LOCK HAVEN — Ground was officially broken Thursday morning for a new Geisinger Medical Clinic in Lock Haven.

The building will be constructed at Spring and West Fourth Streets and will be part of the critical joint venture between Geisinger and Highmark Health that was finalized earlier this year.

“I want to welcome you to the future site of Geisinger Medical Clinic Lock Haven. We’re excited about what this new model of care and what the future of healthcare in Northcentral Pennsylvania holds in store,” said Jaewon Ryu, Geisinger president and chief executive officer.

More than 100 people turned out for the groundbreaking, which was held in a tent due to impending rain. A host of dignitaries plunged golden shovels into dirt, signifying the start of the project.

The planned two-story facility will offer a walk-in urgent care center, adult and pediatric primary care offices along with imaging and lab services. It will also house physical and occupational therapy and a specialty clinic with dermatology, cardiology, gastroenterology, surgery and women’s health services.

According to Ryu, the facility will bring much-needed services to the area. Geisinger’s partnership with Highmark enabled that, he said.

“Two years ago, Geisinger and Highmark began exploring ways that we could work more closely together to improve the health of communities and the people that we serve. Earlier this year, we created a clinical joint venture, not-for-profit healthcare organization that’s focused on delivering on this vision,” Ryu said.

Geisinger and Highmark are investing more than $100 million to improve existing clinical facilities, develop new ones, expand services and improve access across the region.

“We’re ensuring that patients in the community will have access to state-of-the-art, modern facilities and will receive high quality, affordable care locally,” Ryu said.

Karen Hanlon, chief operating officer of Highmark Health, was also on hand for the groundbreaking.

“This is truly an exciting day. What a beautiful facility. It will really be an asset for this community,” Hanlon said. “Building new facilities like this — medical clinics — was an important element of what we were trying to do to bring care into the community and keep people closer to home.”

According to Hanlon, the joint venture between Geisinger and Highmark has been a great partnership.

“We are happy to say that the joint venture will provide comprehensive access to the services of this medical clinic for both Highmark and Geisinger Health Plan members,” she said.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done at the site, which was the site of the former Lock Haven High School practice football field. Most recently, the land housed townhomes. Those have been razed to make way for the clinic. However, there are issues with underground utilities that need to be resolved before construction can officially begin. The new clinic is expected to open in early 2021.

The future of Geisinger’s current clinic on Bellefonte Avenue is uncertain, according to Marc Stempka of Geisinger Corporate Communications.

“We have not yet figured out what to do with that space,” Stempka explained, “just because it’s going to be a couple of years before we open up for services here. We’re still determining what the future holds for that space.”