VA North Texas opens new 13-bed inpatient unit

Dallas-Fort Worth has one of the largest Veteran populations in the country, and demand for medical care at the VA North Texas Health Care System has grown for 10 years straight.

The Dallas VA Medical Center cut the ribbon on its newest in-patient unit with 13 private beds December 18. In the photo above, cutting the ribbon are, from left, April Gould, nurse manager for 6C400; Kendrick Brown, associate director; Dr. Gwen Robinson, chief nursing executive; Yolonda Patrick, chief nurse for acute care; and Dr. Jeff Hastings, chief of staff.

The new unit features private rooms with private bathrooms and greater capabilities for infectious disease and special needs patients. It also is telemetry capable, which means it’s capable of hosting patients who are in critical condition and need constant care.

“This is the second inpatient unit in our health care system to have all private rooms,” said Patrick. “More importantly, it adds 13 beds for use by our growing patient population.”

In with the new

The Dallas VA Medical Center campus features 279 inpatient bed spaces. Up to 200 eligible Veterans wait in community hospitals daily for open bed space there. Inpatient space also is at a premium in the surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“This new unit was greatly needed. Our demand for bed space surpasses our capacity on a daily basis,” said Jeff Allen. Allen is a registered nurse and a VA North Texas clinical program manager. A renovation is planned to convert another unit with dual occupant rooms into private rooms.

In 2018, the VA North Texas Health Care System provided over 69,000 bed days of care and 1.5 million individual episodes of care.

Jeffrey Clapper is the North Texas chief of Communications & Community Engagement.