On a mild morning in mid-March, a steady stream of cars carrying teachers, health care workers and grandparents rolled through the parking lot of Ellis Davis Field House in southern Dallas County.
Lisa Wheeler, a Parkland Health & Hospital System nurse, was at the other end of the parking lot, dressed in her uniform blue scrubs, face mask and shield. She met each person who rolled down a window or opened a car door with a fresh sense of optimism.
Her smile concealed, Wheeler tried to express with her eyes how happy she was to be there.
“I feel like there is hope now,” Wheeler said.
Despite critics, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins remains steadfast on COVID response
After a legacy-defining year, the county’s top elected official reflects on his leadership amid the coronavirus pandemic and racial justice.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins poses at his office after a news conference about the coronavirus pandemic on Dec. 18, 2020. His year was dominated by fighting COVID-19 and responding to calls for criminal justice reform.(Lola Gomez / Staff Photographer)
When Dallas County commissioners met downtown recently, John Wiley Price and J.J. Koch snickered out loud. It was 9 a.m., the start of their Tuesday semimonthly meeting, and County Judge Clay Jenkins was late.
Parkland investigating sock monkey gift after questions from employees
A hospital vice president distributed mugs with candy to eight employees. Some with a sock monkey picture were given to Black employees.
Commissioner John Wiley Price at a meeting March 19, 2020 in Dallas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
Officials at Parkland Health & Hospital System are investigating an employee gift featuring a sock monkey cartoon after receiving complaints that it was offensive.
A photograph of a mug given as a gift to Black employees at Parkland Hospital. Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price criticized the gift.(John Wiley Price/submitted)
“You cannot catch COVID from the vaccine. The vaccine does not include any of the virus,” he said.
Patients who are sick from the virus now occupy 40% of the intensive care beds in Dallas County Hospitals, according to the DFW Hospital Council CEO Steve Love.
He told Dallas County Commissioners Tuesday it is the highest COVID-19 ICU rate to face hospital workers so far in the pandemic.
“Many of them are fatigued. As you all know, they re healthcare heroes,” Love said.
County Health Director, Dr. Philip Huang, said vaccine distribution is based on state and national advice.
“The guiding principle for how this will be allocated, protecting hospital workers, protecting front line workers, protecting vulnerable populations,” Huang said.
CM: BARA (Balfour Beatty Construction, Austin Commercial, H.J. Russell & Company, and Azteca-Omega Group joint venture)
GENERAL INFORMATION
Construction cost: $1.27 billion
Delivery method: Collaborative project delivery (no contract)
MAKING THE COMPLEX SIMPLE
In 2008, Dallas County voters overwhelmingly approved a $747 million bond issue to replace the 1950s-era existing hospital. The design team of HDR+Corgan, a four-firm construction management group known as “BARA,” and programmer Blue Cottage were tasked with creating a master plan for the 64-acre medical campus and a building design for a LEED-NC 2009 Silver hospital. Ground was broken in May 2010; construction was completed last October.
What sounds like a relatively smooth execution belies the complexity of the project and the Herculean effort the Building Team made to make it seem easy.