SCHERERVILLE - The Pointe, a new state of the art 52,804-square foot professional office building in Schererville, has signed two major tenants – the Unity Physicians Group Immediate Care Center and Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. 

Unity Physicians Group Immediate Care Center will occupy 5,150 square feet on the main floor of the three-story building.  

Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. has signed on for 9,233-square feet on the second floor, to be used as a claims office.  Both will take occupancy in May.

Chester Construction will finish the building in April.

Merrillville-based Commercial In-Sites Inc. has proposals out for additional leases, and expects to draw medical and other professionals, such as law or engineering firms.

The Pointe responds to the increasing need for professional office space in central Lake County, says David Lasser, president of Commercial In-Sites.  At 5521 W. Lincoln Highway, the building “is ideally situated between I-65 and U.S.41 and is the most prominent new construction space to occur not in Merrillville,” he says.

It kicks off a wave of anticipated commercial building in the strip between Interstate 65 and the Indiana-Illinois state line.

Unity Physicians Group has an immediate care center already established at 7777 E. Ridge Road, Hobart, as well as four locations in Indianapolis since 1981 and a single location in Louisville, Ky.  The group also runs the emergency rooms in Valparaiso and Portage.

“When you look a the demographics of U.S. 30 and the population density emergency or immediate care center in the area, it looked like a pretty good site,” Dr. John Johnson said.

The group considered the same site eight years ago, but problems with the developer pervaded discussions.  Johnson had no problem working with this builder, however.  “We have used Chester Construction in the past.”

Residents of Merrillville, Schererville, Highland, Munster, Gary and other communities within a 7-mile radius of the new center will be among the expected 60 to 80 patients seen daily, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., by two principal physicians from the group’s 25 local doctors.  

Johnson says 16 additional staff will help manage activities, such as school and employment physicals, occupational medicine, workplace-required drug testing, electrocardiograms, X-rays, setting of bone fractures and other minor emergency healing at The Pointe.  

Unity accepts most major health insurance.

It will not require appointments and anticipates that patients will receive service at The Pointe within 20 minutes of their walk through the front door. 

“It’s designed for people who don’t have a physician or can’t find a convenient time to see a physician,” Johnson said.  “We find that many patients make our doctors their family physicians.”

Additionally, the group’s experience has shown that emergency room visits for the same services that its immediate care centers provide typically cost three times as much.

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