Medical City Fort Worth opened the doors on its news patient tower Dec. 19, a $65 million, 90,000-square-foot three-story building that includes a new emergency department and a 28-bed intensive care unit.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Monday, Dec. 17, with community and business leaders in attendance.
“We are committed to the care and improvement of human life,” said Erol R. Akdamar, president of Medical City Healthcare, HCA Healthcare’s North Texas Division. “I think this investment reflects that.”
District 9 City Council Member Ann Zadeh said the opening to the tower was a very special day in Fort Worth because advancements and expansion of health care is part of the unique quality of life that brings so many people to the city.
There also is an economic value to the itself, she said. Medical City Fort Worth is one of the top employers in the city and, as the only for-profit hospital in the city’s Medical District, it contributes to Fort Worth’s tax base.
She also noted that Medical City Fort Worth’s alliance with the University of North Texas Health Science Center includes residency and other educational opportunities for medical students, an important part of retaining physicians who graduate here.
There were actually two planned ribbon cuttings – one traditional and one where a MedStar ambulance was to break through a banner stretched across 9th Street just outside the new patient tower.
Let’s just say that scissors are more efficient at cutting ribbons than ambulances.
The grand-opening event was attended by Medical City Healthcare leaders, board members, community guests and elected officials.
The building also will include special pediatric care capabilities including six designated pediatric-friendly rooms, two trauma rooms, one room specifically equipped for behavioral health patients, advanced imaging capabilities including X-ray and CT machines as well as an on-site laboratory.
There also will be an additional rooftop helipad.
“The community continues to grow at a 9 or 10 percent growth rate year over year,” Chief Executive Officer Jyric Sims said in a Business Press interview.
“We really had to expand our facility to be able to accommodate not only that growth of the organic population, but also as we deepen our services around comprehensive stroke, as we deepen our cardiovascular capabilities to handle patients with certain heart issues along with orthopedics and our other service lines, to be able to accommodate those in an environment that’s conducive to healing, conducive for families being involved in the care,” he said.
Medical City Fort Worth is licensed for 320 beds and offers comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services in a wide range of specialties, including cardiac care, neurosciences, oncology, surgical services, orthopedics, kidney transplants and emergency care.
It is part of the Texas Stroke Institute stroke care network and is a designated comprehensive stroke center and a Joint Commission certified chest pain center.
– Paul K. Harral
