RibeirãoShopping will gain a modern medical center with approximately 32 clinics and a Day Hospital. This will be the 9th expansion of the project, with the opening scheduled for the first half of 2017. On June 14, Multiplan, RibeirãoShopping's administrator, launched the project's first stage, containing 4,182 square meters of GLA (gross leasable area); more than 75% of the space has already been sold.
When it is completely ready, the Medical Center will comprise 6,182 square meters of GLA and almost 12,000 square meters of construction area. The complex will occupy a space above the eighth expansion, where today a part of the parking lot is located. The project will bring together several specialties, a Day Hospital, an imaging clinic and a test lab and it will be fully integrated with the Mall through escalators and elevators.
Multiplan will invest R$ 23.6 million in the expansion project. But the total amount of the investment in the venture, including the contributions of the clinics in construction and equipment, will be approximately R$ 80 million. The Medical Center will offer a new health care model throughout the region, based on quality and technology, with extended opening hours, easy (including valet) parking and, mainly, a high standard of service, allowing the patient to solve everything in one location, comfortably, quickly and conveniently.
The project is inspired by the successful medical center model in BarraShopping, opened by Multiplan in 1994, which became a reference for medical service quality in Rio de Janeiro. The idea of creating a health center next to the mall was designed to facilitate the task of taking an exam or going to a medical appointment. "I think we have developed the concept of making a trip to the doctor a pleasurable experience. Malls around the world have copied our concept," said Joseph Isaac Peres, president and founder of the Multiplan group.
The project infrastructure, designed by RAF Arquitetura, the country's main healthcare architecture firm, includes a modular auditorium with capacity for 150 people, focused on events and courses. Also included is a coffee shop, restrooms, reception area and a glassed-in foyer overlooking the Mall, connected by escalators and elevators, as well as direct access from the parking lot.
"It's a project that has strong synergy not only with the shopping center, but also the multipurpose complex in which the Mall is inserted, including an Event Center, two commercial towers and a hotel," according to RibeirãoShopping's superintendent Felix Diez. He added that the 9th expansion brings to Ribeirão Preto all of Multiplan's expertise gained through the recently expanded BarraShopping Medical Center, a successful initiative that has transformed the health care concept, enhancing quality, logistics and well being.
Construction will begin in June and should generate about 350 direct jobs. When it is ready and fully operational, the Medical Center will create jobs for about 500 people, between doctors, nurses, technicians, clerks, support staff and service providers.
