FORNEY, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
Texas Health Resources plans to build a 242,000-square-foot hospital in Forney as the fast-growing city east of Dallas continues to undergo an economic development boom.
The new hospital will be built on 50 acres located along U.S. Route 80, adjacent to the Villages at Gateway project already underway and set to be anchored by H-E-B, Target and Home Depot.
The Texas Health Resources campus will also have of a four-story professional office building. A groundbreaking date has not yet been set, but Arlington-based Texas Health Resources expects to have construction completed in 2027.
Dallas-based architecture firm The Beck Group has been tapped to design the facility, which will initially have about 60 beds when it opens, said Toya White, president and chief nursing officer at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman. At full buildout, it will accommodate 104 beds. The hospital will also have about 30 surge beds, an intensive care unit, an intermediate care unit and an eight-bed neonatal intensive care unit.
Texas Health already operates the 91-bed Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman, which opened in 1975 in the county seat. There are also several regional hospitals located within 20 miles of Forney, including Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Sunnyvale, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, City Hospital at White Rock and Dallas Regional Medical Center in Mesquite.
However, Kaufman County and Forney have experienced rapid population growth. Kaufman County ranks as the second-fastest growing county in the country, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Forney led the nation for estimated population growth from 2020 to 2023 at 51.2%, according to a Dallas Business Journal analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
Texas Health CEO Barclay Berdan said in a statement the new hospital in Forney will enable the system "to better meet the community’s increasing needs."
"We are excited to offer more services and access points throughout Kaufman County, including constructing the first hospital in Forney," Berdan said. "With deep roots in the community, including a hospital in Kaufman that has served this community for more than 40 years, we are excited to bring additional health care for Kaufman County residents."
The hospital will have an emergency room, operating suites, a labor and delivery department, a variety of imaging services and additional services to provide the full continuum of care to the growing community. White said the project fills "gaps" in Forney beyond providing acute care. The hospital and professional services building will make it easier for people in Forney to access to primary care physicians, specialists, urgent care and other services.
"Right now, in terms of just healthcare access ... patients have to go outside of the community for care and that's just not optimal for patients," White said. "They want to be here in their community."
When it opens with 60 beds, the Forney hospital would be about the same scale as Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Rockwall and Texas Health Hospital Mansfield. At full buildout, its 104 beds would put it in the range of Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital in Plano (109 beds) and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound (99 beds).
The Forney hospital's size will still pale in comparison to regional giants like Medical City Dallas Hospital (986 beds), Baylor University Medical Center (914 beds) and Parkland Memorial Hospital (882 beds).
Texas Health officials officials could not provide specific estimates for how much the project will cost or how many jobs it will create. White said "a few hundred jobs" will be created and described the investment as a "substantial amount." She said jobs will be added as the hospital grows from 60 beds to 104.
"This is a substantial investment," White said. "We know Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the most competitive markets and also one of the fastest-growing markets. There are a lot of counties that are growing at fast rates. I think for Texas Health Resources, what [the investment] really says is we pay attention to the market. We pay attention to our consumer demands in terms of that growth and where there are gaps and where we can do better as an organization to fulfill those gaps."
Planning for the project has been going on for a while. Texas Health agreed to buy the property from Meadow Ridge Farm LP in October 2023 and finalized the purchase in May, according to county property records. Meadow Ridge Farm LP is an entity of Petro-Hunt LLC, a Dallas-based oil and gas company owned and operated by the William Herbert Hunt family. Petro-Hunt is the original developer of Gateway while Street Level Investments is spearheading Villages at Gateway.
The Forney City Council in January approved a change for the zoning of the property to allow for the development of a hospital, medical office buildings and an area for helicopters to land.
Forney Mayor Jason Roberson praised the hospital as a much-needed amenity for the city's residents.
"We are thrilled to welcome this facility to Forney, as it will provide our residents with top-quality health care right here in our city," Roberson said in a statement. "We look forward to welcoming Texas Health Resources and the positive impact it will have on our community."
White said the property has space for Texas Health to continue to expand even after the hospital is built to accommodate future growth in Forney. The system will also continue to give back philanthropically to support the community. Texas Health said it has provided more than $1 million in grants in Kaufman County over the last five years to address issues like mental health, social isolation and food insecurity.