CHAMBERSBURG–The Chambersburg Area Municipal Authority (CAMA) has reached an agreement to sell the former Gold’s Gym building at the Southgate Shopping Center to Keystone Health. Keystone Health is the only federally qualified Community Health Center serving Franklin County. With more than 540 employees and serving more than 59,000 patients annually, Keystone’s Community Health Center is characterized by five essential elements that differentiate them from other providers:
- They must be located in or serve a high need community, i.e. “medically underserved areas” or “medically underserved populations”
- They must provide comprehensive primary care services as well as supportive services such as translation and transportation services that promote access to health care
- Their services must be available to all residents of their service areas, with fees adjusted upon patients’ ability to pay – no one is turned away due to inability to pay
- They must be governed by a community board with a majority of members being health center patients
- They must meet other performance and accountability requirements regarding their administrative, clinical, and financial operations
Currently, Keystone Health is expanding their facilities at Chambers Hill Drive and Fifth Avenue. However, this site at Southgate Shopping Center is very important to CEO Joanne Cochran. She commented, “We had a site at the Southgate Mall over 20 years ago …it started out as a site for migrant farmworkers and I expanded it to include all the community. I have wanted to put a site at Southgate for many years…So many of our patients live in that area. Thank you to CAMA for approving the agreement. I am very grateful.”
A land development plan has yet to be submitted to the Borough, or approved by Town Council, for development at this site. It is anticipated that final purchase, approval, demolition, and construction of a new community healthcare facility at this location will take some time.
