Following budgetary challenges, JPS Health Network leaders are working to stabilize the hospital district鈥檚 finances to ensure completion of its expansion projects.
闯笔厂鈥檚 board of managers unanimously agreed to transfer $303.4 million from the hospital district鈥檚 operating cash to the JPS Future Fund Dec. 12. The future fund is money set aside for the purpose of major renovations identified and approved by the board.
Dr. Karen Duncan, CEO and president of JPS, said the transfer is needed to 鈥渕itigate the risk鈥� around the completion of the hospital district鈥檚 master facility plan.
闯笔厂鈥檚 details new facilities including a , , , parking garage and . The plan is supported by an $800 million bond package approved by voters in 2018.
Hospital leaders initially the entire expansion project would cost $1.2 billion 鈥� funded by the bond package and the hospital鈥檚 own funds. In 2022, that to $1.5 billion.
In August, board managers were informed the total cost of 闯笔厂鈥檚 master facility plan would , to a project budget of $2.1 billion. JPS will now have to find an additional $600 million to pay the bill.
Labor costs, the price of materials and inflation affecting the entire health care industry fueled the higher price tag, Cameron Geertsema, program manager with Broaddus & Associates, previously told the board during an Aug. 22 meeting. Progress also slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Duncan the Report.
Because of financial changes and reprioritization, JPS has since removed three planned medical homes that were included in the from its master facility plan.
During the Dec. 12 meeting, interim Chief Financial Officer Rory McCrady said there was roughly $200 million still needed for the remainder of the construction projects.
鈥淒r. Duncan and I did discuss this extensively about what the right strategy is and really feel it is a good opportunity to go ahead and boost that future fund given the construction needs and the targets there for the overall project,鈥� McCrady told the JPS board of managers.
The transfer brings the JPS Future Fund to $1.12 billion. The approval also lowers the hospital district鈥檚 operating cash reserves from $1.136 billion to $833 million.
Duncan echoed McCrady鈥檚 points, adding the additional funds could also be used for strategic growth in the future.
鈥淚t does give us an opportunity, if we do have new initiatives, to look at where we鈥檙e at financially, and ask for board approval to redesignate for a future strategy,鈥� she said.
For Roger Fisher, chair of the board of managers, the growth in the JPS Future Fund spurred confidence in the hospital district鈥檚 ability to finish what it started.
鈥淏eing able to move this much money and be so very close to the ultimate goal of the $2.1 billion, it should give our county commissioners and all residents of Tarrant County (relief) that we are fiscally responsible and we can deliver the promises that we made,鈥� he said.
The first project in the JPS master facility plan, Medical Home Southwest Tarrant, is set to open in early 2025. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the clinic will be held Dec. 18.
The hospital district鈥檚 next project, the psychiatric emergency center, is set to open in summer 2025. That project will increase the hospital district鈥檚 behavioral health capacity from 30 beds to roughly 90.
The master facility plan will conclude with new hospital towers in winter 2029 鈥� more than a decade after the approval of the bond package.
David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or .
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