Healthcare system expands with new Northwest Emergency at Tascosa
The Northwest Texas Healthcare System (NWTHS) marked the groundbreaking for its new emergency facility location in Amarillo during a ceremony Thursday afternoon.
The groundbreaking was held at 4299 NW 4th Ave., where the new facility will be built. According to NWTHS, the project is projected to be completed by January 2025, serving patients as soon as March of that year.
“This is an exciting year for Northwest, beginning with our level two designation, and we are very much committed to providing healthcare access to our local communities. And this is very much an example of that,” Jason Barrett, NWTHS CEO, said.
The Northwest Emergency at Tascosa will be the third emergency site of Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo. The new location will be a 11,570 sq. ft. building housed on a 5-acre lot, and it will serve approximately 18,000 to 25,000 patients annually.
The new facility will have nine treatment areas, as well as imaging equipment and a laboratory, and it will be available for outpatient testing.
According to Andrea DeLoach, Freestanding Emergency Room director for NWTHS, the new location will function as an emergency room. Procedures including x-rays, CT scans, lab work and more will be performed on site at the new location.
“We decided there was a need for a new location because of the large volume of patients that we have seen over at our other locations, … so to us, that is the community confirming that this is a model that meets their needs and what they want,” DeLoach said.
“I hear often about patients bringing in their grandpa that didn’t want to go to the hospital, or parents that bring in their children, patients who prefer to come here for emergency services because they find the environment to be very welcoming, friendly, clean. We get to know the patients, and they get to know us as well. It might be a little closer to home. You get a one-on-one experience, and it’s a place you can go for your emergency needs in your community,” DeLoach added.
In addition, should a patient require treatment at the main hospital, the patient will be taken via ambulance at no additional cost to the patient. Minor surgeries as well as emergency procedures will be performed at the location as needed. The new location will include approximately 10 positions for new and current NWTHS employees.
“This location will be similar to our Town Square and Georgia locations in size, so we will have a similar amount of medical coverage including a physician and a physician assistant working in tandem to take care of the patients primarily. … The location will have approximately three nurses on site and nurse technicians, as well as a laboratory technician and registration staffing as well,” Emilio Belaval, chief of staff for NWTHS, said.
According to NWTHS, they have two other Amarillo locations including the Northwest Emergency at Town Square that serves more than 20,000 patients, and the Northwest Emergency on Georgia that serves more than 25,000 patients annually. Both locations have Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditations by the American College of Emergency Physicians.
For more information about NWTHS, visit them online at https://www.nwths.com/ .