JASPER, Texas — Jasper residents can look forward to increased healthcare thanks to a new push from health directors.
The pandemic had its own set of challenges for county health departments.
“The expansion of services really, really showed us that we really do need to have a more modern facility and the ability to provide those services to our public at a moment's notice,” Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said.
A hospital that has been vacant for years may be the solution. A new partnership between several entities and the Jasper Hospital Health District, which owns the building, has agreed to revamp the Mary Dickerson Hospital using funds from the Temple-Inland Foundation. They've already started planning what the facility will be used for.
“Right now, the primary goal is for the Jasper Newton County Public Health District to move their offices there and also to start working hard on the birthing center,” Allen said.
Rural communities like Jasper and Newton lack access to nearby specialty care. Most people have to drive one to two hours out of town. Allen said this facility will change that.
“If you're going to have a child in Jasper County, you're either doing it in the ER in Jasper Memorial Hospital or in the back of a pickup truck and we don't need to have that happen,” Allen said.
Allen said the Southeast Texas Health Partnership has talked about creating units in the facility for veteran and mental health services along with a nursing school whose focus is on establishing the non-profit.
Officials are hoping to have a tentative date by the fall. Engineers have already begun inspecting the facility.