Grand Prairie, Texas, will soon have a new hospital, thanks to an agreement between the Grand Prairie City Council and the Parkland Health and Hospital System. The project will be co-financed by the city of Grand Prairie and Dallas County, and the land for the new hospital will be repurposed from an old police station.

According to Jim Cummings, city environmental services director, said the old police station will be demolished this spring. "It’s served its use," Cummings said. "With all the asbestos and adding on, it was just better to demolish it and start over. A health center couldn’t be two stories, either. And circulation has to work for a clinic differently than what we had with the police department."

The removal of asbestos will be required prior to demolition, in order to keep the material from becoming airborne. Inhaling or ingesting asbestos fibers, even accidentally, can be fatal. Asbestos exposure is conclusively linked to the development of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. Mesothelioma affects less than 3,000 Americans each year.

"Twenty-six percent of our residents in the city don’t have health insurance," added Cummings. "For every dollar spent on preventative and wellness medicine, you prevent $10 being spent down the road. So many people who need medical care but can’t get to it wait until emergency care is needed. More access helps us out."

"We’ll have about 100 people working at the clinic," Cummings said. "Maybe some of them will move here. They’ll eat lunch here, shop here and some will play here. Those are dollars being spent in our community."

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.