Urgent Care Center Coming to Former Braddock Hospital Site

An urgent care center will soon be coming to Braddock as the result of a collaboration between Highmark and MedExpress. 

The facility could open as early as the summer of 2013 on the site of the former Braddock Hospital once construction is completed.

“This is exciting news for the residents of Braddock and surrounding areas,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “The county and this community has been working on providing more medical care facilities to this area since the Braddock Hospital closed. With this partnership between Highmark and MedExpress, and the financial commitments already made by the county, we can assure our residents that care will be there.” 

The project is a $20.3 million redevelopment plan which will include 30,000 sq.ft. of flexible office and retail space, 24 units of rental housing, 11 single family homes and a 20,000 square foot community park. The construction is expected to begin this summer and will be funded through a combination of government and private dollars. The multi-year agreement for an urgent care center in the facility will provide an anchor tenant as soon as the building is open.

“When Rich’s administration approached us about partnering to provide services, we readily saw the opportunity to meet the community’s needs and welcomed the prospect of serving Braddock with an urgent care center,” said Deborah L. Rice, Highmark’s division president, Health Services and executive vice president.  “Highmark is honored to be in partnership with the county.”

The site, located on Braddock Avenue between Fourth Street and Corey Avenue, has been cleaned and is ready for construction to begin. TREK Development was selected for the reuse proposal and Rothschild Doyno Collaborative is the project architect.  Additional tenants for the new space could include the county health department and Community College of Allegheny County which would rent space.

“We are really excited to see this kind of investment in Braddock, and this commitment for an urgent care facility. The county took our concerns very seriously and have fought hard to provide this level of care to our community,” said Braddock Mayor John Fetterman. “We are grateful for their support and look forward to the ribbon cutting next summer.”

The government funds committed to the project includes a $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant from the Commonwealth.  Work on the housing portion of the project is slated to begin next fall and be finished a year later. A proposal for low-income housing tax credits for the project is scheduled to be considered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency on Thursday.