The new UT Southwestern Medical Center at RedBird in South Dallas opened on Saturday.
Located at 3450 W Camp Wisdom Rd., this is the first academic medical center for North Texas.
“In addition to primary care services, we’ll have some medical specialties like cardiology, neurology, and even oncology,” Dr. Ericka Walker-Williams with UT Southwestern told Fox 4 News.
Members of the community said it will make their healthcare selections easier.
“Typically, you have to drive across town,” said DeSoto resident Barbara McCulloch.
Keith Vinson with YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas said, “Many of our residents from the south side of town, they have to go 30-40 minutes away, and now they put that within 10-15 minutes away.”
Dr. Walker-Williams said some residents may be skeptical of how long the hospital will last, but this medical center is here to stay.
“Some of these medical centers come, and some of them go,” she said, but added there was a lot of work that went into launching at this location.
The doctor emphasized how this new hospital will create accessible healthcare for nearby neighborhoods. She suggested that it “creates access for them to be able to come get quality care,” she said.
“Our newest regional medical center makes accessing state-of-the-art health care at UT Southwestern more convenient than ever for people who live and work in Southwest Dallas County,” the hospital’s website reads. “The center offers a broad range of services close to communities in Oak Cliff, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lancaster, and surrounding areas.”
“As part of the only academic medical center in North Texas, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Redbird provides patients with exceptional service and innovative care,” the description continues. “This includes advances to prevent illnesses and leading-edge methods for evaluating and treating conditions.”
Why don’t UTSW and Parkland work together to address the health care needs of that area of Dallas? It is disturbing to see what seems to be two different tracks for institutions whose mission is to provide health care services. I hope I am wrong in my impression that they are competing instead of cooperating.