Baylor-Garland Hospital to convert to Veterans Admin Hospital 9/6/19 K.Agee

According to City Councilman Robert Vera, the old Baylor-Garland Hospital will soon be the site of a new Veterans Administration Hospital. There are quite a few details to be worked out, but at least we now have a commitment from the Federal Government for the conversion. This should help lots of veterans who currently either have to go to the main VA complex in East Oak Cliff (Dallas), Bonham, or the new clinic in west Plano.

Older residents may remember that this hospital site originally opened in 1964 as “Memorial Hospital” in honor of returning WW2 veterans. For years, it was a major hospital for Dallas County, and came to be known as “Garland Memorial Hospital”. In 1991, it was purchased and operated by Baylor Scott & White which is a non-profit organization that is closely tied to Baylor. “Baylor” upgraded the hospital during the next several years, but decided that wasn’t going to be able to compete with all the other new hospitals being built in the area. They announced its closure in early 2018, at a time when it had 113 beds and over 700 employees. There have not been any hospital services since 3/1/18, but some of the buildings continue to house professional services such as doctors & other outpatient services.

It’s still not clear how much of this campus will be taken over by the Veterans Administration, but it should fill out a large part of the unused space there.

This should be a big win for our neighborhood, since it will surely bring new residents with high-paying jobs. It comes at a good time for new residents because the new “Riverset” neighborhood is currently being constructed on the site of the old Wyrick Farm at the southwest corner of Buckingham & Shiloh Rds.