New emergency care center honors Fort Worth philanthropist Anne Marion

 

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth held a tree topping out ceremony on June 4.

 

By Betty Dillard

- FWBP Digital Partners -

bdillard@bizpress.net

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth administrators celebrated the new $57.7 million emergency care center on June 4 with a traditional tree topping out ceremony and announced the name for the new facility. The Burnett Foundation of Fort Worth committed the lead gift to the project. To recognize the gift, Texas Health Fort Worth will name the 75,000 square-foot facility the Marion Emergency Care Center. The naming honors Anne Marion, rancher, businesswoman, philanthropist and Burnett Foundation president and trustee. One of building construction’s oldest customs, a tree topping out ceremony is celebrated when the last beam of the building’s framework is put into place. A tree is placed at the top of the building to represent growth and good luck for the future. The three-story emergency care center, planned for completion in January 2014, will nearly triple the square footage of the existing department and increase patient capacity from 63 to 90 beds. “Our new emergency care center is the culmination of years of soliciting input from multiple city- and county-wide organizations in order to best create a facility that responds to the needs of our community,” said Dr. John Geesbreght, the hospital’s medical director of emergency services. “I believe Texas Health Fort Worth has done just that.” The Texas Health Resources Foundation also announced and recognized lead donors to the project during the ceremony. Community gifts and pledges have already exceeded $13 million in support of the center’s $57 million budget. Texas Health Resources Foundation President Jay McAuley anticipates another $20 million or more will be secured toward the project before its scheduled opening next January. Other lead donors include: Texas Medicine Resources LLP; the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth Auxiliary; the Amon G. Carter Foundation; the Preston M. Geren family; and Crystelle Waggoner Trust, Bank of America.