Highmark is spending about $100 million to build a medical mall, which it hopes will become a one-stop healthcare shop of doctor offices and medical services in the Pittsburgh region.
The medical mall, which broke ground last week, will help the insurer provide patient-focused care. “I’ve always focused on a patient-centered health care system. It’s what we need to strive for. It’s a goal for us,” Highmark CEO William Winkenwerder said, according to KDKA.
Although the medial mall concept is a key strategy to compete against UPMC, the region’s largest hospital network, Highmark cut back on its original plans to build a network of up to eight malls throughout western Pennsylvania. “We want to make sure we have the concept right,” Winkenwerder said, citing cost concerns and potentially duplicative medical services, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
The 174,000 square-foot medical mall in Wexford, Pa., will include diagnostic imaging labs, oncology services, physical therapy rooms, primary care physicians, a cafe and a full-service pharmacy. It also will focus heavily on women’s healthcare with pediatrics, a women’s care center and a child care center for patients to drop off their children, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“We know where the focus needs to be in health care,” Bonnell Irvin, head of Highmark’s medical mall division, said during the groundbreaking ceremony. “If you look at who’s making health care decisions for their families, it’s women.”
Editor’s Note: A medical home in partnership with selected medical specialists is going to become common. A spoke and wheel approach to health care.
