Driving through the Medical Innovation District on Fort Worth’s Near South Side, it’s hard to miss the variety of construction layouts, workers, vehicles, and cranes turning the ground and moving projects forward.
After all, all of Fort Worth’s major health systems (Baylor Scott & White Health, Cook Children’s Health Care System, JPS Health Network, Medical City Healthcare, Moncrief Cancer Institute, and Texas Health Resources) are part of the city’s We are undergoing a major expansion that will lead to growth in our medical services. Medical capabilities will improve in the coming years.
Robert Stearns, the city’s economic development director, said these plans “response to the need for these agencies to expand their capacity based on the significant population growth that Fort Worth, and all of North Texas, has seen over the past several years.” It’s driven by gender.” ”
“It’s important that Fort Worth’s healthcare ecosystem continues to keep pace with population growth and ensure that as many people as possible have access to high-quality patient care,” he said in a statement.
The expansion project will provide a major health system across Tarrant County with the latest technology and better care for patients, officials said in interviews for the report.
“I think it’s no exaggeration to say that this is probably the most exciting time in the history of the Near Southside Medical District,” said Near Southside President Mike Brennan.
Here’s what you can expect:
Baylor Scott & White builds new garage and building in Fort Worth
Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center is currently constructing a new five-story parking garage to improve access and parking as part of a “long-term plan to grow the campus,” according to the hospital’s website. It’s inside.
Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center is the Fort Worth branch of Baylor Scott & White Health. Fort Worth Hospital has 538 beds and provides a wide range of medical services, including emergency care, delivery, surgery, and cancer treatment.
Fort Worth Hospital is also building a new four-story office building called Baylor All Saints Professional Pavilion II above the parking lot. The office building will total 100,000 square feet and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to LoopNet.
Baylor Scott & White All Saints President Charles Williams said he is proud to be building on a legacy of “more than 100 years of service to the community.”
“For us, growth is about more than physical buildings,” he said in a statement. “That means we want to give our patients and customers what they need to live a better life, whether it’s quality care in the hospital or convenient care when and where they need it, from the convenience of their smartphones or their own homes. ” To completely eliminate the need for “treatment of disease,” we need to provide housing and health services. ”
Cook Children’s lays foundation for 10-year expansion plan
Cook Children’s Health Care System is poised for growth as it embarks on a 10-year master plan to expand and strengthen Fort Worth Medical Center in the heart of the Medical District.
The plan begins with construction of a 700,000-square-foot medical tower, currently known as the West Tower. The facility will be an expansion of the existing medical center, which currently spans 2.5 million square feet, and will add an additional 37 beds and expand the neonatal intensive care facility.
The West Tower will allow for the expansion and redesign of the pediatric intensive care unit, increasing capacity for hematology and oncology services. The building will add operating rooms and imaging services.
Cook Children’s expects to begin construction on the West Tower by the end of 2025. The health system had previously declined to provide information on the tower’s total cost.
“This is an ambitious plan, but one that precisely supports the region’s population growth and demand for services,” Rick W. Merrill, president and CEO of Cook Children’s Healthcare System, said in a statement. It’s what you need to do.”
The children’s health system’s master plan would add a total of 1 million square feet of medical campus over 10 years.
JPS nears completion of first project in facility master plan
Since 2018, JPS Health Network, also known as the Tarrant County Hospital District, has been in the process of constructing a master facility plan. The hospital system’s master facilities plan is supported by an $800 million bond package approved by voters in 2018. The plan details new facilities, including a medical facility, a psychiatric emergency center, a medical outpatient building, an expanded pavilion, and a new hospital.
JPS leaders originally estimated the total cost of the plan to be about $1.2 billion, and the county hospital was prepared to contribute $400 million to secure the expansion. However, progress on the master facilities plan has slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, JPS President and CEO Dr. Karen Duncan previously told the report.
After six years, the hospital district estimated that the total cost of the plan would jump to $2.1 billion due to rising labor costs, material prices, and inflation affecting the health care industry. Subsequently, due to financial changes and reprioritization, JPS removed three medical facilities included in the original proposal from the master facility plan.
The only medical facility currently in the plan is expected to open in southwest Fort Worth in early 2025. This will be the first JPS master facilities planning project to be completed.
