By Sherry Jacobson for The Dallas Morning News
The new Parkland Memorial Hospital will officially open its doors to patients on Aug. 20, two months later than expected, the hospital announced Monday.
Without explaining the delay, leaders of Dallas County’s lone public county hospital said the move remained on schedule for next summer. Earlier move dates in May and June were simply targets and not confirmed move-in dates, the hospital said.
A statement released by Parkland focused on how the hospital staff would move patients into the new hospital over a three-day period in mid-August. The new $1.3 billion hospital is across Harry Hines Boulevard from the current facility.
“The decision to transition patients over the course of three days is based entirely on the safety and well-being of our patients and their families,” Dr. Fred Cerise, Parkland’s chief executive, said in the statement.
Cerise was not available for comment Monday.
Parkland expects to move about 500 patients into the new hospital. The actual number will depend on how many can be safely discharged from the current hospital before the moving date.
