Christus Trinity Mother Frances breaks ground on 24-hour emergency care center in Lindale

Jul. 14—Northeast Texas leaders, government officials, administrators and caregivers united in Lindale on Tuesday to celebrate the beginning of construction on a new around-the-clock emergency care center.

The state-of-the-art emergency care center is 12,900 square feet and will serve as a full-scale emergency department onsite at the HealthPark in Lindale. It will house 11 exam rooms, one trauma room, four intake rooms and a full-service imaging center (including advanced imaging services and a laboratory for easier access to test results).

The medical staff will consist of certified emergency medicine physicians and nurses who will join the specialty providers in cardiology, orthopedics, sleep, podiatry and oncology.

JT Brown, medical director of the emergency department at Christus Mother Frances in Tyler, is a Lindale native and excited for new availability.

"The importance is availability," Brown said. "In a true emergency, minutes and seconds matter, and being able to have this facility here in Lindale, where our patients and our community can quickly access residency-trained, board-certified emergency physicians who can rapidly and accurately diagnose and treat their conditions is going to be a huge benefit to this community."

The new facility will also have Christus Trinity Clinic primary care providers, a physical therapy suite, cardiac rehab and a health and fitness center. The care center will also be accepting ambulance traffic, giving patients the ability to request the new ER as their preferred choice for emergency care.

Lindale Mayor Jeff Daugherty attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony and shared a personal story about a time he had a kidney stone before entering office in 2016.

"In 1992 when I came to Lindale, you couldn't get a Band-Aid in the middle of the night. We've come a long way," Daugherty said.

During his kidney stone incident, Daugherty said he showed up to an urgent care unit, where he was told he needed to go to an emergency room. As he pleaded for just a shot, he knew he needed an emergency room for his community and neighboring communities.

"We need emergency care for Lindale. Not a Band-Aid in '92, but urgent care. When you're in need, you're in need and you're in need right there, and it stops these rides to Tyler," Daugherty said.

Daughtery thanked Christus for their time in getting the project done, adding it's been a high priority for the city staff and council.

Jason Proctor, president of both Christus Mother Frances Hospitals and the Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital, said the new facility will help Christus respond to patients' needs in Lindale and the surrounding area.

"Being able to access high quality, COVID-safe health care, especially emergency care, is something that is incredibly important to our new patients, particularly here in north Smith County and the surrounding areas," Proctor said. "We have been entrenched in this community for decades providing interventional health care services, and we have worked to build up this facility over time, and today, we are excited to begin the next step — emergency care available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

The new facility will also be adding jobs to the area, reinforcing Christus Trinity Mother Frances' commitment to growth.

"With this new facility, we will be adding about 16 more associates in the Emergency Care Center, including nurses, techs and lab techs. We are also adding five new physicians and plan to add two more advanced practice providers," said Chris Glenney, CEO and senior vice president of group operations of Christus Health.

Construction is set to begin immediately. Patients and visitors to Christus Trinity Mother Frances HealthPark in Lindale will be able to continue receiving care and accessing facilities with uninterrupted service.