About the Program

 

At 54 years old, Parkland Memorial Hospital is outdated and 50 percent too small for the current volume of patients — over a million visits per year. Much of the utilities infrastructure is in need of replacement. The facility does not meet current code and is inefficient to operate, overcrowded, and functionally deficient. Physical limitations in the hospital often make it necessary to park patients' beds in the hallways while they wait for treatment. Some treatments are now limited to certain days of the week to manage the number of people in the facility.

With the County population expected to double by 2025, Parkland needs replacing in order to meet Dallas County's future healthcare needs.

Parkland's mission, conditions, and future, have been thoroughly studied and evaluated over the past six years by the Dallas County Hospital District Board of Managers, Dallas County Commissioners Court, hospital leadership, and blue ribbon panel members from various businesses and organizations. From all of the alternatives that were studied, the alternative for total replacement of the current inpatient and outpatient campus was selected.

The total capital budget for the replacement campus is set at $1.27 billion and includes:

• $747 million from a bond program that voters passed on November 4, 2008,
• $250 million of cash on hand from prior-year operations,
• $100 million of cash from future operations, and $150 million to be derived from a philanthropic campaign. The campaign was launched on September 10, 2008, and $80 million has already been raised in pledges and donations from generous private sector benefactors throughout the region.

Parkland's hospital replacement program features the construction of:

• an 862 adult-bed full service acute care hospital (1.7 million SF),
• outpatient center (380,000 SF),
• office center (275,000 SF),
• parking for 6,000 vehicles, plant,
• and other support facilities to achieve a new healthcare campus on a Parkland-owned property north of Medical District Drive and east of Harry Hines Boulevard
• The campus is divided by a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) line and station which are scheduled to go into operation in the year 2010. Campus buildings are planned for construction inside the boundary west of the DART line.