By Healthcare Facilities Today

A medical facility will be opening in an Ontario mall next year, with a definite retail mentality, according to an article on the Mansfield News Journal website.

Loved ones of patients at the Richland Mall will be given a buzzer similar to those given at restaurants so they may go shopping instead of waiting on the patient from a waiting or exam room.

The Avita facility will have about 10 to 12 physicians and it it considering adding an urgent care. It will have a pharmacy, radiology and lab services, according to the article.

“We believe that it’s important to provide quality healthcare conveniently and locally so that patients don’t have to travel for good healthcare,” Doug Schilling, Avita board chairman said.

Phil Briley, manager of Sears, Roebuck and Co., said it’s the most exciting news the area has heard in a long time.

“It’s great to see an organization like this come to the mall, provide the services that they will, the customers that will come in, the patients that will come in,” Briley said. “It’s just a win-win situation all around.”

Avita spokeswoman Kelby King said whether the facility will grow into a full-blown hospital depends on community acceptance and demand.

“The latter phases would include surgery, ER, inpatient care,” she said. As of now there’s no plans. But there’s room to grow.”

Read the article.