On any given day, the Dallas (Texas) County Jail adds between 300 and 350 inmates to its population of about 6,000. Among those new arrivals, at least half are ill, and about one in every six has some kind of mental illness.
Providing medical care within a correctional facility poses difficult logistical problems. On a busy day, the Dallas County Jail has to send up to 10 patients to nearby Parkland Hospital for higher levels of care in Parkland’s emergency department or inpatient area. Those transfers represent a security risk and add to the cost of guarding prisoners.
Since taking over the correctional health services for the jail in 2006, Parkland Health & Hospital System has remade the facility into a recognized national model for providing efficient healthcare to the incarcerated. More recently, Parkland has been using $38 million of county money to retrofit the three bottom floors of the jail’s North Tower into medical and mental health infirmaries totaling 300 beds, an expanded pharmacy, classrooms, and administrative offices.
Sharon Phillips, RN, Chief Administrative Officer for Parkland Health & Hospital Services, says the new facility will allow Parkland to better monitor its more acutely ill inmates, perform minor surgery, and provide IV treatments without having to transport prisoners outside the jail. A new mental health floor will offer classes in anger management, personal hygiene, and health maintenance.
Phillips says that once the new facility is up and running, most of the sick or injured inmates who previously had to be sent to area medical centers will be able to be treated at the jail’s infirmary or medical/surgical unit. “One of the most common reasons we send individuals to the Parkland campus is for chest pain,” she says. “When the new infirmary opens, we will be able to keep most of those inmates at the jail.”
Architecture firm HDR, which designed the jail more than two decades ago, is handling the renovation. HDR Senior Project Manager Jeffrey Forrest says clearing, demolishing, and rebuilding the interiors of three bottom floors without disturbing the six floors above led to some surprises, such as a deeply buried underground sewer system that needed to be uprooted.
The medical facility is scheduled to open next May. Azteca + Russell + Turner is the joint venture GC. Hill International is the project manager.
Read about more innovations from BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report.
Related Stories
Contractors | Feb 6, 2015
Census Bureau: Capital spending by U.S. businesses increased 4.5%
Of the 19 industry sectors covered in the report, only one had a statistically significant year-to-year decrease in capital spending: the utilities sector.
Warehouses | Feb 5, 2015
Self storage facility designed to blend in with Miami Beach's party scene
The plans by architect Gutierrez & Lozano are of a sleek, boutique-looking, 22,500-sf facility at the gateway to the city.
Sponsored | Designers | Feb 5, 2015
3D printing has people in the building and construction industry talking
How can 3D printing affect the building design and construction industry?
Cultural Facilities | Feb 5, 2015
5 developments selected as 'best in urban placemaking'
Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, S.C., and the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Downtown Market are among the finalists for the 2015 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence.
Architects | Feb 5, 2015
Toy around with Ittyblox's ultra-detailed building blocks
For Lego fanatics, time is no object when building a model. For those of us with a little less time, Ittyblox is a good solution.
Transit Facilities | Feb 4, 2015
London mayor approves plan for a bicycle highway
The plan will guarantee bike riders a designated stretch of street to ride from east to west through the city.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Feb 4, 2015
Arup unveils plans for the new A.C. Milan stadium
The venue will include a modern stage for the home matches together with a hotel, sports college, restaurants, children’s playground, green areas, and spaces open to the city and dedicated to public use.
Higher Education | Feb 3, 2015
Integrated Learning Neighborhoods: A solution for linking student housing with the typical student experience
Just as urban housing fits into the city as a whole, student housing can be integrated into the campus network as a series of living/learning neighborhoods, write Gensler's Brian Watson and Mark McMinn.
Office Buildings | Feb 3, 2015
5 trends transforming workplace design
RTKL's workplace design expert Jodi Williams foresees healthier and more technologically enabled offices that allow productive worker interaction, wherever they happen to be.
Architects | Feb 3, 2015
Frank Lloyd Wright’s work nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Status
If selected, Wright’s work will be the first examples of U.S. modern architecture on the list.