Nauset Construction recently broke ground on the new Port Healthcare Center in Newburyport, a 123-bed skilled nursing facility that will replace the existing building with a larger and more modern health care center.

In addition to providing long-term residential care for elderly, the new facility will also provide short-term accommodates for those requiring rehabilitative and sub-acute care services after surgical procedures.

The 62,000-square-foot, 2-story building, designed by Reading-based Ranere Assoc. Inc., will be constructed on the site of the existing parking lot and expand to the capacity of the current 100-bed facility. Following completion, residents will be transferred to the new building while the existing facility is demolished to make way for a new parking lot.

People’s United Bank provided $17 million in funding for the center. The project is slated for completion in the fall of 2017.