Old Lyme - Lawrence & Memorial Hospital plans to build a 14,000-square-foot medical office building to house physicians' offices, laboratory and imaging services on a 6-acre parcel at 1 Huntley Road.

L&M recently purchased the parcel near the town's main commercial zone along Halls Road (Route 1) for $700,000, hospital spokesman Mike O'Farrell said Friday. The land has been approved by the town's Zoning Commission for a medical building, he added.

The offices of primary care doctors Elizabeth Nelligan, Suresh D'Mello and Jay Graves, part of the L&M Physicians Associates, is next to the lot and will be moved into the new building, he said.

"Our goal is to have it open in 18 to 24 months," O'Farrell said.

The new medical building will follow the model L&M has successfully established in Stonington, with primary care offices located alongside support services.

"It's convenience and easy access," O'Farrell said. "We know that's what people are looking for, and it also allows us to alleviate volume at the main hospital."

L&M will repeat that model when it opens the medical office building on Howard Street in New London, which is being renovated. Several doctors in the L&M physicians' network with offices on Montauk Avenue and in the Shaw's Cove complex also will relocate to that building.

With the expansion of services in Old Lyme, L&M now has a significant presence in all shoreline towns from Old Saybrook to Stonington, and is moving into Westerly with the pending acquisition of The Westerly Hospital by early next year. L&M also is building a new $34.5 million Dana-Farber cancer center in Waterford.

"There's no question there's a lot going on," O'Farrell said. "We've got to continue adapting and making more services available to people in their communities. None of these decisions are made in haste, but they're all being done to strengthen L&M."

j.benson@theday.com