You’ve likely heard of entrepreneurs “coworking” in a large, shared office space. But have you considered the same set-up may work for individual physicians?

That’s the idea behind Viva MedSuites, a coworking space for medical practitioners that’s set to open this month in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This new medical office building is unique in that it serves a previously unmet need, according to John Groberg, the owner of Viva MedSuites.

“It was pretty apparent that the industry was not really supplying good options for small medical practitioners,” Groberg told Medical Office News.

Most medical office space, Groberg said, is designed to be used by mid-to-large-sized practitioners who require between 2,000 and 10,000 square feet of space.

“There’s lots of products out there for them,” he noted. He built Viva MedSuites, meanwhile, for the physicians who don’t have staff of their own, or who simply need a satellite office location one or two days a week—not thousands of square feet of space.

When it opens, Viva MedSuites will have 10 fully furnished exam rooms that are approximately 11 x 13 feet, which practitioners can rent on a daily basis, or for a half day. The building will also house a waiting room for patients, who will use a touch-screen kiosk to check-in prior to their appointments, as well as a variety of medical office equipment for practitioners’ shared use. This equipment will include a centrifuge, an autoclave, a vitals-taking scale, a sharps disposal, blood pressure/pulse oximeter machines, lab services, IV transfusion chairs and a blood-taking station.

There’s already been a great deal of interest in the project, according to Groberg.

“I’ve probably got 10 or so people that are just waiting on me to finish so they can move in,” he said. “There are 20 or so others who have expressed interest and want to wait and see what the finished product looks like before taking any next steps.”

The building will open to practitioners within the month, Groberg predicted.

“We’re probably two weeks away from actually being finished with the build-out,” Groberg said.

Written by Mary Kate Nelson