"Take two aspirin, and go to the mall in the morning" is not a suggestion you hear very often, but in years to come it might be.
Around the country, a number of former retail shopping malls are getting new life as "medical malls." And there's a facility here at home that's in the process of going that route.
The former West Lake Mall in Bessemer is a good choice for such a conversion in many ways, according to Mark Rubino of Staysail Group, a management services company in Birmingham:
"There's a growing movement toward providing appropriate medical care not just for a community, but within that community," Rubino says. "A number of different forces are driving that, and while they're not new, they've really picked up steam within the past five or six years."
One success story that's serving as a model for developers is the Jackson Medical Mall in Jackson, Mississippi, a thriving complex technically known as a mixed-use facility, with some 900,000 square feet of leasing space, that houses clinics and physician offices, classrooms and meeting rooms, a bank, and several retail spaces including a cafeteria restaurant. Its largest single tenant is the nearby University of Mississippi Medical Center.
West Lake Mall first opened its doors in 1969 - which, as Rubino says, "was before people saw fit to start building malls way out in the suburbs."
"We're focused on the basic needs in the community, and what assets are available to help meet those needs. Two obvious ones are a teaching medical school and a community college nearby. As for needs, a lot of the patients at Cooper Green Hospital actually came from Bessemer, and we've all got a stake in making sure that those people don't fall through the cracks."
Cooper Green Mercy Hospital, on Birmingham's Southside, was a center of controversy last year over its funding difficulties, and finally closed its emergency and inpatient facilities in December. Since the closure, nearby hospitals have reported increases of some 20 percent in their emergency room traffic.
Rubino's group is working on a feasibility study for the property that could have larger ramifications - for Alabama to introduce health care sites along industrial corridors such as Mississippi has done. Such a plan, says Rubino, "would not only create a platform for associated businesses and practices that would want to locate there, but could give the right types of incentives for that. There's a very comprehensive program in Prince George, Maryland, for instance, that's identified more than a hundred potential locations, both vacant and non-vacant, and is in the process of categorizing which ones are suitable for wellness centers, for primary care, and so on."
The site of the potential West Lake Medical Mall has several factors that set it apart from similar projects, including historical connections. "The mall sits on top of what used to be the city's water supply, and there are some beautiful areas nearby, along Hall's Creek,” Rubino says. “It's also a half mile from Valley Creek, and a quarter mile south of some ancient burial grounds that actually predate Moundville. A lot of the early settlement in Jefferson County was in this area."
And for a vacant building, it has an unusual advantage. A previous tenant, Food World, invested several million dollars in improvements as recently as 10 years ago, including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
Though groundbreaking won't take place until next year, Rubino says the developers were very encouraged by their meeting with "a very diverse set of people" this past February to exchange ideas for the project.
"I think the broad interest that's being shown is a good indicator," says Rubino, "that the Bessemer project is both timely and a good location."
