Mercy Health employee Mary Jo Penk of New Middletotown, left, gets a tour of a lab at the new Mercy Health-Belmont Medical center from Lead Nurse Todd Stanley of Bessemer, Pa., during the ceremonial opening of the center Thursday.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mercy Health-Youngstown’s new Belmont Medical Center serves a dual purpose — it expands services and enhances access to health care in the Mahoning Valley and supports the revitalization of one of the main corridors into the downtown.

The 25,000-square-foot center at the site of the former VA clinic on Belmont Avenue on Youngstown’s North Side was renovated over the past year to house primary care practices, women’s health services and behavioral health and substance-use disorder services.

It also will be home to a Spanish-speaking primary care practice, as well as Mercy Health’s family medicine residency program, new addiction medicine fellowship and Centering Pregnancy program.

Mercy Health officials and others celebrated the center’s opening Thursday.

“We are focused on responding to the ever-changing health care needs of the community and growing services where their impact can address critical needs,” said Dr. John Luellen, president, Mercy Health-Lorain and Youngstown.

He added that the center at 2031 Belmont Ave. “brings together distinct but closely related services under one roof to give patients seamless access to various points of care. For example, co-locating the Centering Pregnancy Program in the same location as an obstetrics and gynecology clinic will offer a more cohesive and comprehensive course of care.

“In addition, this new facility will enable us to train more family medicine physicians, as well as providers focused on addiction medicine and treating substance use disorder, while also accommodating more patients,” Luellen said.

Also, by expanding the family medicine residency program and moving it from St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, additional doctors will become available to area residents. The addiction medicine fellowship will have similar benefits, cultivating much-needed talent to help treat substance-use disorders in the future, according to Mercy Health.

The system also owns seven acres that surround the new center and intends to turn the land into green space for the campus.

Mercy Health announced in August 2021 it acquired the building and land, which is about a mile away from the hospital. The deal worth $850,000 included the former veterans outpatient clinic and other parcels that were consolidated between 2013 Belmont Ave. and 2111 Belmont Ave.