SAXONBURG — A Butler podiatrist and the Butler Health System are combining to bring two new health care offices to Butler County at a cost of nearly $9 million.

The first is South Butler Commons, a medical-professional building to be built on the corner of Alwine and Rebecca streets in Saxonburg this year.

Dr. Anthony Smaldino, a podiatrist with Foot Specialists in the Pullman Business Park on Hansen Avenue in Butler, and Dr. Kathryn Ryan, a family practitioner in Saxonburg, along with Ronald D. Jones Financial Services and the health system are building the $3.7 million facility.

South Butler Commons will house:

• Dr. Ryan & Associates medical practice and Aesthetics by Kathryn Ryan, D.O., which does skin care treatments such as laser hair removal and dermabrasion

• Butler Memorial Hospital Outpatient Services

• A laboratory

• Imaging — X-ray, ultrasound, mammography, CT and MRI

• Cardiology — nuclear medicine, echocardiograms and stress tests

• Walk-in care and occupational medicine — pre-employment physicals, audiobox and pulmonary function testing

• Family Physical Therapy of Western PA

• Offices for visiting physicians who come there to see patients. Smaldino will be one of those doctors.

• Ronald D. Jones Financial Services

The father-son team of Ron D. Jones and Ron A. Jones are investing in the building and relocating their offices there.

"We had been looking for a building, and luckily, a deal we had fell through because this is going to be so much better," Ron A. Jones said.

His father has been in the financial services business for 35 years. Ron has been working for his father for five years.

Dr. Ryan has practiced in Saxonburg for 12 years. Her office now has three doctors.

"When we move into the new building, we'll be looking for another provider," she said.

Ryan said residents there go to Butler Memorial Hospital or the Alle-Kiski Medical Center in Natrona Heights because Saxonburg is about halfway between the two hospitals.

But she said, "We want to build a facility that will allow patients to drive less and stay in the community for care."

Also, Dr. Ryan said doctors and BHS will work with employers to use South Butler Commons for pre-employment testing and employee wellness education.

Stephanie Roskovski, special assistant to the BHS president for a healthy workplace, said the health system's current Saxonburg outpatient clinic was one of its first and one of the most successful with the community.

"With (South Butler Commons) we plan on expanding our services to meeting the community's needs," she said.

The current outpatient clinic will be closed later.

Smaldino, who helped develop and open Benbrook Medical, which is a doctor-owned outpatient medical practice and surgical building in Butler Township, said he was interested in Saxonburg because the nearest urgent care facility is in Cranberry Township.

"Here is a chance to address the needs of people in Saxonburg, Sarver and Freeport, and a chance to partner with Butler Health System again," he said.

John Righetti, BHS spokesman, said in many communities medical offices such as Benbrook Medical and the future South Butler Commons have been built to compete with the health system or the community hospital.

"What Tony (Smaldino) and the other doctors have done is to partner with Butler Health System to produce a symbiotic relationship that has helped each of us (doctors and system), but also been to the betterment of the patients," Righetti said.

Both Smaldino and Ryan point to the growth of chronic diseases and the increase in health care costs as reasons this doctor-owned community-based health system works for both doctors and consumers.

"We want to educate the public about how to remain healthy for as long as possible to avoid the high costs of health care," Smaldino said.

There is room to expand on the South Butler Commons site, he said.

Smaldino also announced his second project of the year, Benbrook Medical Center II, which will have 24,000 square feet. It will be owned by the doctors who occupy it and will serve as new offices for several Butler practices, even his own Family Foot Specialists.Benbrook II will be built across Technology Drive from the original Benbrook facility for about $4.5 million.Smaldino said he expects both South Butler Commons and Benbrook II to break ground April 1 and to be completed by Nov. 1."Sooner or later, I will stop practicing (medicine), but patients will stroll in and out of these three facilities for generations to come," Smaldino said. "I am very proud of the partnerships that have been created to make all of this a reality."