Dr. Luke and Stacy Lathrop, owners of Roswell-based SmartMED Drive-Thru, feel the former PNC Bank site at Ashford Lane in Dunwoody is the ideal spot to expand their family business.
With backgrounds in hospital care and corporate sales, the healthcare innovators and entrepreneurs held a June 30 open house at 125 Perimeter Center West. With the Fourth of July holiday approaching last week, however, the public didn’t show.
Affordable healthcare options
While SmartMED accepts most major insurance plans, it also offers “affordable self-pay pricing” for services on its website. The Lathrops said it helps patients determine whether they want to cover non-clinical care themselves.
With family insurance plans hovering around $4,000 a month, many Americans are seeking alternatives like SmartMED. Its services include on-site bloodwork and other testing; minor procedures like ear wax removal and wound care; and routine medical evaluations with a treatment plan for less than $100.
Drive-through challenge
Dr. Luke Lathrop, who spent two decades as an emergency physician at ApolloMD in Marietta, said SmartMED plans to officially submit a rezoning application in early July. The business has already met with CBRE, the company in charge of leasing the mixed-use development.
“There are a lot of formalities, and the city ensures everything is in line,” Lathrop said, previewing this month’s application submission. “We’ve had multiple meetings so far … then it’s in the hands of the city from there.”
Lathrop said SmartMED is negotiating a lease with CBRE, acting on behalf of owners CTO Realty. The goal is to open ahead of flu season, if the city’s upcoming meeting schedule allows and rezoning requirements are met by the urgent care-style, drive-through business.
Lathrop said the site is set up well for a SmartMED-style drive-through business. But getting approval for a double drive-through near Ashford Lane could prove challenging.
Last December, the Dunwoody City Council denied a SLUP for a double drive-through at a proposed Zaxby’s restaurant at Ashford Lane. Officials who opposed the plan cited the need to preserve parking at the complex, while promoting a safer, walkable environment.
“It’s a big drive-through, and the traffic pattern is great,” Lathrop insisted. “We wouldn’t be a hindrance to the area. There are a lot of families here, and we have some that come up to Roswell from this area, so I think it would be great that we could help even more families [near the Perimeter].”
While the site is within CTO Realty’s Ashford Lane, it’s a football field away from the outdoor mall’s central green space, and on the other side of the Ashford Crossing roadway.
Stacey Lathrop said not much would change with the traffic pattern or existing site, which has been vacant for more than two years.
“We’re planning on using the same entrance and exit right here,” she said. “There would be no additional traffic volume to the shopping center.”
