MORGANTOWN — Milan Puskar Health Right Executive Director Laura Jones estimates the clinic’s move from Spruce Street to Scott Avenue is trending toward late April.
The initial goal was to get the new clinic space up and running by the first of the year, but the process was delayed considerably by easement issues tied to the sale of a neighboring property.
“We have managed to complete the easement issue for the sewer lines and we are close to completing the electrical pole easement,” Jones told The Dominion Post. “MUB is working to finish the sewer system, and we are grateful that they started as quickly as possible since they have many projects they’re working on.”
Morgantown Utility Board Communications Director Chris Dale said the sewer project will include 366 feet of eight-inch gravity sewer main, 420 feet of two-inch HDPE force main and a lift station.
Dale previously told The Dominion Post the estimated cost of that work is $107,500.
While Jones said the new facility is “very close to completion,” some of the work can’t be finalized until the electric is hooked up and the space is heated.
Once that’s done and inspections are finalized, the move can begin in earnest.
“We have started the packing process at our current site, and we have actually moved some furniture into the new building, where possible,” she said.
Health Right completed the sale of its current home, 341 Spruce Street, to Round Table Development LLC last fall for $860,000. As part of that deal, the nonprofit will pay $7,500 monthly in rent on that property until it moves out.
The relocation dates to September 2021, when the city of Morgantown offered MPHR $800,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money if the nonprofit would agree to move both its free clinic and mental health drop-in center, Friendship House, out of the downtown area by March 31, 2023.
The Friendship House closed its doors at 231 Walnut St. in February 2023 and reopened three months later at 277 Don Knotts Blvd. with a new mission and a new name, Friendship Community in Recovery.
But the clinic move has proved more complicated, and expensive, than initially expected.
The project to transform Health Right’s future location (10 Scott Avenue) from a 6,000-square-foot building into a 9,000-square-foot, multifaceted clinic and office space was just north of $2.2 million according to the last estimates provided to The Dominion Post.
In response, the city has since upped its commitment to $1.1 million.
The Monongalia County Commission has invested $200,000 in the effort. The Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust is providing $550,000, and the Milan Puskar Foundation has committed $300,000.