“Texas has one of the highest populations of uninsured people, so it’s really exciting for us that JPS can provide that access to people who don’t have access to health care,” Duncan said in the report. He spoke at Follow-up interview.
According to original plans, JPS’ next project, a psychiatric emergency center, is scheduled to open in summer 2025. The project will increase behavioral health capacity in the hospital district from 30 beds to approximately 90 beds. The master facility plan concludes with a new hospital building. Winter 2029 — more than a decade after the bond package was approved.
“All of those (master facility planning) projects are starting now, whether it’s building the design or starting construction,” she said. “We’re still working on building the towers. One? Two? Three? That’s not an answer yet.”
Medical City Fort Worth expands Tarrant’s reach
Medical City Fort Worth recently confirmed in a report that it is in the planning stages for a $37 million expansion project that will include a cardiac exam room and four operating rooms. Construction is budgeted at $18 million and is expected to begin in early 2025.
The new laboratory and operating rooms will occupy approximately 17,380 square feet within the existing hospital, according to filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Medical City Fort Worth CEO John Huber said in a follow-up interview for the report that the hospital is expanding its services to serve the growing population of Tarrant County and surrounding counties Parker and Johnson. He said he has decided to expand.
Hoover did not provide additional information about the remaining $19 million in expansion plans, but said some of those costs are related to permitting and construction fees.
Medical City Fort Worth is in the early stages of considering an expansion of Tower B, which currently houses emergency services, surgical rooms and a neurological intensive care unit, Huber added.
“We have started the early stages of working with architects and some contractors to vertically expand the tower, which could increase the number of beds from 30 to nearly 100. ” he said in the report.
UT Southwestern seeks to expand facilities in Fort Worth
UT Southwestern is looking to expand its Fort Worth campus, which houses the Moncrief Cancer Institute, with a $177 million expansion project. UT Southwestern offers medical and surgical oncology, chemotherapy, diagnostic imaging, and pharmacy.
UT Southwestern currently owns land across the street from the cancer center and plans to use that property to expand by nearly 65,000 square feet and include a new radiation oncology facility and parking garage.
Before the plan becomes a reality, the cancer center must negotiate with multiple government agencies over one major demand for the expansion: permanently closing a block of South Jennings Avenue.
In late June, UT Southwestern representatives received unanimous approval from Fort Worth’s Urban Design Commission for a road closure recommendation. The proposal will be presented to the Fort Worth City Council for final approval at a later date.
Dr. Jonathan Efron, executive vice president of UT Southwestern’s health system, said the medical center is looking to expand its cancer service capabilities in Fort Worth.
“What we found is that unlike Dallas, there is a lack of machines within the Fort Worth area to provide radiation therapy,” he said in the report. “Some of our patients have to go elsewhere every day. We’re excited to fill that void.”
If UT Southwestern ultimately receives the necessary approvals, the project is expected to break ground in spring 2025 and complete construction in spring 2028.
Texas Health Fort Worth to renovate Justin Tower floor
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth completed construction on the nine-story Jane and John Justin Tower in early 2022. The $300 million expansion project, the largest in the nonprofit Texas Health Resources’ history, will add 440,000 square feet and 144 patients. Beds, 15 operating rooms and a new pre- and post-operative unit have been added to the Fort Worth campus.
Jared Shelton, who was named president of Texas Health Fort Worth in September, said the addition of Justin Tower is an “incredible addition” as the hospital expands its service area to patients from across Texas. “It was a success,” he said in the report.
“Anyone who has been to[Justin Tower]knows how blessed we are to have the latest and greatest medical care, more room, and the latest technology on our campus. There will be,” he said. “This is truly a legacy project for the Texas Department of State Health Services Fort Worth.”
The success of Justin Tower has increased the need for more services. The tower filled almost immediately, Shelton added.
Texas Health Fort Worth is in the planning stages to build areas on the fourth and fifth floors of the tower. Renovations are expected to begin at the end of the first quarter of 2025 and continue through 2026, Shelton said.
“Those (floors) were paid for to allow us to grow because there was patient demand. And we’re already seeing that demand,” he said. I did. “We will be adding about 70 beds to Justin Tower.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 8:57 a.m. Nov. 25 to clarify that UT Southwestern, not Moncrieff Cancer Institute, is expanding.
David Moreno is a health reporter for The Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
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This article first appeared in Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
