County OKs $800 million bond proposal for hospital upgrades. Now you get to vote on it.
After weeks of promising, Tarrant County Commissioners have officially placed an $800 million bond proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot for voter consideration.
If voters approve the measure, the money will build new and expand existing facilities within the JPS Health Network without a tax rate increase, according to commissioners. The additional $800 million could fund more than $1.2 billion in hospital upgrades.
Proposed improvements include a new mental health and behavioral health hospital, a new main hospital tower, a new cancer center, four new regional health centers and a new ambulatory surgical center.
“We have to understand that this is the beginning, and not the end, because buildings don’t solve problems,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Andy Nguyen. “It is the implementation of our health care plan and our mental health plan that will solve the problem.”
The Commissioners Court is required by law to call any bond election authorizing the issuance of tax-supported bonds by the Hospital District, a news release from Tarrant County Commissioners Court said. It is currently anticipated that the bonds authorized by the election will be issued in several series over the next several years.
The court also emphasizes its intent to be fiscally responsible in the issuance of bonds if approved by voters and is committed to only issue bonds the county has the capacity to repay without a tax rate increase, the release said.
“This is a day that has been a long time in coming, but that long time in coming was time well spent developing a good plan, developing a good community consensus, developing a knowledge of good sources of revenue, and developing discussions about an integrated health system for Tarrant County,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks.
“All of this has been to the benefit of the citizens, taxpayers, and the patients who use John Peter Smith Hospital.”
Earlier in 2018, the county got a report from a Citizens Blue Ribbon Committee, which identified health needs for the county.
Reccommendations included spending $830 million for an improved main tower that includes 676 beds and an urgent care area. The report also urged spending an estimated $204 million for a psychiatric care facility that included 298 beds.
According to data from a Tarleton State Jail Study, 25. 2 percent of inmates who were booked into the Tarrant County jail between Jan. 1, 2013 and June 30, 2015 needed MHMR services and nearly 25 percent of that group had a serious mental health diagnosis.
Nearly 15 percent were diagnosed with substance use, abuse, or dependence issues; and 4 percent had a medical, intellectual disability, or cognitive impairment diagnosis.
This story includes information from Star-Telegram archives.
Mitch Mitchell: 817-390-7752, @mitchmitchel3
This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 7:13 PM with the headline "County OKs $800 million bond proposal for hospital upgrades. Now you get to vote on it.."