In December of 2021, Good ‘N Plenty Restaurant, the much-loved all-you-care-to-eat, family-style restaurant, closed its doors forever, bringing to a close a multigenerational business that had delighted tourists since the 1960s.
When the building went up for sale, a group of investors comprised primarily of members of the Old Amish Order bought it. However, their intent was not to run a restaurant. Rather, they had a vision to turn the facility into a community healthcare clinic.
The Amish seek professional healthcare when needed. They have no prohibition against modern medicine. So, seeing Amish at our local Lancaster County hospitals is not unusual. That being said, the environment at local mainstream hospitals sometimes clashes with Amish and Mennonite sensibilities.
The investor group chartered itself as Well Spring Care Incorporated. Their vision was to create a healthcare facility for the local community, offering multiple lines of services, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, staffed by professional, accredited physicians, open to all community members (including the English), but with a specific bent on serving self-pay, Amish, Mennonite, and other Plain Community customers, with culturally sensitive and appropriate care.
In the group’s most recent communication, published in a newspaper circulated mostly among Amish and Mennonite readers, Well Spring Care announced they would be opening phase one of the community clinic by the end of 2023. This is a huge accomplishment, which seemed totally out of reach at times during the last two years. Regulatory hurdles, permits, facility renovations, and lofty financial goalposts all made the project seem doomed to a long, drawn-out, plateau of development.
Yet here we are. The Amish community clinic, Eastbrook Well Spring Care, is opening. They are accepting new patient enrollments now. A soft opening will take place in November, with an official grand opening in December 2023. For now, the facility will be open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The building will not house an Emergency Room. For “911” situations, patients will still use the traditional hospitals in Lancaster County.
—Clinton Martin