The Daily Dig
JPS Health Network broke ground on April 16 on two new inpatient towers at its Main Campus on South Main Street in Fort Worth, the most significant phase of a $2.5 billion master facility transformation for Tarrant County's only safety-net hospital system. The ceremony was led by JPS President and CEO Dr. Karen Duncan and attended by Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker.
The towers will total approximately 1.1 million square feet and connect to the existing Patient Care Pavilion to support emergency, trauma, and inpatient services. JPS has cited a hospital cost of $1.5 billion in public reporting. A separate project fact sheet puts the tower construction value at $938 million. The two figures have not been reconciled and the difference in scope has not been publicly explained. The full program value across all campus phases is $2.5 billion.
The project is funded through the $800 million bond Tarrant County voters approved in 2018, with the remainder coming from JPS resources and other sources. No additional taxpayer dollars were used beyond the original bond, according to JPS COO Jill Farrell. The towers are scheduled for completion in 2030 and will be built on the existing campus site. Program management for the full bond program is handled by Broaddus and Associates and LeVis Consulting Group.
Still ahead are a $112 million, 400,000 square foot Medical Outpatient Building and a $128 million cogeneration Central Utility Plant, both targeted for early 2029. Already complete are the $80 million Psychiatric Emergency Center built by JT Vaughn Construction, the $37 million Medical Home Southwest Tarrant, and the seven-story Magnolia Parking Garage, which opened in March 2026.
Snapshot:
Project: JPS Health Network New Inpatient Towers
Owner: JPS Health Network / Tarrant County Hospital District
Location: 1500 South Main Street, Fort Worth, TX 76104
Sector: Healthcare / Public / Safety-Net
Groundbreaking: April 16, 2026
Tower Size: Approximately 1.1 million square feet
Configuration: Two inpatient towers connected to existing Patient Care Pavilion
Reported Hospital Cost: $1.5 billion (per JPS public reporting)
Tower Construction Value: $938 million (per project fact sheet; difference in scope unreconciled)
Total Program Value: Approximately $2.5 billion
Existing Bed Count: 582 licensed beds (573 acute care beds per project fact sheet)
Funding: $800M voter-approved bond (2018) + JPS resources and other sources
Completion (Towers): 2030
Program Manager: Broaddus and Associates / LeVis Consulting Group
Prior Phase GC (Psychiatric Emergency Center): JT Vaughn Construction
Engineering Consultant (Central Utility Plant): Jacobs Engineering (feasibility only)
Medical Outpatient Building: $112 million, 400,000 sq ft, early 2029
Central Utility Plant: $128 million cogeneration, campus-wide, early 2029
Magnolia Parking Garage: $63 million, seven stories, open March 2026
Psychiatric Emergency Center: $80 million, 68,000 sq ft, up to 90 patients, open September 2025
Medical Home Southwest Tarrant: $37 million, now open
Tower GC: Not yet publicly confirmed
CEO: Dr. Karen Duncan
Civic Attendee: Mayor Mattie Parker, City of Fort Worth
TheJobWalk Thoughts
The tower package is one the biggest construction opportunities to hit Fort Worth in years. At a reported $1.5 billion and a 2030 completion window, the heavy subcontractor work, structural, MEP, medical gas, curtainwall, is either in procurement now or close to it. No GC has been publicly confirmed. Subs and suppliers in the DFW market who are not already in conversations with the program management team at Broaddus and Associates and LeVis Consulting Group should be moving.
JT Vaughn Construction has a completed project on this campus with the Psychiatric Emergency Center. Firms that have built here carry a real advantage when remaining packages go to market. Knowing who has history on a program this size is worth tracking.
Tarrant County carries roughly a 24 percent uninsured rate. JPS is not building ahead of demand, it is catching up to it. With expansions also in play across Cook Children's, Texas Health Resources, and Baylor Scott and White in the same metro, the regional labor pool will be competed over hard through the end of the decade.
