A proposed 24-hour emergency room concept will once again face the Flower Mound Town Council, this time hoping to get the supermajority vote needed to proceed with its plans.
Total Care ER left the last council meeting with homework – to engage the community and convince council to approve the company’s special use permit request to open a 24-hour emergency room concept along FM 1171, between Fireside Drive and Arrowhead Drive.
Council expressed its concerns with the project at the Sept. 19 meeting, including the planned 24 hours of operation.
According to town documents, medical offices are allowed under the site’s zoning, but a special use permit is needed for any office asking to operate between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
In a letter sent to the community, Total Care ER argues its extended hours can give residents peace of mind.
“From a child’s 104-degree fever to a sudden sports injury, having 24/7 care two minutes from home saves a stressful 10-minute drive and an hour wait when every second counts,” reads the letter.
Total Care also claims it has no incoming ambulance traffic, and does not use lights and sirens when transporting patients from its facility to a hospital, if the need occurs.
“99% of our patients arrive quietly in their own personal vehicles,” reads the letter from Total Care. “Total Care will not take 911 ambulance traffic, meaning no blaring sirens… just a calm, peaceful medical suite.”
Council’s biggest concern was the feedback given from the community and the town’s planning and zoning commission, which recommended denial of the request to operate between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. by a vote of 4 to 2 at its Sept. 14 meeting.
Total Care originally came before council on Sept. 19, but a decision was postponed to give Total Care time to reach out to the community and convince them of their plans.
“I love the business and everything y’all do, and it makes a lot of sense in this area, but you’re not asking for an SUP from me, or my approval,” said Mayor Pro Tem Adam Schiestel during the Sept. 19 meeting. “As long as the neighbors don’t show up in opposition, there’s no problem, but when they do, it is a problem.”
Council seemed on board with the overall concept of Total Care, along with some of its locally-driven initiatives, including its work with local nonprofits and its own nonprofit, the TotalCare Foundation, which funds heart surgeries for children and mobile clinics in Africa.
Total Care is likely to learn its fate by the time the Flower Mound Town Council meeting adjourns Monday evening, but since P&Z recommended denial, the request will need at least four votes in favor to be approved.
