Demolition event at Texas Health Fort Worth marks start of next phase to massive construction project
A new construction milestone ‘came in like a wrecking ball’ this week at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth as demolition crews began tearing down the Ben Hogan parking garage to make way for the new Jane and John Justin Patient Surgical Tower.
“In order to build new opportunities, we must also tear down,” Barclay Berdan, FACHE, Texas Health’s chief executive officer, said in to the crowd watching the demolition begin.
The patient tower is scheduled to open its doors in 2022 — one hundred years after the hospital was founded.
The nine-story patient bed tower is part of a $300 million expansion project that will add 144 beds and 15 surgical suites that are expected to increase the hospital’s daily surgical capacity by almost 30 percent.
Additional features will include new pre-operative and post-operative areas, two floors of shell space to accommodate future expansions, and design elements that highlight the use of natural light.
The building’s name pays homage to the legendary Fort Worth business leader and former Mayor John Justin and his wife, Jane, and the generous $10 million commitment made in their honor by the Justin Foundation. That $10 million gift is part of a $50 million philanthropic campaign, the largest in Texas Health’s history, to support the project
“Thanks to the foundation’s financial contribution, we are able to uphold a shared vision to help ensure the health care needs of Fort Worth residents are taken care of for years to come,” said Laura McWhorter, vice president of the Texas Health Resources Foundation.
Joseph DeLeon, president of Texas Health Fort Worth, spoke at the wrecking ball event and emphasized the need for more space, new technologies and greater capacity to treat a growing population.
“In the past 15 years, the communities we serve have grown by almost 300,000, which means we must continue to grow,” he said. “Responding to that growth by offering patients and families not only quality medical care but spaces that are conducive to healing and well-being is made possible, in large part, through new construction opportunities like the one we are celebrating today.”
By Brittany Barron • Posted June 25, 2019
