Adeptus Health aligns freestanding ER's with Texas Health; facilities to rebrand this year
Venture will align 27 freestanding ER's and First Texas Hospital in Carrollton with Texas Health, companies say.
Photo by First Texas Hospital
Texas Health Resources, one of the country's largest nonprofit health systems, and Adeptus Health will partner to expand access to emergency care in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. The joint venture will align Adeptus Health's 27 freestanding First Choice emergency rooms in North Texas and First Texas Hospital in Carrollton with Texas Health, the companies announced Wednesday.
The new alignment between the two systems will enhance Texas Health's network of care centers, which includes hospitals and outpatient facilities, that serve 7 million people in and around the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
In North Texas, First Choice operates ER facilities in Dallas, Denton, Collin and Tarrant Counties. They are equipped with radiology suites including CT scanners, digital x-ray and ultrasound as well as on-site labs staffed by board-certified physicians and registered nurses.
First Texas Hospital in Carrollton is a 50 bed hospital that includes a four-bed ICU, three operating rooms, nine ER beds and surgical specialties. It will be rebranded under Texas Health's name later in the year. Additional freestanding ER's that are expected to open in Plano and DeSoto also will be rebranded later this year, as will other anticipated new ER's, Adeptus said.
The partnership is one step in addressing the significant need for increased access to emergency care. The American College of Emergency Physicians' 2014 National Report Card ranked Texas 47th out of 50 states for access to emergency care, giving them an 'F'.
"We're responding to changing consumer demands as the region's population has grown beyond areas immediately surrounding our traditional, acute-care hospitals," Barclay E. Berdan, CEO of Texas Health Resources. "Large neighborhoods and population centers are not always down the street from one of our hospitals. Patients shouldn't have to drive long distances to get to a hospital-based ER when a freestanding emergency facility could more conveniently take care of their problem and get them back home sooner."
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
