UT Southwestern will play a role in the rebirth of Red Bird in southern Dallas, and it will open a new medical center to anchor the development. The agreement between UTSW and ReImagine Redibird, which is redeveloping the area, will include a new facility that will occupy 150,000 square feet in the former Sears space at Redbird Mall.
“As part of our mission to improve the health of our community, we are excited by the opportunities presented by this redevelopment effort to bring additional medical services to those living and working in southern Dallas,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern via release. “We admire the dedication of RedBird owner Peter Brodsky, who has demonstrated bold enthusiasm to invigorate RedBird into a model live-work community and created an outstanding location from which we can reaffirm our commitment to our patients and their families in this region of the city.”
The medical center is heading into a retail area that has received $22 million in tax subsidies from the city of Dallas to go toward infrastructure and construction. Much of UTSW’s expansion has been into economically growing areas, but this move aligns it with city interests who have long wanted to kick start development in southern Dallas.
The southern expansion coincides with northern growth of UTSW via its partnership with Texas Health Resources, called Southwestern Health Resources. Texas Health Frisco is set to have its grand opening next week. UT Southwestern’s partnership will allow the organization to have a wider patient base that spans DFW, and THR gets access to the expertise of UTSW.
UT Southwestern has similar medical centers in Frisco, Richardson/Plano, Park Cities, Fort Worth and Las Colinas, but this will be the first expansion south of I-30 in Dallas. The medical center will include a range of services that dependent upon additional input from community leaders and residents, but will focus on specialty services. It is slated to open in 2021. The new center will pair with Parkland’s commitment to opening a 40,000 square foot primary care facility at Redbird as well.
“Many of our patients travel from far and wide to the UT Southwestern main campus for care. We wanted to bring the care we offer closer to home, in this instance to the south side of our city,” said Dr. John Warner, Executive Vice President of Health System Affairs at UT Southwestern via release.
“UT Southwestern is world-renowned for its quality care and we are thrilled to facilitate its service of southern Dallas,” said Peter Brodsky, the majority owner of RedBird via release. “RedBird seeks to provide southern Dallas families with the quality amenities they want, but which are not currently available in their community. In addition to lacking retail, restaurants and entertainment, southern Dallas does not have enough medical facilities. Parkland’s clinic at RedBird, announced earlier this year, began to address the issue. Now, Dr. Podolsky and his team at UT Southwestern have demonstrated their vision to improve health for all through their extraordinary commitment to a part of our city that has been underserved for too long. We are also excited to welcome patients and families expected to visit UT Southwestern Medical Center at RedBird.”
