As part of shift away from hospital stays, Ochsner unveils new medical complex at Clearview

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL | STAFF WRITER

DEC 20, 2022 - 6:02 PM

Ochsner is putting the finishing touches on a new three-story medical complex at the former Clearview Mall that will offer primary and wellness care, labs and testing facilities, outpatient surgery services and retail outlets, including a spa and pharmacy.

The Ochsner Medical Complex-Clearview, located on 13 acres once occupied by a Sears store, opens Feb. 1 and cost more than $110 million to build over the past two years. Ochsner officials said it was the single-largest investment the local health system has made in a new construction project.

The complex is significant because it represents the future of health care as Ochsner sees it, which entails shifting patients away from inpatient stays and towards the more convenient, less costly outpatient or ambulatory settings whenever possible, Ochsner Southshore Region CEO Rob Wolterman said.

The complex is significant because it represents the future of health care as Ochsner sees it, which entails shifting patients away from inpatient stays and towards the more convenient, less costly outpatient or ambulatory settings whenever possible, Ochsner Southshore Region CEO Rob Wolterman said.

Adding primary care clinics, physicians and wellness services under the same roof reduces barriers to access and helps drive new patients to the massive system, he said.

The new facility, at the fast-growing intersection of Clearview Parkway and Veterans Boulevard, is barely a mile from East Jefferson General Hospital, where competitor LCMC is investing $100 million in new services. It is also across the street from a new LCMC Children’s Hospital emergency room.

Though Ochsner officials said the expansion wasn't related to the LCMC investments nearby, the area’s population growth makes it a natural front in the battle for market share between the two dominant health systems in the region.

“I think we all look at the same data,” Wolterman said. “These are the ZIP codes that are growing in the Greater New Orleans area. That is one of the main reasons we want to be out here.”

Range of services

Ochsner began planning for the facility more than three years ago, though system executives have been talking generally about the need to expand to Metairie for more than a decade. When Sears announced its closure in 2018, the health system reached out to the shopping center’s ownership about taking over the space.

Construction began in 2020 and today the nearly 190,000 space is transformed from the shell of the former department store into a three-story building. It will house 10 full-time and 40 rotating physicians. Ochsner plans to add a fourth floor in the future.

Some of those physicians will come from other Ochsner campuses, while others are joining from newly acquired physician group practices, Ochsner officials said.

The complex will offer a range of services, including men’s and women’s primary care clinics. It will include several specialty practices in cardiology, neurosciences, eye care, digestive health and ear, nose and throat, and will also offer labs and diagnostic testing like mammography, endoscopy and MRIs.

Additionally, it will have eight operating rooms for outpatient surgeries, including minimally invasive spine surgeries.

The facility is licensed as a micro hospital and has space for 10 inpatient hospital beds, but those will not open until later in 2023.

The complex will offer a range of wellness services. The Elevate Wellness Spa, a brand Ochsner pioneered at its Elmwood campus, will offer facials, massages, injectables like Botox and cosmetic procedures like CoolSculpting.

An onsite retail pharmacy, owned and operated by Ochsner, will be open to walk-in customers, who can fill a prescription even if they’re not Ochsner patients.

Altogether, about 650 patients a day are expected to walk through the doors of the complex.

Growing Trend

While the new complex at what's now knowns as the Clearview City Center is Ochsner’s largest and most comprehensive ambulatory center, it’s not the only one. Three years ago, Ochsner opened a similar complex at The Grove in Baton Rouge, though it does not offer as many services as will the Clearview facility.

“This is our first facility like this,” Wolterman said. “It won’t be our last. This is the future of where healthcare is going.”

Other large health systems around the country also are shifting resources to new ambulatory care centers, continuing a trend that began more than a decade ago. With advances in technology and medical care, patients are able to spend less time in the hospital, get better care and reduce the risk of infection, studies have shown.

Shifting patients to the new facility will free up space at Ochsner’s main campus on Jefferson Highway and also at its Baptist Hospital campus Uptown, for sicker patients requiring longer inpatient stays.

“We see 13,000 patient transfers from across the region on Jefferson Highway,” Wolterman said. “The bulk of those are really sick.”

The complex is part of a $100 million redevelopment at Clearview to convert the mall into an open air, mixed residential and commercial site.