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
University Buildings | May 5, 2023
New health sciences center at St. John’s University will feature geothermal heating, cooling
The recently topped off St. Vincent Health Sciences Center at St. John’s University in New York City will feature impressive green features including geothermal heating and cooling along with an array of rooftop solar panels. The geothermal field consists of 66 wells drilled 499 feet below ground which will help to heat and cool the 70,000 sf structure.
Office Buildings | May 4, 2023
In Southern California, a former industrial zone continues to revitalize with an award-winning office property
In Culver City, Calif., Del Amo Construction, a construction company based in Southern California, has completed the adaptive reuse of 3516 Schaefer St, a new office property. 3516 Schaefer is located in Culver City’s redeveloped Hayden Tract neighborhood, a former industrial zone that has become a technology and corporate hub.
Mass Timber | May 3, 2023
Gensler-designed mid-rise will be Houston’s first mass timber commercial office building
A Houston project plans to achieve two firsts: the city’s first mass timber commercial office project, and the state of Texas’s first commercial office building targeting net zero energy operational carbon upon completion next year. Framework @ Block 10 is owned and managed by Hicks Ventures, a Houston-based development company.
Market Data | May 2, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending up 0.7% in March 2023 versus previous month
National nonresidential construction spending increased by 0.7% in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $997.1 billion for the month.
Life of an Architect Podcast | May 2, 2023
Life of an Architect Podcast Ep. 124: Show Me the Money
I get asked a lot about how much money an architect makes. Without understanding a few parameters, that’s like trying to buy a car by the pound. I spend a fair amount of my time discussing the architectural marketplace, where we can find value, what’s the going salary rate based on skill set and experience, and how badly we need this spot or that spot filled.
Hotel Facilities | May 2, 2023
U.S. hotel construction up 9% in the first quarter of 2023, led by Marriott and Hilton
In the latest United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), analysts report that construction pipeline projects in the U.S. continue to increase, standing at 5,545 projects/658,207 rooms at the close of Q1 2023. Up 9% by both projects and rooms year-over-year (YOY); project totals at Q1 ‘23 are just 338 projects, or 5.7%, behind the all-time high of 5,883 projects recorded in Q2 2008.
Architects | May 1, 2023
HOK names Eli Hoisington and Susan Klumpp Williams as Co-CEOs
HOK has appointed Eli Hoisington, AIA, LEED AP, and Susan Klumpp Williams, AIA, LEED AP, as its new co-chief executive officers, succeeding Bill Hellmuth, FAIA, LEED AP, who passed away on April 6, shortly after his scheduled retirement.
Multifamily Housing | May 1, 2023
A prefab multifamily housing project will deliver 200 new apartments near downtown Denver
In Denver, Mortenson, a Colorado-based builder, developer, and engineering services provider, along with joint venture partner Pinnacle Partners, has broken ground on Revival on Platte, a multifamily housing project. The 234,156-sf development will feature 200 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments on eight floors, with two levels of parking.
Mass Timber | May 1, 2023
SOM designs mass timber climate solutions center on Governors Island, anchored by Stony Brook University
Governors Island in New York Harbor will be home to a new climate-solutions center called The New York Climate Exchange. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), The Exchange will develop and deploy solutions to the global climate crisis while also acting as a regional hub for the green economy. New York’s Stony Brook University will serve as the center’s anchor institution.
Market Data | May 1, 2023
AEC firm proposal activity rebounds in the first quarter of 2023: PSMJ report
Proposal activity for architecture, engineering and construction (A/E/C) firms increased significantly in the 1st Quarter of 2023, according to PSMJ’s Quarterly Market Forecast (QMF) survey. The predictive measure of the industry’s health rebounded to a net plus/minus index (NPMI) of 32.8 in the first three months of the year.