Health centers mark 20 years

FARRELL, Pa. -- The Primary Health Network will kick off its 20th-anniversary celebration with a ceremonial groundbreaking Friday of a new 15,000-square-foot facility on Sharon-New Castle Road.
The site is in the former Farrell City Park and the developer is Mark Hudson, said Susan Piccirilli, Primary Health's deputy director. Hudson will construct the building and lease it to Primary Health, she said.
The ceremony is set for 9 a.m. and will be followed by a ceremony and breakfast reception at Green Street Primary Care at 2000 Green St., adjacent to the construction site.
Primary Health was founded in 1984 as the Farrell Health Center and had just one doctor and two staff members.
Today, it bills itself as the largest nonprofit community health centers in western Pennsylvania.
The agency has 22 medical, dental and optometry sites in Mercer, Lawrence, Crawford, Butler, Clarion and Beaver counties.
Piccirilli said Primary Health leases space for its current Farrell Primary Care and Farrell Dental Center, both at 2000 Memorial Drive, and will move doctors, dentists and others housed at that location into the new building on Sharon-New Castle Road.
Primary Health serves low- and moderate-income residents who need accessible, comprehensive health care in western Pennsylvania. The agency has repeatedly had to expand to meet a growing demand for its services.