Texas Christian University’s Burnett School of Medicine could give Fort Worth a healthy shot of economic growth.
TCU administrators expect the newly accredited school to create an estimated 31,200 jobs and have an annualeconomic impact of $4 billion by 2030, as well as generate more physicians to meet the growing needs of Fort Worth.
Dr. Stuart Pickell, Tarrant County Medical Society president, expects the school to have a domino effect on Fort Worth. Burnett School of Medicine students will be trained here, go off to either find a residency somewhere in the nation or stay and establish roots in Fort Worth. Regardless, a new reputation emerges around Fort Worth, he said.
“Health care is an important service, but it’s also big business,” Pickell said.
Mike Brennan, president of Near Southside Inc., described the Burnett School of Medicine as one of the most significant milestones in the history of the medical district, a 1,200-acre area south of downtown that the city of Fort Worth established this year but has a long history before the formal recognition.
“I think that it’s going to be a huge driver,” Brennan said. “The medical school is a major ingredient in the mix of assets that the near Southside brings to Fort Worth.”
The school’s location and potential partnerships with nearby hospitals could bring many other benefits, such as expanding the campus for new programs and creating administration jobs, Brennan said.
“Having any higher education institution is going to be an economic driver,” Brennan said. “All the money that gets spent locally as a result of those folks.”
Big money coming, study says
Before the Burnett School of Medicine saw its first class in 2019, the specialized campus was intended to be a joint initiative between TCU and the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
The public-private partnership tapped Tripp Umbach, a Kansas City, Missouri-based consulting firm, to examine the potential economic impact of a new medical school.
The collaboration was estimated to annually bring in $850 million to the health care and higher education sectors of Fort Worth, and generate an annual $79 million in tax revenue for the state by 2030.
Fort Worth could indirectly see growth in hotels and related industries because of the two schools, according to the study.
The study, however, occurred before TCU and UNT HSC split in 2022. Neither school could find common ground on how to work together, the Fort Worth Report previously reported.
Regardless, Dr. Stuart Flynn, the founding dean of the Burnett School, is confident TCU’s new Southside campus, 1200 W Rosedale St., will positively impact Fort Worth.
‘We need more physicians’
Tarrant County Medical Society’s Pickell hopes the school can address a problem looming over Fort Worth, a city approaching nearly 1 million residents.
“With Fort Worth being one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, we need more physicians,” Pickell said.
Fort Worth is a microcosm of what is happening throughout North Texas.
A Texas Department of State Health Services physician supply and demand projection report projected North Texas will have 2,986 physicians by 2032. However, to meet the region’s demand for health care professionals, North Texas would need 4,760 physicians.
“We are in a significant physician shortage, and it’s getting worse,” Flynn said.
Fylnn sees the medical school addressing the physician shortage head-on. TCU’s study estimated 67% of students who complete their undergraduate and graduate medical training in an area remain there to practice.
“We view that as one of our missions to be a significant player in trying to solve something that’s very hard to solve. If everyone just ignores it, it’s certainly not going to get solved,” Flynn said.
Juan Salinas II is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at juan.salinas@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.