CONTINUED FROM 1
2023 HEALTH CARE EDITION
Meeting demand Methodist Richardson Medical Center President Ken Hutchenrider said the hospital’s expansion is driven by a need to serve a growing community. A GROWING CITY With a population of more than 116,000, the city of Richardson is expected to have more than 138,000 residents by 2045.
In addition, the hospital will move its existing pharmacy and laboratory services space from the rst to the third oor, creating 80,000 square feet of new space for emergency use. “Over 50% of our admissions come through our emergency department, so it’s essentially the front door of our hospital,” Hutchenrider said at the expansion groundbreaking. The rst phase of the e ort included the opening of 10 emergency room beds. Phase 2, which involves mov- ing the pharmacy and lab space, is expected to happen in September. Overall, the expansion project is designed to allow the hospital to serve around 90,000 patients annu- ally when construction nishes in August 2024, Hutchenrider said. Cur- rently, Methodist Richardson serves close to 60,000 patients annually. He said the expansion will also help accommodate the region’s growing population for another 10 years. “We’ve had to build so much faster than we ever [thought] we would,” Hutchenrider said. More capacity, more capabilities While the expansion will help increase the hospital’s capacity, Meth- odist Richardson o cials said they’re also looking to increase the level of care for patients. In addition to Richardson, which had a population of nearly 119,500 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the hospital serves the com- munities of Garland, Plano, Wiley, Sachse, Murphy and Rowlett. “This expansion is necessary for our community ... to provide bet- ter care for our patients,” said Beena Mathai, director of critical care and emergency services at Methodist Richardson. Overall, the population of Dallas County is expected to add nearly 1 mil- lion people between 2020 and 2045, according to data from the North Cen- tral Texas Council of Governments. In the same timeframe, Collin County is expected to add more than 700,000 people. To better serve that population, Methodist Richardson is looking to build on the level of care it provides, while bringing its number of overall beds from 277 to 352 by 2024. “It’s really about being able to provide that higher level of trauma services closer to your home or, in some cases, right by your home,”
HOSPITAL RENOVATIONS The expansion project at Methodist Richardson involves the construction of two new oors at the hospital.
3rd 2nd oor oor
25,000 square feet of renovated emergency space, including 18 new beds 80,000 square feet of space to be utilized for emergency department expansions The newly constructed oor for the hospital’s pharmacy and lab space
Population projected to increase by 39% from 2010 to 2045.
30,000 60,000 150,000 90,000 120,000
oor 1st oor
INVESTING IN EXPANSION
0
2010
2020
2030
2045
SOURCE: CITY OF RICHARDSON COMMUNITY IMPACT
Methodist Richardson’s expansion will help it meet the needs of the growing population it serves.
Hutchenrider said. Methodist Richardson is a Level III trauma center, a designation it received last year that means it is able to provide assessment, resuscitation, surgery, intensive care and stabili- zation to injured patients, according to the American Trauma Society. Jan Arrant, director of community and public relations for Methodist Rich- ardson, said the hospital could reach a Level II designation by the end of 2025. Level II trauma centers can o er de nitive care for all injured patients and require things like 24-hour cov- erage by general surgeons and other specialists, tertiary care needs like cardiac surgery, and trauma preven- tion education. Last year, Methodist Richardson was also designated as a comprehen- sive stroke center, meaning it can treat the most complex stroke cases, according to the Stroke Awareness Foundation. “There are certain key elements that make communities able to grow and be successful, and access to health care is one of those primary ingredients,” Richardson City Man- ager Don Magner said via email. Mathai said these designations will allow for more patients and problems to be addressed at the hospital, less- ening the need to transfer patients or have them make longer drives to other hospitals, in turn improving outcomes for patients experiencing things that require immediate action. “Getting those designations … adds
value to that hospital,” Mathai said. “We wanted to provide better care and better service in a timely manner.” Increasing the quality of care Methodist Richardson is one part of a growing ecosystem of services sup- porting the city’s growth and helping drive its future, Magner said. In addition to providing care, the hospital is a source of local jobs. With a workforce of around 1,800 as of mid- 2023, Methodist Richardson o cials expect to grow headcount to around 2,100 to fully sta the expansion. “Our goal is just always to continue to provide the health care services that our community needs,” Hutch- enrider said. “We continue to ll in [sta ] to ... have the capacity and the medical sta to support what it is that we already have and where we want to continue to grow.” Along with being a creator of jobs, the hospital is also working to foster future opportunities and innovation. Through a partnership with Richard- son ISD, Methodist Richardson helps train students interested in medical professions, with students in the dis- trict’s career and technical education program able to take classes at the Methodist Richardson Campus for Continuing Care. Hutchenrider also said the hospital works closely with The University of Texas at Dallas, a Carnegie Classi - cation of Institutions of Higher Edu- cation-designated Tier One research university, from an educational
1.3 MILLION estimated residents in service area
60,000 estimated emergency room visits in 2023
SOURCE: METHODIST RICHARDSON MEDICAL CENTER COMMUNITY IMPACT
standpoint. The research designation means UT Dallas has a high level of research in doctoral degree elds that attract large amounts of public and private funding, per Carnegie. “Unique needs and community aspirations will change over time, and our ultimate goal is to continue to evolve and progress with those changes while providing the best ser- vices we can,” Magner said. Hutchenrider said Methodist Rich- ardson o cials are always looking ahead to future projects. As the hospi- tal has added new sta , o cials have brought on a new thoracic surgeon to provide more lung and chest care, and a new hepatobiliary surgeon to pro- vide more liver and pancreatic care. “You can receive high-level tertiary care right next to your home; that is the bene t to the community,” Hutch- enrider said. “It’s just a huge positive for our entire area.”
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
17
RICHARDSON EDITION • JUNE 2023
Powered by FlippingBook