By HFT Staff

Signifying a major expansion into serving the residents of the central portions of Cumberland County, WellSpan Health and Emerus have broken ground on a multifaceted medical campus in the Carlisle area to provide healthcare to the region. 

The campus, which will be in nearby South Middleton Township, is in the center of one of the fastest-growing counties in Pennsylvania. It will include a hospital, surgery center and medical office building housing primary and specialty care practices. 

WellSpan and Emerus have embraced their collaboration to provide patients with long-term healthcare services. The hospital will include an emergency department and 10 inpatient beds in a smaller, more accessible footprint than traditional hospitals. It will operate 24/7, 365 days a year and is projected to open in late 2025. It is one of three new hospitals WellSpan is building over the next two years, including facilities near Shrewsbury and in Newberry Township. The improved access to care and wide range of services streamlined in a smaller setting should greatly improve the patient experience. Small-format hospitals can see, treat and discharge patients in far less time than traditional larger hospitals, without reducing services or quality.  

Adjacent to the hospital, an ambulatory surgery center and medical office building will be built with four operating rooms and diagnostic capabilities including a full complement of imaging and laboratory services. Common surgeries conducted in these facilities include hernia repairs, tumor removals, biopsies and cosmetic surgeries, among others. Surgical centers offer outpatient surgeries to patients at costs 45 to 60 percent less than in a hospital setting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Co-located on the campus will be expanded primary care and specialty services including neuroscience and plastic surgery services. These will complement cardiology, ENT and urology services already offered on nearby Alexander Spring Road. Current practices WellSpan Internal Medicine – Wilson Street, as well as WellSpan Family Medicine – Carlisle, will relocate to the campus to provide new, expanded spaces for care in one location.