Jackson Medical Mall Celebrates 15 Years Setting New Healthcare Delivery Standards

When Judge Reuben Anderson and Aaron Shirley, MD, shared lunch at the Piccadilly Cafeteria in the Jackson Mall in 1995 to discuss Anderson serving on the Tougaloo College Board of Trustees, Shirley remarked that the mall would serve as an ideal facility to relocate the Hinds County Comprehensive Medical Center.

"He asked me would I help him, and that started the effort," said Anderson. "As a result, 15 years later, it has happened."

The undertaking was a tall order. The 900,000-square-foot retail mall was Jackson's first fully enclosed shopping center when it opened on a 53-acre site in 1969. When malls began opening on the southern and northern perimeters of the city in the late 1970s, anchor stores moved out. By the end of the 1980s, the mall was practically an empty shell skirted by a pothole-riddled parking lot and surrounded by a neglected inner city neighborhood that was no longer safe.

The Jackson Medical Mall Foundation was formed in 1995 as a non-profit organization operated by a board of five directors. The mall was purchased for $2.7 million, with loans backed by University Medical Center (UMC). Construction began in 1996 with a $23 million interim construction loan.

"My greatest contribution to this development was the vision," said Shirley, chairman of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation Board. "And I think I was too naïve to realize that it wasn't supposed to happen."

The Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center, considered the only facility of its kind in America that provides quality healthcare, human services and retail in one space, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The full-service medical complex has transformed healthcare delivery in central Mississippi while also revitalizing an important part of the state's capitol city. It has become a prototype for similar urban revitalization projects nationwide.

During the development phase, Shirley attracted heavyweight partners—UMC, Tougaloo College and Jackson State University. He began filling space in the mall that now shelters the Hinds County Health Department Clinic, numerous UMC specialty clinics—cardiology, OB-GYN, oncology, mental health, diabetes, dental, vision, asthma, children's and teen clinics—and the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program. The medical mall is home to one of the state's most comprehensive inpatient cancer centers, a nationally recognized cancer institute. American Medical Response (AMR), the nation's leading ambulance service provider, is also located there.

"If we don't have (a particular health-related service), we know how to find it," said Primus Wheeler, executive director of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation.

"People now look upon this as their medical home," said board member James Keeton, MD.

By routinely canvassing the parking lot for license tag origins, Shirley noted early on that the medical mall's reach exceeded the tri-county area and also attracted patients outside the underserved realm. For example, Leland Speed, former executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, said his experience as a patient at the medical mall was "first rate."

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann attributed the medical mall's success to its "world-class doctors delivering world-class healthcare" and "some of the leading machinery in the world ... you find in very few locations."

In 2000, the medical mall became home to the Jackson Heart Study, the largest research project in history to investigate genetic factors that affect high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, diabetes and other important diseases in African Americans. Last fall, national and international researchers and medical professionals toured the medical mall during the study's 10-year anniversary conference.

In addition to providing patients with access to medical care, lab services and a pharmacy under one roof, the medical mall will soon welcome a grocery store. The redevelopment has already spurred low-income housing growth in an area that has gone from an unemployment rate of 16 percent and a poverty rate of 41 percent to a community beacon that employs more than 2,000 people. It's been a haven to minority and women-owned businesses, which represent a majority of medical mall tenants. Medical, nursing, and dental school students from the UMC campus participate in healthcare education classes.

"The campus of the Jackson Medical Mall is the safest place in Mississippi to be," said Hosemann, noting the low crime rate results from the steadfast efforts of full-time security personnel, security cameras and community watchdogs. "We get regular reports of criminal activity every month, and in most instances ... all (columns) are filled with zeros."

A community advisory board established to help identify and address areas seeking growth and renewal advocates the medical mall as a true community meeting place for events, concerts and plays.

"We do everything we can," said medical mall deputy director Lori Greer, "to be a first-class facility."

In 2000, the medical mall became home to the Jackson Heart Study, the largest research project in history to investigate genetic factors that affect high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, diabetes and other major diseases in African Americans. Last fall, researchers and medical professionals from around the world gathered in Jackson for the study's 10-year anniversary conference.

"The fact that you can bring the undergraduate school, health science center and private industry into one area, and build it up with housing and spinoffs ... that's pretty emotional," said Keeton.

Editor's Note: This article marks the first in a 3-part series focusing on the Jackson Medical Mall. In February, Mississippi Medical News will turn its cardiology focus to the impact of the Jackson Heart Study. In March, Aaron Shirley, MD, will share the challenges of making the Jackson Medical Mall a reality, and his vision for the future.

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