Cook Children’s Health Care System announced Nov. 21 has a new pediatric care facility under construction in west Fort Worth across from the growing Walsh development. Plans are for Phase I of the project – a 40,000-square-foot building that will house physicians providing primary care and urgent care services on the center’s first floor, and a second floor that will serve patients of Cook Children’s Orthopedic Services and specialty care – to open in fall 2019.
HKS is the lead architecture and design group and the Linbeck Fort Worth office serves as general contractor for the project.
The center will be located on an eight-acre site off Interstate 30, and will be accessible from Walsh Ranch Parkway south of I-30 and the I-30 access road. The new location will support the growing areas in Tarrant County, Parker County and surrounding areas reaching into West Texas.
Cook Children’s, currently celebrating its 100th year, made a decision to build a new location in west Fort Worth as an extension of its ‘Promise’ to improve the health of every child in the region. With as many as 400 patients a day being seen in Cook Children’s urgent care locations, the health care system commissioned an independent research study to determine how the high volumes could be eased. The study determined adding a new location in west Fort Worth would best serve the families of North Texas and West Texas by increasing pediatric care services in this high growth area.
“Our goal is for North Texas to be one of the healthiest regions in the country for kids to grow up,” said Rick Merrill, president and CEO of Cook Children’s. “We strive to make quality pediatric care convenient to families in their communities and are extremely excited to grow our footprint in west Fort Worth and Parker County. The new Cook Children’s facility going in near the Walsh development will be able to flex and expand as that region of Fort Worth continues to grow.”
“With more than one million patient encounters a year, Cook Children’s has the honor of providing life-saving pediatric care to children from all over the United States and the world,” said Merrill. “While we are proud of this far-reaching reputation, our commitment to those who live in Denton, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties remains priority.”
In step with Cook Children’s dedication to innovation, special attention is being given to the facility’s technology infrastructure. Like many of Cook Children’s clinics across Texas, plans are in place to offer telemedicine services so patients can be seen by their physician via a private video conferencing system.
Preservation of the surrounding natural landscape is also a priority as Cook Children’s plans for future development in west Fort Worth.
Cook Children’s plans to integrate adaptive play areas like the Imagination Playground on the grounds at the new center and the building will borrow architectural styles from the nearby neighborhoods.
In the initial phase, about 50 employees will be based at the west Fort Worth location.
cookchildrens.org.