Dallas

nicudaynurse · Aug 27, 2003

There are A LOT of hospitals in Dallas. The big name hospitals are probably your best bet. All the hospitals will have websites so it would be a good idea to check those out. Some of the bigger hospitals are Parkland, Baylor, Methodist, Medical City, Presbyterian and that's just a few. What area of nursing are you interested in?

There are also A LOT of areas to live in around the Dallas area. Grapevine, Flower Mound, Carrollton, Coppell, Lewisville, Richardson, and that's only a few of the choices.

Good luck!!

donna decker · Aug 27, 2003

personally i like garland, mesquite, richardson, plano. there's so many hospitals to choose from in dallas. medical city is a really nice one.

Silicone · Sep 4, 2003

Something you might want to keep in mind is that the Dallas area is suffering economically, so much so that even the Dallas Federal Reserve actually admitted it just yesterday. There are a lot of jobless people thanks to local layoffs in the last couple of years. That means a lot of people without health insurance. And the few jobs that are available have cut way back on health insurance options.

On the other hand, I been reading a lot about how the for-profit hospitals in the north suburbs are expanding.

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Parkland laying off 120 workers

100 more may lose jobs as hospital scrambles to close $76 million deficit

11:39 AM CDT on Thursday, September 4, 2003

By LAURA BEIL / The Dallas Morning News

Officials at Parkland Health & Hospital System announced Wednesday that 120 employees would be losing their jobs. And by November, 100 more might follow.

The layoffs are part of the county hospital's efforts to reduce a nearly $76 million budget gap for next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The shortfall comes mostly from a combination of rising drug costs, cuts by the Legislature and inflation.

All parts of the hospital will be touched by the cutbacks. Employees affected range from senior vice presidents to accounting clerks. Hospital administrators, however, say they tried to shield areas directly involved in patient care.

"We tried our best not to take any bedside people away," said Dr. Ron Anderson, Parkland's president and chief executive officer.

Overall, the move will save about $21 million. An additional $6 million will be saved by reductions in merit raises next year. The hospital hopes to save more money by restructuring programs and increasing revenue.

"It's kind of hard medicine we have to take," Dr. Anderson said. "We have to live with the reality of what's happened in Austin."

The hospital's Board of Managers supports the layoffs, chairwoman Cynthia Comparin said. Administrators have taken great care to ease the impact on patients, she said. "We're not making across-the-board cuts," she said. "We're looking at how we do business."

Parkland last reduced its workforce in the mid-1990s. From 1995 to 1997, 106 people resigned or were laid off.

Ms. Comparin and Dr. Anderson said the layoffs and restructuring are necessary to help secure Parkland's future.

"There is a need for a new facility at Parkland," Ms. Comparin said.

The core of the current hospital was built in the 1950s and is overcrowded. Women in labor are often forced to wait in the hospital's hallways.

"Something just has to give for the future," Dr. Anderson said.

While 120 will immediately lose their jobs, notices went out Wednesday to 160 employees. Some jobs are being combined, not eliminated, and employees will have a chance to be moved into those positions.

Parkland employs about 7,400 people at its main campus on Harry Hines Boulevard and its neighborhood health centers.

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2003

Basically for living and working try to stay north of the Trinity River as a general rule of thumb

AMV · Oct 1, 2003

I live north of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and it is a really nice place to live. We have two hospitals in Denton (small city north of me) another in Lewisville which is just south of Denton, but still north of the DFW metroplex. The hospital that I work for is Denton Community Hospital. I really like the family atmosphere and the people I work with are the best. Presbytarian (Texas Health Resources) just joined with us and we have recently broke ground for our new hospital which will be called "Presbytarian Hospital of Denton". The other two hospitals (the other Denton hospital and the Lewisville hospital) in the area are both HCA (former Columbia) and are brand new facilities as well. There are A LOT of hospitals in the metroplex undergoing expansion!

When you hear about the area, people think of "Dallas", crime, traffic etc. The thing about this area is that it is very spread out and there are tons of suburbs all around. I live in the "Lake Cities" area, which consists of 4 small town, Lake Dallas, Corinth, Shady Shores and Hickory Creek north of the center of the metroplex. It is truly like living in a small town with big city conveniences. We have a lot of new neighborhoods, movie theaters, restaurants, shopping, etc. The neat thing is though that everywhere you go, you see people you know. We have several horse ranches nearby and at times you will see people on horseback riding thru our new neighborhood. We just had our homecoming parade and every other person you saw there you knew. We all gathered around our "downtown" area to watch the festivities - kids on their floats, horseback riders, etc. It was just like parades you see on TV or the movies. I grew up in Omaha, NE - a much smaller area when compared to "the metroplex" and we NEVER had anything like that. I love it and our kids love it! The schools here are "Exemplary" and small. We are right off the lake with an even larger and nicer (less busy) lake to the north of us. You have all the culture of Dallas not too far away, also there you have nightspots like the "West End" or "Deep Ellum". There is all the attractions of Fort Worth such as Billy Bobs and The StockYards. You've got the Mesquite Rodeo east of Dallas in Mesquite. We also have the North Texas Speedway if you are a NASCAR fan. We have the Rangers baseball and Dallas Cowboys. Also the Dallas Stars if you are a hockey fan. All of this is easily within driving distance - less than an hour from where I am if there isn't traffic. And usually traffic is only bad during rush hour - not like Houston where it is bad any hour of the day.

You can live in neighborhoods with nice yards, etc. They also have condo's and lofts in Dallas, and a friend in Plano lives in a loft type apartment (these are brand new vs. the lofts in Dallas which are converted commercial buildings like you see in New York) which has shops like Starbucks, cleaners, restaurants, etc below, so that you just walk down and shop.

Home prices are pretty good in my area - you can still buy a new, 2 story 4 bedroom for under $150 k. They can run a little higher in some areas - but are pretty much the same in the suburbs. The Highland park area in Dallas is ridiculous - old, tiny homes that cost a fortune. Milk is $2 a gallon, gas is around $1.30 a gallon, bread is a buck a loaf.... etc. The only thing that stinks can be the heat (and your electric bill if you aren't careful) - but then again... it is beautiful now - high temps in the 70's lows in the 50's and in the winter you may have a day or two of ice or snow each year and that is it - but you DO have seasons, so that is nice!

Hope that gives you some idea of what the DFW area is like. I know that there are a lot of other "small towns" within the metroplex just like mine. If you stay out of "Dallas" the schools are pretty good. Look for those with "Exemplary" or "Recognized" status.