Eastgate Alliance Centre, a suburban medical clinic under construction at 2075 Prince of Wales Dr. in east Regina, is being touted as the first of its kind in the city, the province — even the country.

“It’s a one-stop shop for medicine,” said Carmen Lien of Link Developments of Regina. “We want to try to deliver medicine differently for the people, the citizens of southern Saskatchewan. There is no project like this.”

Lien said the four-storey, 52,000-square-foot building, located in the busy eastern commercial corridor that includes Superstore, Rona, Walmart, Best Buy and Winners, will have about 40 physicians, a walk-in clinic, heated parking, physiotherapy and other medical services, all under one roof.

Lien said the medical clinic will serve patients from the southern part of the province, not just the city. “Only two out of five patients that will see these specialists and physicians will be from the city of Regina, … so we need easy access to highways, hotels, restaurants.”

Besides, when patients and their families come into Regina from out of town, they want to make the trip as enjoyable as possible. “Going to see your cardiologist is a scary thing. Let’s make the trip to Regina not about seeing your doctor, … but you do a little shopping, you eat a nice meal, you stay at a nice hotel. It becomes an event.”

“That was the (rationale) for the location we chose,” Lien said, adding that being on the same site as Superstore provides some advantages in terms of accessibility, visibility and proximity to shopping and other services. “It’s a very high-impact, visible location.”

For example, Eastgate Alliance Centre boasts heated parking. “We have Saskatchewan’s first indoor patient drop-off facility. So patients will be able to pull into the building in a climate-controlled (environment).” Buses and other large passenger vehicles will be able to use the heated parkade.

“We have 22 climate zones per floor. We’re not just building an office building. It’s a single-purpose medical facility.” Lien said the centre will also have ground-floor retail, like a coffee shop and small pharmacy.

“We’re essentially building a little private hospital. We’re trying to do something more (than build a medical office downtown or in a suburban strip mall). We’re a one-stop shop.”

Construction is well underway, with foundation and concrete work completed, and steel superstructure in place up to the second floor. The 38,000-square feet of leasable space is about half leased, according to Warren Mollison, sales associate with Colliers International.

The official opening is planned for October 2017.

In fact, Lien said Loblaws is interested in extending the medical clinic concept to other Superstore locations across Canada. “For the Loblaw Group of Companies, this is kind of a prototype,” Lien said. “Superstores are always in prime retail locations, but they’re pulling in more services. That’s why you see walk-in clinics adjacent to their pharmacies.”

“But to take it one step further is a big step for them.”

bjohnstone@postmedia.com