied by Yorktown Pools and Spas at 4395 W. Market St.
Sheetz, also on West Market Street, is expected to undergo an expansion that will add restaurant seating and liquor sales, said Kelch.
A building at 1401 Kenneth Road, former site of a Ruby Tuesday restaurant, will open with an Aspen Dental, mattress retailer Sleep Number and sandwich shop Jersey Mike’s.
Redevelopment in the area has already helped businesses like the Wyndham Garden with sub-contractors needing to stay in the area, said Mike Haugh, who operates the hotel with his sons, Ryan and Ben, and other partners through the Altland House Hospitality Inc. Once the hospital is complete, he foresees families of patients staying at the Wyndham Garden for long-term stays.
UPMC Pinnacle is investing more than $280 million in the new Memorial Hospital campus on Loucks Road, said Keria Meals, marketing coordinator for UPMC Pinnacle.
The future five-story hospital, which sits on the site of the former Hawk Lake Golf Course, will include 130 private rooms and feature acute and emergency medical care, cardiology and vascular services, chronic disease management and surgical services.
The 121-acre campus also includes a medical office building next to the hospital with ambulatory surgery, a women’s imaging suite, a sleep lab, infusion center and cardiac rehab as well as five other pad sites, said Paul Toburen, vice president for facilities and support services for UPMC Pinnacle.
Project officials are performing a market analysis of the sites and are still six months out before making a final determination about future uses, he said.
In the meantime, the UPMC Pinnacle Memorial project remains on track for its August 2019 opening.
Workers have recently completed the widening of Loucks Road leading to the new hospital. Roadwork on Route 30 to extend the left turn lane near Olive Garden is expected to be complete by the end of the month. Grading and stormwater installation work on Roosevelt Avenue is slated to be finished by mid-October.
“The redevelopment of the West Manchester Township mall, and now this, will strengthen all of north West York,” he said.
And while there’s a lot of excitement in West Manchester, some think the future hospital, located at 1605 Loucks Road, could have an even wider impact. The facility is near Roosevelt Boulevard, offering access to the WeCo neighborhood of downtown York, said Silas Chamberlin, CEO of Downtown Inc, Downtown York’s improvement organization.
“The new facility will bring hundreds of employees and patients to that part of the Route 30 corridor every day. I expect that many of them will end up patronizing businesses in nearby strips malls, several of which are actually located in the city of York,” he said.
The new hospital also could aid employee recruitment for York-area businesses. Perceived high-quality health care can be a significant factor in attracting people, said Chamberlin. In addition, the new UPMC Pinnacle Memorial might provide a partner for nonprofits in support of public health initiatives and downtown revitalization.
Other providers already are giving a boost to the city. York Township-based WellSpan Health, for instance, opened a lab services facility this summer on West Market Street in downtown York.
