Photo by Brett Dunlap A grand opening ceremony was held earlier this week at the new Belpre Medical Center on Richmiller Lane. The facility is the new home for First Settlement Physical Therapy, First Settlement Orthopedics and Hopewell Health Center’s Belpre Behavioral Health. A ribbon cutting was held with Simon Hargus, owner of First Settlement Physical Therapy; Belpre Mayor Mike Lorentz, representatives from the Belpre Chamber of Commerce, First Settlement Orthopedics, Hopewell and others.

BELPRE — The new Belpre Medical Center is a place where people can get specialty care services without having to go out-of-town.

The business, located at 2434 Richmiller Lane near the Farson Street-Ohio 7 stoplight, has been open for a about a month with a grand opening ceremony held earlier this week.

The brand new multi-million dollar, 33,000 square foot medical complex, is the new home for First Settlement Physical Therapy, First Settlement Orthopedics and Hopewell Health Center’s Belpre Behavioral Health.

Crews with DDC Construction have been working since early spring at the site to meet a deadline for FSPT and FSO to be out of their old location across the highway and adjacent to the Belpre Medical Campus of Memorial Health System by the end of October.

The center provides access to multiple medical specialties including orthopedics, mental health and physical therapy.

Photo by Brett Dunlap The new Belpre Medical Center, at 2434 Richmiller Lane in Belpre, is completed and open for business. The new multi-million dollar, 33,000 square foot medical complex, is the new home for First Settlement Physical Therapy, First Settlement Orthopedics and Hopewell Health Center’s Belpre Behavioral Health. Two additional tenants will be added in the spring.

“Patients are looking for faster access to quality specialty care when they are injured and we listened,” said Simon Hargus, DPT and Owner of FSPT. “We have built a state of the art medical facility that addresses the needs of the community and provides access to the prompt care that the Mid-Ohio Valley deserves.”

Hargus admitted getting the building constructed and ready within 6-7 months was a challenge. He talked about coming in on weekends and doing some of the painting himself.

He also credits having good people who worked with them to make the whole thing possible.

“That is tough and that goes from tough to impossible without a good partner,” Hargus said. “That partner was the city of Belpre and the mayor, Mike Lorentz.

“Everyone really came together. We would still be building if it had been a different city in a different county. I truly believe that. We got this up in the time frame we needed because Belpre was a good partner.”

Photo Provided The interior of First Settlement Physical Therapy in the new Belpre Medical Center. The new center was recently completed with a grand opening ceremony held earlier this week. The new multi-million-dollar, 33,000 square foot medical complex is the new home for First Settlement Physical Therapy, First Settlement Orthopedics and Hopewell Health Center’s Belpre Behavioral Health.

It was also important to get the building done and get the three tenants in place quickly.

“The tenants all had existing patients that needed our help but we needed to get the building done in time so there wasn’t a delay in care,” Hargus said. “It was a real monumental effort to get this done in six months.

“Initially, most of the people who looked at it said we couldn’t get this done in six months from top to bottom.”

Many credited Hargus with keeping everything on track.

Hena Hargus, co-owner of FSPT and Simon’s mother, said they would not be where they are at now without her son’s work.

Photo Provided The interior and equipment of First Settlement Physical Therapy in the new Belpre Medical Center is shown.

“His efforts were tremendous,” she said.

Helen Farrah-McGrail, clinic director of Hopewell, agreed.

“It has gone very well from day one,” she said.

Hopewell provides individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy and case managers. Hopewell has a holistic approach to care and offers a wide range of services including comprehensive behavioral health, dental health and primary health care.

First Settlement Orthopedics has six surgeons, each specializing in the latest in orthopedic care for bone and joints.

First Settlement Physical Therapy (FSPT) is a family owned private practice which has been in business 17 years and have grown into 18 clinics throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley offering a variety of rehabilitation services.

All of the groups were moved in by Nov. 20 having done most of the work over a long weekend.

Again, he credited their contractor and partners with getting everything in place which allowed them to move in over a 3-4 day period so patients would see as little interruption in service as possible.

“The only way to get it done in that time frame was through a team effort,” he said. “Many of the services we offer, especially with the orthopedic and psychology side are things we can’t have long gaps with.”

The new space also allows the three main tenants space to expand.

“We all three needed to grow,” Hargus said. “We all got bigger spaces to accommodate more staff and create new jobs.”

There will be two more tenants who will locate to the facility by spring, he said. One will be the PARS Brain and Spine Institute and the other has not been identified yet.

The building will employ 50-100 employees from the Mid-Ohio Valley, including orthopedic surgeons, spine surgeons, mental health professionals, nurses, X-ray technicians, physical therapists and office staff, officials said.

The purpose of the new center is to put specialty care in Belpre.

“The center is about getting patients in quickly so they can see a specialist,” Hargus said. “This is a higher level of care that you usually can find in a big city, but here you don’t have to wait weeks to get in there. You can come in.

“The intent of this center just isn’t for us to grow, but so there is no real significant wait times or patients to get in to see a specialist.”

It is a building of private practice providers who understand where they are at in Appalachia and the community they are in. Many of the providers are taking a variety of different insurances, payer types and taking all people who come in the door.

“This isn’t about exclusivity here,” Hargus said. “It is a very inclusive and very community built.

“It is here to support the community. I appreciate the community, we would not have been able to do it without you.”

Lorentz talked about being able to watch the building go up and become a reality.

“They have been extremely good neighbors already, helping with waterline issues and more” he said. “That is what Belpre needs to be about.”

The mayor talked about a new attitude in the city that wants to work on and bring in development and businesses as well as the pride people are starting to take in their town.

He talked about the recent “Buy Into Belpre Campaign” activities where people raised needed money and people in the community had fun being together.

“That reminds me of what Belpre use to be and what we are again,” Lorentz said. “It is an amazing time we are living in here in Belpre.

“This makes 15 ribbon cuttings we have done this year. I don’t know if we have ever done that before.”

More development is planned in the city with a couple of companies planning something locally. The mayor couldn’t name any of them yet.

“There is always something in the plan,” he said. “There will be more in 2018.”