Penn Foundation makes move into new offices
More than half of Penn Foundation’s 3T0 employees DrH JHWWLnJ nHw RIfiFHV DV the organization moves into a $10 million addition that more than doubled the size of its main building.
That will make things more convenient for the more than 10,000 people who receive mental, emotional, behavioral and spiritual health care each year from Penn Foundation, which will now be able to offer all the services in one place on its 30acre Lawn Avenue campus in West Rockhill, Jennifer Smith, public relations coordinator, said.
That’s not the only advantage, though.
“This will offer our clients more privacy and more comfort,” Smith said, “and it will allow us to expand many of our programs so we can serve more individuals that need our service.”
“All told, we’re moving 205 employees,” Marianne Gilson, executive director of operations and quality, said.
Some were already in different parts of the main campus, but others were off campus.
“We had three satellite offiFHV Ln WhH ORFDO DrHD,” GLOson said.
The 36,000-square-foot addition to the existing 25,000 square feet in what is now the renamed Dr. Norman L. and Esther B. Loux Healthcare Center, Penn Foundation’s main building, makes it possible to PRvH WhRVH WhrHH RIfiFHV, plus some of those already on the main campus but in different buildings, into the main building. Dr. Norman L. Loux was Penn Foundation’s founding medical director.
By moving the Supports CRRrGLnDWLRn 2IfiFH IrRP Constitution Avenue in Perkasie, Early Intervention Services from Fifth Street in Perkasie and Mental Health Case Management from next door to Grand View Hospital across the street from the main campus, Penn Foundation will cut about $160,000 from rental payments each year, according to information about the move.
Trailers that had been added at the main campus and the farmhouse Penn Foundation purchased for $19,000 in 1956 and converted into LWV RIfiFH hDvH DOVR EHHn rHmoved from the campus, Smith said.
“What’s interesting is they preserved some of the foundational stone from the farmhouse and some beams that were incorporated into the Loux Center,” Smith said.
Wood from trees removed as part of the project was also used in the new construction.
The stones were used in a wall in each of the new waiting rooms and in one of the walls in the newly created chapel, Smith said.
“Private waiting rooms, expanded community space, a chapel and full accessibility will serve to enhance the warm, welcoming, home-like feel we strive to provide for our consumers,” according to written information about the expansion and renovations.
7hH RIfiFH PRvHV EHJDn Friday, Nov. 30, and are scheduled to continue for about two weeks, Smith said.
“We’re trying to minimize disruption to our clients, so pretty much, each program, if they have to be closed, will only be closed for one day,” Smith said.
A dedication ceremony is planned for 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, with open house tours from 3 to 6 p.m. that day, she said.
“I love the new space,” said Dr. Linda Alpert-Diani, who works with teens and addicts in the Outpatient Trauma programs.
“The new space is brighter,” Alpert-Diani said. “It’s a healthier atmosphere and it’s exciting to be starting in a brand new building that’s environmentally friendly, not only for the clinicians, but e s peci a l l y for our patients.”
The last major construction work on the old building was in 19T8, Smith said. At that age, it was easy to have allergens or mold in the building, AlpertDiani said. The building has also been designed to be environmentally green.
It has now been turned into a tobacco-free zone, Smith said. There are still other places on the campus where smoking is allowed, but the goal is to completely ban it from the campus within the next two-and-a-half years, she said.
On Dec. 3, Albert-Diani was beginning the move into hHr nHw RIfiFH.
“I have 14 boxes to unpack — six years’ worth,” she said. “It took me eight hours to pack them. Hopefully, I can unpack them faster.”
“We had to move over 200 boxes,” said Donna McCain, who works in the medical reFRrGV RIfiFH.
Department employees came in over the weekend to help with the move and by Dec. 3 were working out of WhH nHw RIfiFH, VhH VDLG.
The old medical records RIfiFH, VhH VDLG, “wDV MDP packed with charts” and had “no space.”
“The shelving is much bigger,” she said standing Ln WhH nHw RIfiFH. “,W’V DwHsome. Awesome.”
President and CEO Wayne 0uJrDuHr VDLG hLV RIfiFH hadn’t moved yet Dec. 3, but would the following day.
“I’m still living in boxes,” Mugrauer said. “The most important thing was to get the therapeutic staff, the clinicians, moved.”
Mugrauer also said the organization appreciates all the support received for the project.
“A lot of community work has gone into this,” he said.
In a partnership with Sellersville Pharmacy, a full-service pharmacy will be added next year, Smith said. It will not be open to the public, but will be open to Penn Foundation clients and employees and will provide all types of medications, she said.
At the August 2011 groundbreaking services for the building, about $2.5 million was still needed to pay for the work.
Fundraising still continues, Smith said this week.
“:H’rH nRW TuLWH finLVhHG yet,” she said. “We probably have about $1.5 million left.”