Overlake Hospital Medical Center announced Wednesday that its Medical Center Issaquah will be moving from its current Meadow Creek location to a new facility at the under-construction Overlake Center, 5728 East Lake Sammamish Parkway.

The upgraded medical center will feature an urgent care clinic, anticoagulation clinic, breast health and women’s health services, primary care physician offices, and on-site education classrooms where the public can attend seminars and support groups, and receive health education classes.

Karen Johnson, spokesperson for Overlake Hospital, said the move is due in large part to a desire to consolidate the center’s services into one building, and to be located in an easier-to-find spot.

Currently, education classes are held off-site, and the clinic is in the back of a business park – which can be difficult to find for those seeking immediate, urgent care.

“(The new facility) is being designed with patients in mind,” Johnson said. “We’re able to look at the entire space and develop in a way to enhance the patient experience, so they can get in and out quickly. It’s also going to be bigger and more (expansive).”

Overlake Medical Center Issaquah will be the anchor tenant in the Overlake Center, occupying 9,300 square feet of the 118,000 square feet facility. Other tenants for the seven-building site include a 24-Hour Fitness, a Bartell Drugs with a drive-through pharmacy and a daycare center with an outdoor play area. There are still available spaces for offices, restaurants and other business, said Jerry Lind, senior planner for Issaquah’s building department.

Lind said he also expects to see a bank go into Overlake Center, though he can’t say for sure, and 549 parking spaces.

Another component of the construction project will be the restoration and improvemen of the wetlands on the northern side of the site. Fill materials that had been added to the wetlands and stream will be removed, along with noxious and invasive plants. After the restoration, foliage to enhance the look and health of the wetlands will be planted, Lind said.

The look of Overlake Center will also get an aesthetic make-over; it will be transformed from a sterile industrial park to a collection of concrete masonry-block buildings with awnings and canopies, light sconces and a palate of earth tones and reds.

“We’re really happy about (the move),” Johnson said. “We’ll be much better able to serve the community in the new building.”

A proposal to build the Overlake Center was presented to the city of Issaquah’s Development Commission in August, and the public was invited to provide input. Lind said while there were some concerns about traffic and transportation, most of the public response to the project was encouraging.

The developer, OB Frank Properties, received a building permit for the medical center, but is still waiting on permits for the rest of the development.

Construction on the new medical center began in late October, and is expected to finish in summer of 2009, according to the developer. The other buildings should be complete shortly thereafter.

Katie Regan can be reached at kregan@issaquahreporter.com or 391-0363, ext. 5052.