ROCKLAND — Pen Bay Medical Center (PBMC) has retained a real estate broker to sell several properties in downtown Rockland, including the site that houses its long-term nursing care facility at 6 White St. and the adjacent Bok Building at 22 White St.

The property at 6 White St. houses the Knox Center, PBMC’s long-term nursing care facility. According to PBMC, in a news release, PBMC is scheduled to close the Knox Center in June when residents will have the option of transferring to the independently owned Breakwater Commons, a nursing care facility currently under construction off Old County Road in Rockland.

The Bok Building currently is home to the PBMC Walk-in Care practice as well as primary care offices and the hospital’s human resources offices. The terms of the sale allow PBMC to lease back the Bok Building, allowing the Walk-in Care offices to continue caring for patients while PBMC identifies and develops a new location for Walk-in Care.

“Although both of these properties remain premier locations in Rockland, they no longer serve our unique needs as we look to expand access to care in the Rockland area,” said Mark Fourré, MD, president of PBMC and Waldo County General Hospital, in the release. “Our goal is to find buyers who are a good fit for the properties, who share our values and who will contribute to all that makes Rockland a great coastal city.

“The is change will allow us to focus on opportunities to reinvest in the kinds of facilities and programs that will allow PBMC to have an even larger impact on the health of the community,” Dr. Fourré said.

The Knox Center

Built in 1930, the 71,500-square-foot Knox Center was converted from a hospital to a 44-bed nursing home in 1976 and currently has 84 licensed beds, providing long term nursing care and short term skilled therapy and rehab. Dr. Fourré said the building’s age and design make it inefficient for that use when compared to newer facilities designed specifically for long-term care residents and short term skilled patients, such as Breakwater Commons.

When it opens in June, the 69,000-square-foot Breakwater Commons will offer 96 beds for short- and long-term nursing care patients and residents. It will welcome residents from the Knox Center, which will close at that time, as well as from Quarry Hill, which will remain open with a focus on its retirement cottages, independent and assisted living apartments and memory care unit.

“We believe the design of Breakwater Commons will provide our community with a modern, state-of-the-art facility that will best serve the needs of seniors for many years to come,” Dr. Fourré said.

Bok Building

The Bok Building was constructed in the early 1930s as a dormitory for nurses in training at the adjacent Knox County General Hospital. When the training program was closed in 1943, the building was renovated to provide office space for physicians and became known as the Bok Medical Arts Building. Purchased by Pen Bay Medical Center in 1992, the building has provided office space for a number of hospital departments over the years, including human resources and marketing and communications, as well as for several community organizations.

Recognizing the need to increase access to health care in the Rockland area, PBMC opened its Walk-in Care office in the Bok Building in 2021. The high volume of patients seeking care confirmed the need for the service and PBMC expanded the walk-in offices less than a year later.

Pen Bay Medical Center

Pen Bay Medical Center is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of nine local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit pbmc.org.