SCRANTON, Pa. -- The newest tenant at The Marketplace at Steamtown opens up next week -- a doctor's office that sees about 50,000 patients a year.
Delta Medix says it plans to be part of the old mall's revitalization.
Delta Medix will open its doors at The Marketplace at Steamtown on Tuesday. Staff members are in the process of moving everything from five different medical offices to all under this one roof.
Kierstyn Breag says sometimes the lunch rush is lagging at Revello's Pizza in the Marketplace at Steamtown.
"Very slow," Breag said. "We have a lot of mall walkers, so not a lot of people buying anything, just kind of spotty."
But, come next week, the marketplace will get a big dose of foot traffic from its latest tenant, Delta Medix.
"A lot of people hungry after their appointments, stop in, get some pizza. I think it's going to be great for the mall," Breag added.
Delta Medix will put five of its medical offices in Lackawanna County under one roof in the first floor of the former Bon-Ton store. It will also add a primary care office.
The waiting room will have seating for almost 100 patients. The company sees about 50,000 each year.
What was Bon-Ton's separate entrance on Lackawanna Avenue will now be an ambulance entrance for Delta Medix.
"We were able to find exactly the amount of space we needed to pull five locations and 50,000 patients in one area," said Delta Medix CEO Margo Opsasnick.
Opsasnick says medical offices in malls have become a trend nationally. Malls have the space--often empty--and the doctors have the patients.
"We really do believe we can be an economic engine. I mean, we can be a driver to make this mall, bring it back to its glory days," Opsasnick said.
Delta Medix expects to start seeing patients at The Marketplace at Steamtown on Tuesday.
The company's cancer center is not moving and will stay at its location on the Morgan Highway in Scranton.