SANFORD — There is a new player in the health care field in Sanford, but York Hospital, which closed on an 11.29-acre land parcel on Friday, isn’t prepared to say just yet what its role will be.

“We’re still looking at the options,” said hospital marketing director Jody Merrill on Tuesday. “We’re working with the board of directors and the leadership team.”

Merrill noted that the York-based hospital corporation has been in nearby Wells for many years, where it operates an urgent care facility and offers cancer care, laboratory testing, orthopedics and sports medicine, as well as an array of other services.

The Wells facility is located about 10 miles from the Sanford land parcel. York Hospital also has a facility in South Berwick.

The parcel is located in south Sanford, just beyond the roundabout, said broker Elias Thomas, who welcomed York Hospital to Sanford on social media Tuesday.

The acquisition by York Hospital follows an announcement in May by Southern Maine Health Care that it intends to open a walk-in clinic sometime this summer at its Goodall Medical Office building on June Street, adjacent to the Sanford Medical Center.

The SMHC clinic is one of several endeavors planned for Sanford that were promised by SMHC when it announced the closing last year of inpatient beds on the Sanford campus, which took effect in October. While inpatient beds are gone, the emergency department remains open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The Sanford walk-in facility will be among several under the helm of SMHC, including locations in Saco, Waterboro and, more recently, Kennebunk. The clinics offer outpatient care for an array of ailments.

The former Goodall Hospital merged with Southern Maine Medical Center to become SMHC on Jan. 1, 2014. Goodall Hospital was founded in 1928 by George Goodall of the Sanford textile family in memory of his wife, Henrietta.

While York Hospital officials are holding off, for now, on announcing their role in Sanford, their purchase of the property and interest in Sanford is welcomed.

“We’re always up for more investment in Sanford and they’re a strong company,” Sanford Regional Economic Growth Council director Jim Nimon said Tuesday.

Nimon said he’s heard speculation of York Hospital’s intentions but no firm plans.

Thomas said there is an old cemetery on the property that contains the graves of Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers. He said the local Rotary Club, of which he is a member, is engaged in projects to care for old cemeteries, and is talking with York Hospital officials about doing so on its newly acquired property.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.