Texas Health adding First Choice ERs to its healthcare system

Texas Health Resources is adding the chain of free-standing First Choice Emergency Rooms to its healthcare network in North Texas.

The Arlington-based operator of the Harris Methodist and Presbyterian hospital chains announced a joint venture Wednesday with Adeptus Health Care, the Lewisville-based operator of First Choice.

Under the agreement, Texas Health will have a controlling interest in the venture and the 27 First Choice facilities in North Texas will be rebranded as Texas Health emergency rooms by year’s end, said Barclay E. Berdan, CEO of Texas Health Resources. The First Choice name will go away.

Once the businesses are integrated next year, the alignment with Texas Health will expand network contracts with all major insurers to the free-standing ERs, allowing more consumers access to in-network rates for care at the neighborhood centers. The First Choice managers will stay in place, he said.

“We think they’ve done an extremely good job operating those emergency rooms, so we will continue to let their team operate them,” Berdan said.

First Choice has nine locations in Tarrant County with ERs in Arlington, Fort Worth, Colleyville, Haslet, North Richland Hills and Mansfield. Two other North Texas sites are expected to open in DeSoto and Plano this month. The Adeptus-owned First Texas Hospital in Carrollton will also be included in the joint venture.

The free-standing ERs have a full radiology suite, including CT scanner, digital X-ray and ultrasound, as well as on-site laboratory capabilities. Berdan said the affiliation will also allow for faster direct admissions to Texas Health hospitals for those patients who need greater care.

Adeptus is a publicly traded company that also has First Choice locations in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Colorado. Its stock (ticker: ADPT) jumped $4.52 a share, or nearly 8 percent, to $63.62 on the New York Stock Exchange.

“This innovative venture between two leading health care systems is an important step in fulfilling our mission to expand access to the highest-quality medical care in the communities we and our partners serve,” Adeptus Health Chairman and CEO Thomas S. Hall said in a statement.

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Texas Health adding First Choice ERs to its healthcare system."