Look Inside Mount Nittany Health’s New Outpatient Center at Toftrees

Mount Nittany Health will begin welcoming patients to its new, $90 million outpatient center at Toftrees West on Sept. 3, bringing together nine relocated and two new practices under one roof.

Officials from the State College-based health system, staff and community leaders on Tuesday joined together for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a look inside the 125,000-square-foot facility at 164 Greenview Drive.

"Today is a really important milestone in the life of Mount Nittany Health as we open what will become our second campus right here in Toftrees," Mount Nittany Health President and CEO Kathleen Rhine said. "The vision for this facility came when we began to think about how can we create a state-of-the-art building, a state-of-the-art space, so our wonderful state-of-the-art providers could have a place to take care of patients and to continue to provide that same compassionate, coordinated care that you've come to count on Mount Nittany Health for."

After about two years of construction, the four-story building expands capacity for some practices and offers additional patient services. It will be home to more than 60 providers and 200 staff, making it easier for patients to receive multiple services in one location.

The 20-acre site also has room for future expansion.

"It really allows Mount Nittany Health to grow," Mount Nittany Physician Group Chief Operating Officer Dawn Tice said. "And in growth comes greater access to care. And having more space allows us to hire and recruit more physicians and deliver more services."

New and relocating practices began moving into the new building this week. They include:

First Floor

• Obstetrics and gynecology, which is relocating from 1850 Park Avenue.
• A new pediatrics practice.

The entry level creates a women's and family health floor, Tice said.

The new pediatrics practice will have five physicians and five staff members, according to practice manager Dani Houtz. It includes 13 exam rooms, including a breastfeeding room with a rocking chair. Each is themed based on a different children's book, so the artwork on the wall is based on the book for that room.

Second Floor

• Fitness and rehabilitation, formerly Fit for Play, relocating from Sandy Drive.
• Neurology, including the Headache Clinic, relocating from Old Gatesburg Road.
• Orthopedics and sports medicine, relocating from Blue Course Drive.

The fitness and rehabilitation center is outfitted with high-end equipment, including an anti-gravity treadmill and college and professional-level strength training.

On the orthopedics side, spinal surgeon Dr. Eric Emanski, a Pennsylvania native who recently joined Mount Nittany after practicing in Tennessee, said the new space will allow for robotic spinal surgery. It also has capabilities for full spinal X-rays.

The orthopedics department at Mount Nittany Health Toftrees has capabilities for full spinal scans. Photo by Geoff Rushton | StateCollege.com

Third Floor

• Ear, nose and throat, relocating from Boalsburg.
• Outpatient general surgery, relocating from 1850 Park Avenue. Surgeries will still be performed at the Medical Center.
• Urology, relocating from University Drive.

Among the beneficiaries of the new ear, nose and throat space is audiology, which will now have three audiologists and three testing booths, up from one each. The expansion will decrease wait times for appointments by months.

Similarly, urology's new space will also increase patient capacity. Dr. Christopher Yingling said the new location has double the department's previous number of exam rooms.

"We were limited by how quickly we could schedule patients," Yingling said. "Now we have capacity to be able to schedule people and get them in. We've had really good technology in our office. This facility now allows us to utilize that to the best of our ability. So I think the biggest thing is it's going to get our patients here and taken care of faster with the tools that we already have and can build on.

"The bigger thing is we do a lot of procedures in urology. We do those in the office often, and this really expands our procedure ability, which is huge for us."

Fourth Floor

• Primary care, relocating from Green Tech Drive.
• Gastroenterology, relocating from Boalsburg
• New endoscopy center. More clinically complex cases will remain at the Medical Center.

"Really, this new facility that's a state-of-the-art facility will allow us to do what we think we do best, and that's to provide care to the community," Dr. Christopher Hester, Mount Nittany Physician Group chief medical officer, said. "What we value most is the support from the community and the trust the community has in us providing your healthcare. We really are rooted here, we live here, we want to be your healthcare provider of choice, and we want you to see our new facility and be as excited as we are about this facility."

Patients of most of these practices should report to Mount Nittany Health Toftrees for appointments on or after Sept. 3. OB/GYN and endoscopy will be moving to Toftrees at a later date, so patients should verify appointment location details prior to their visit.

The new outpatient center, which is the first building at the 700-acre Toftrees West development ,  is one of several major facility investments for Mount Nittany Health, Rhine noted. Construction began in 2023 for a new $350 million patient tower at the medical center, and in May Mount Nittany opened its first walk-in clinic at 2051 S. Atherton St.

At the medical center, the second phase of major renovations to the diagnostic pavilion opened earlier this year and the third phase is expected to be completed in the fall.

"[These projects] are all ways that we are coming where you are to meet the needs of our community. And we've been doing that for 120 years," Rhine said. "As the only locally governed, independent community health system in Centre County, our mission is to be here for [the community]. We see ourselves as partners with every single one of you. In fact, if you live here, work here, this health system belongs to you."

Mount Nittany Health Toftreees is also the second major new health care facility in the Waddle Road corridor of Patton Township. Just 1 mile away is the new Penn Highlands State College hospital and medical office building, which opened this summer.

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