A proposed 24-hour emergency room concept will head to town council, but it won’t have the support of the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission.
Flower Mound P&Z recommended denial of the proposed Total Care ER after a thorough discussion Monday evening.
Total Care ER is proposed to go in at a shopping center located near the corner of FM 1171, Fireside Drive and Arrowhead Drive. It was seeking a specific use permit to operate overnight, which commissioners had concern with.
P&Z Vice Chair Jason Hobbs felt overnight operations might change the intent of the site, which was originally zoned for community retail.
“The overnight aspect is what I’m hung up on, and it’s 50% of the center,” he said. “This seems like a great facility… but it switches the intent of this pad from a quiet, community retail space to a 24/7 operation.”
Other concerns from commissioners included noise and light pollution, but the applicant didn’t request any exceptions, so the business is expected to operate within the town’s light and noise standards.
Total Care ER said it plans to have nine beds for patients that can be cared for up to 24 hours. Any critical patients will be transported via on-site ambulance to a local hospital.
According to Cameron Culver, the architect representing the Total Care ER project, similar Total Care ER facilities use the ambulance about 11 times per year, and they almost never use lights and sirens in those cases.
Total Care ER is also not a receiving point for ambulances, so any patients will be taken in by residents or commuter vehicles of some sort.
Culver said patients could visit for sports injury, stitches or other reasons that make it more of a neighborhood services facility.
The Total Care ER would also require an emergency backup generator to maintain care in case power goes out, per state mandated code.
“It is not a standardly used item, but it’s there in case of emergency,” said Culver.
The project was popular with some commissioners, as an initial vote to recommend denial failed 2-4 before it eventually passed 4-2.
“If I had a heart attack and they took me to a close place where they can put me on a respirator and take me to a hospital, I would endorse it 100%,” said commissioner Donald Gilmore. “I look at the service as being very important to the community.”
P&Z Chair Gregory Schultz also offered words of support for the idea after Culver’s presentation, but did not cast a vote, as he only votes in the case of a tie. He believed the project could offer something to residents that also didn’t bring in a ton of traffic.
“I feel much more reassured after the presentation that the worse case scenarios of lights, ambulances and lots of traffic is minimal,” said Schultz. “In my experience with facilities like this, traffic is low, but when you need that facility, having it available is very important.”
However, commissioner Michelle Jackson shared concern about the brand being something that isn’t up to the unique standards of the town, with four others located near town hall.
“I don’t think we are getting anything that we don’t already have,” she said. “When we give special use permits, I need to see something more unique, and this is not unique.”
Total Care ER believes the area is underserved and that it could still serve the community well, even with other facilities nearby.
But Jackson was also concerned about setting a precedent when other similar facilities all operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and those facilities coming back and asking for permission to operate 24 hours if the proposed Total Care is granted that opportunity.
Other commissioners argued that’s what makes this particular proposal unique, but in the end decided it was too much of a risk to nearby residential communities for something to operate overnight.
Total Care ER will still have a chance to persuade Flower Mound Town Council to give it the final approval, but it will require a supermajority vote to get it done.
According to Total Care ER’s website, the brand is expected to open a location at Denton’s Rayzor Ranch.
