Dallas County鈥檚 safety net hospital will increase its bed capacity to keep up with community needs.
More than 100 new beds will be added to Parkland Memorial Hospital, which has one of the .
Half of those beds will be available in June ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Edmundo Casta帽eda, Parkland Health vice president and chief operating officer, said the organization has been working on expanding access for years the growing need.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 demonstrated obviously that the county continues to grow organically,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t also shows that there's tremendous needs still in those areas that are vulnerable and historically underserved.鈥�
Demand grows in Dallas County
Parkland Hospital had more than 225,000 emergency room visits in 2025. That鈥檚 more than any other hospital that was part of 鈥� including John Peter Smith, or JPS Hospital, Tarrant County鈥檚 safety net hospital.
Parkland has been at the top of that list for several years, Castaneda said.
鈥淥n any given day, we have patients that are holding in the emergency department already in some sort of admission status and waiting for a bed to free up in the hospital tower somewhere,鈥� Casta帽eda said. 鈥淚t could be anywhere from about 20 patients that are holding all the way up to 70 patients. It's actually been higher than that.鈥�
What Casta帽eda is describing is referred to as 鈥渂oarding,鈥� where to in-patient beds can keep people in an emergency room for longer than necessary. The American College of Emergency Physicians said boarding is 鈥渁 result of dangerous health system overload.鈥� Boarding can have a on .
鈥淲hen that happens, that tends to bog down the emergency departments,鈥� Casta帽eda said. 鈥淚t tends to have an impact on the other patients in the emergency department that are not admitted, but that are there seeking care from us.鈥�
He said the goal of expanding beds at Parkland Memorial Hospital is to improve the patient experience by freeing up the emergency room to treat patients more effectively.
The expansion will add two floors with 56 beds each 鈥� increasing Parkland Hospital鈥檚 overall capacity to almost 1,000 beds. One floor will open in June, ahead of the World Cup, and the other will open in October.
Hospital capacity is one of the key areas of need identified in the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment 鈥� which combines geographic and demographic data with community input to identify gaps in health access in Dallas County. However, the assessment identified several priority areas 鈥� which meant Parkland had to choose what to prioritize.
鈥淲hen we get the [community health needs assessment], we look at where there is most need, where there are vulnerabilities, where there are gaps that we need to help address,鈥� Casta帽eda said. 鈥淭hen, we come up with a plan. In this case鈥dding beds made sense for us given the overall plan.鈥�
Parkland to increase workforce
Construction on the units is complete, but there is still more that Parkland has to do to make them operational.
鈥淲e have to equip the units, we have to make sure that they're ready to take care of patients on day one,鈥� Casta帽eda said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we're working on right now.鈥�
A significant part of that process is staffing the units. Parkland will hire additional nurses, patient care technicians and doctors. While the health care industry as a whole has staffing issues, including growing concerns around nursing shortages, Casta帽eda said Parkland is in a good position to increase its workforce.
鈥淭he way that we do things here at Parkland, our culture, the way we compensate, our benefit structure, we're an attractive place for people to come and work and certainly to be a part of something that's bigger than themselves,鈥� he said, 鈥渋n terms of taking care of patients that are poor and vulnerable and need us when they're sick.鈥�
Casta帽eda said Parkland鈥檚 turnover rates are 鈥渕uch lower鈥� than they were during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the organization is fortunate to be in a better spot with staffing.
Beds come online ahead of world cup
Parkland is a designated facility to take care of 鈥渃risis situation[s]鈥� that happen during the World Cup, which is expected to bring millions of fans to North Texas.
Casta帽eda said the organization has taken part in community-wide planning to prepare.
鈥淲e're going to be hosting people from various parts of the world where there's going to be different expectations in terms of the health care system,鈥� he said.
Research shows the 鈥渉igh-income鈥� or 鈥渄eveloped鈥� country known as 鈥渦niversal health care鈥� 鈥� all people have access to 鈥渢he full range of quality health services they need.鈥�
For people traveling to the U.S. for the tournament, this could be their first interaction with a health care system that relies on private health insurance.
Casta帽eda said the organization wanted at least one of the two floors of beds available with the expectation that the world cup could place more strain on the health care system in North Texas.
鈥淲e thought to ourselves, 鈥業f we're already planning to increase hospital capacity, wouldn't it be nice if we were able to at least increase capacity in time for all these people that are coming into the community to watch the World Cup?鈥欌�� he said.
Abigail Ruhman is 四虎影院鈥檚 health reporter. Got a tip? Email Abigail at aruhman@kera.org.
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