For nearly 30 years, Ron Anderson, MD, led Parkland Health & Hospital System in its mission to ensure health care for the uninsured and underinsured. Parkland will continue that legacy next year by opening a new ambulatory clinic bearing his name on Jan. 17, 2017.
As chair of America’s Essential Hospitals in 1992 and in various other roles with the association and the Essential Hospitals Institute board, Anderson, who died in 2014, was a devoted advocate for essential hospitals. His efforts to speak out against patient dumping in the 1980s led to the passage of indigent care legislation in Texas, and eventually federal legislation banning the practice.
During his time as CEO of Parkland, the hospital expanded to include 12 local clinics, 12 school-based clinics, and an outreach program with local homeless shelters. In 2008, he worked to gain approval and secure funding for a new hospital building — efforts that paid off after he stepped down. The board unanimously approved dedicating the new hospital’s medical and surgical outpatient clinic to Anderson.
The new 227,420-square-foot clinic will include more than 170 exam rooms and a round-the-clock pharmacy. Several outpatient specialty clinics — including neurology, cardiology, urology and others — will relocate to the new facility.
The clinic will build on Anderson’s vision of helping the most vulnerable among us. In these uncertain times, the association applauds any activity that gives vulnerable patients more stability and certainty, and this new clinic will be a large step in that direction.