Report: More doctors setting up shop at the mall

Cushman & Wakefield released a white paper entitled “Heading to the Mall for Healthcare?”
The paper outlines shifting trends in the healthcare and retail industries which may lead to more traditional healthcare services being delivered at retail malls — well beyond the scope of walk-in clinics which exist in certain drug and department store chains today.
“A number of factors are converging that should provide the impetus for healthcare services to occupy what has traditionally been classified as non-service retail space,” said Dr. Scott Mason, executive managing director and leader of the company’s Healthcare Practice Group who co-authored the paper together with Matt Winn, leader of the firm’s Retail Services in the Americas.
“In recent years, a variety of factors have combined making traditional healthcare service delivery in shopping malls an attractive option for landlords, healthcare service providers, and patients alike,” added Winn.
Mason and Winn conclude that changes in the economy, shifts in consumer spending patterns, an aging population, and the rise of e-commerce are all leading to innovative placements of future healthcare delivery sites.
Among these shifts, lifestyle changes and the recent economic downturn have dramatically changed a retailing formula that both retailers and consumers have followed profitably for nearly three generations.
Transforming demographics across the U.S. and Canada, an aging baby boomer population of approximately 77 million people in the U.S. alone is choosing to live an urban lifestyle over a suburban one. This is putting significant vacancy pressure on suburban malls.
As a result, prominent retail spaces are increasingly being made available for alternative uses as demand patterns change.
Meanwhile, healthcare service providers are beginning to embrace the concept of patients as customers and therefore, retail healthcare establishments could lead to a much needed improvement in the healthcare customer’s experience.
Malls offer proximity to population centers, access to highways, and plenty of parking — as well as amenity rich environments for one-stop convenient care.
As competition among consolidated healthcare brands heats up, improvements in the healthcare experience will increasingly serve as a key differentiator among brands.