MORGANTOWN — By this time next year, Milan Puskar Health Right may well be on the move to Scott Avenue. 

Health Right Executive Director Laura Jones told The Dominion Post that the Dec. 6 meeting of the nonprofit’s board of directors ended with two significant advancements.   

One, Health Right is moving forward with a potential buyer for its current home at 341 Spruce St. The 10,578-square-foot building is listed for $975,000 with Black Diamond Realty. 

Two, March-Westin has been identified as the lowest of four bidders for a construction project to overhaul Health Right’s anticipated future home at 10 Scott Avenue, a stone’s throw from Hazel’s House of Hope. 

The project will turn the 6,000-square-foot building into a functioning multi-faceted clinic and office. 

“As far as we are concerned, things are continuing to move forward. The estimate is 10 months of construction time which would potentially put us at Scott Avenue this time next year assuming that all goes well with financing and construction,” Jones explained. 

As previously reported, the city approached Health Right in September 2021 and offered $800,000 in American Rescue Plan money if Health Right would agree to move the clinic and Friendship House out of the downtown by March 31, 2023.  

The Friendship House, Health Right’s mental health drop-in center at 231 Walnut St., closed its doors in February and reopened in May at 277 Don Knotts Boulevard with a new mission and a new name, Friendship Community in Recovery.  

As for the clinic, Health Right purchased the Scott Avenue building and made plans to renovate the space, but cost estimates for that project came back more than $1 million beyond what Health Right had on hand.  

At the time, Jones said the move was on hold until at least June 2024.