The World Product Centre, scheduled to open in winter 2013, will provide a neutral environment for healthcare companies and healthcare providers to meet, communicate and share new ideas and technology. According to John Strong, president and CEO of World Product Centre Marketing, the aim of the center is to become a destination for healthcare providers, educators, administrators and manufactures.
Construction on a 60-story building, located between 33rd and 34th Streets and 11th Avenue in New York is set to begin in late Fall 2009, with construction expected to be completed in late 2013, according to Mr. Strong. “We wanted to create an iconic building and have consulted with leading architects to design the building,” he says.
The World Product Centre headquarters will feature a variety of venues where manufacturers and healthcare professionals alike can display and demonstrate new products while staying up to date on healthcare education and advancement.
A center for medical education
Medical education will be a cornerstone for the World Product Centre. Aside from training on new technology and products, the Centre and individual companies will sponsor clinical and professional education events, Mr. Strong says. These will include continuing medical education events.
“We want it to provide a robust education environment for medical professionals,” Mr. Strong says.
To house these programs, the Centre will feature a 125,000 square-foot center for education that will feature hi-tech classrooms and lecture halls. A 499-seat auditorium will also be available for educational events and conferences.
Education and training will extend to a surgical simulation room contained within the Centre, where medical professionals can learn and practice on new surgical technologies. “Around 80 percent of surgeries have the potential to be done as a minimally-invasive procedure,” Mr. Strong says. As a result, these surgical techniques require new forms of training and retraining for physicians.
Another field that is advancing quickly is robotic surgery, and the World Product Centre will include a robotics institute where physicians and clinical staff can train and learn more about this technology. “Procedures are becoming more miniaturized,” Mr. Strong says. “For physicians, the Centre will provide a place where they can receive continuous practice.”
By choosing the New York location, the World Product Centre is positioned in an area that Mr. Strong says is “rich for healthcare academia.” “Just under 50 percent of all teaching hospitals in the country will be within a half-day’s drive of the building,” he says. “Additionally, 33 percent of all orthopedic interns and 44 percent of all orthopedic fellows are trained in the Northeast.”
With a centralized location, Mr. Strong hopes that the World Product Centre will become a destination where physicians will come to enhance their training.
One-stop shop
According to information from the World Product Centre, the New York location will house up to 1,800 companies that represent all areas of the healthcare industry, including medical device and equipment manufacturers; health information technology, software and system companies; and providers of healthcare support products and services.
“We want to create a one-stop shopping venue for healthcare systems and providers so that they can have equal access to the products,” Mr. Strong says. “[The World Product Centre] will allow them to view all technology in one spot and bring all healthcare services — products, training and education of all kinds — together.”
One of the primary goals of the World Product Centre will be to provide a “transparent, neutral” environment for training on medical devices. Non-profit organizations will sponsor and operate the various training areas, such as minimally-invasive surgical training.
Providing such a venue has become important as, in recent months, medical device manufacturers and physicians have come under increased scrutiny over consulting and other agreements for which physicians are compensated. According to Mr. Strong, medical device manufacturers depend on the input from physicians as it is essential in the development, education and sales related to new products. By providing physicians and other healthcare providers access to the products, device manufacturers will be able to gain the insight they need while physicians will be able to test and train on the new technology.
Additionally, the World Product Centre will contain Wall Street briefing rooms, where the manufacturers and other companies can bring their investors for analyst presentations and to view the new technology.
“Rather than [hauling] their products across the country, the companies will be able to meet with their clients on-site and allow them to view the public training on the devices,” Mr. Strong says.
The briefing rooms will also allow companies to host press conferences and financial gatherings.
Another facet to the World Product Centre’s services will be the creation of Centres of Excellence, according to Mr. Strong. “These Centres of Excellence will be anchored by not-for-profit trade organizations and feature thought-leading exhibits and education in areas such as healthcare building and design, radiology, healthcare provider board of directors and ‘C-suite’ meetings and conferences and technology assessment,” he says.
One of the Centres of Excellence will focus on hospital architecture and building products. “Most hospitals and medical buildings are looking to ‘go green’ and create a more natural healing environment,” Mr. Strong says. “In the Centre of Excellence, visitors to the World Product Centre will be able to see the latest products and architectural designs for the healthcare industry.”
Although $80 billion worth of healthcare construction projects are planned but have slowed down or been put on hold, Mr. Strong sees a growing interest in this area as the economy improves. “As these projects restart, people will be able to come to the Centre and become up-to-date on the trends in the industry,” he says.
Getting companies involved
World Product Centre began actively marketing its concept to healthcare companies around 18 months ago, according to Mr. Strong. Already, many companies are coming on board to showcase their products at the Centre.
“It’s an eclectic group,” Mr. Strong says. “For example, Encompass Group, which is primarily known for providing linens and uniforms, will also feature its line of its building products at the Centre.”
Also included among the initial charter partners in the World Product Centre are Cardinal Health, Zimmer, CI Medical, Bioniche Pharma, Aspen Surgical, CorePharma, Avalign Technologies, Excelsior Medical and Vesta.
“We are currently in various stages of discussion with other companies,” Mr. Strong says. “We have a team who are out there making the industry aware of what we are trying to accomplish.”
Destination for healthcare
Most of all, Mr. Strong says that the World Product Centre is designed to be a destination for healthcare, with an expected 35,000 visitors a day, including healthcare providers, C-suite executives, educators, clinical staff, physicians and administrators. “We want it to be a place you want to come,” he says.
Two floors of the building will be open to the general public and will be used to exhibit “museum events,” such as the recent “Human Body” exhibit, Mr. Strong says. Visitors will also be able to see the consumer product displays.
“Visitors will be able to go on a self-guided tour, see the products and received coupons and such from the vendors,” he says. “We expect a robust visitor population, both domestic and international.”
Mr. Strong sees the World Product Centre opening at an opportunistic time. “With all the questions being raised and changes going on in the industry, it couldn’t be better timing to create a transparent environment,” he says.
Mr. Strong is the president and CEO of the World Product Centre Marketing. For more information, please contact him at john.strong@worldproductcentre.com, call (212) 506-5517 or visit www.worldproductcentre.com.
