SALEM — Parkland Medical Center of Derry is planning a new medical facility at the health-care complex on Stiles Road.
Parkland officials announced last week they have leased space in a 50,000-square-foot medical office building under construction by Park Place Realty Trust at 31 Stiles Road .
The new outpatient center will include a comprehensive urgent care center, an oncology and hematology center in affiliation with The Lahey Clinic of Burlington, Mass., ancillary testing services and medical office space.
Parkland is expected to come before the state soon to discuss plans, according to Nick Vailas, a member of the state Health Services Planning and Review board.
Last summer, the Salem Planning Board approved a redesign of a previously approved project from a decade ago.
Ground was broken at the site in November and project completion is anticipated by late 2012.
The Parkland facility would be two stories tall and have a footprint of about 25,000 square feet. That's revised from the previously approved building, which called for three stories and 16,000 square feet.
Brian Hannon, representing developer Park Place Realty, met with the Salem Planning Board in August. At that time, he indicated the tenant was uncertain. But he also said there was a lot of interest in the property from health-care providers.
"For various reasons, in the last year, we've seen a lot more interest," Hannon told planners this summer. "We are talking to a lot of interested users."
But those potential users were interested in a redesigned facility, he said.
"We've had to squish the building down and elongate it," Hannon told planners.
Health-care providers were interested in the property for a number of uses, including an urgent care facility or specialty services such as cancer treatment, Hannon told the board.
"There is resounding interest in doing something along the lines of urgent care," he said at the time.
The developers said they were pleased to be moving forward on a project at the site.
"We're very excited about the project and bringing it forward," Hannon told planners.
Town officials are excited, too.
"This is a high-quality office building that will bring important and needed medical services to Salem," planning director Ross Moldoff said.
Vailas said Parkland wouldn't necessarily need state approval. In some cases, health-care institutions come before the state board to show why a project is exempt from state scrutiny, which is triggered by financial thresholds, he said.
Vailas said Parkland does not yet have a project pending before the board.
Parkland is operated by Hospital Corporation of America. In addition to Parkland, HCA's holdings include the Salem Surgery Center at the Stiles Road complex, Portsmouth Regional Hospital and Portsmouth Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center.
• • •
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to derrynews.com.
