Medical leaders emphasized the importance of hospital, workforce and innovation investment at a recent Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce forum.<\/p>\n
The event last week convened the conversation to highlight the economic power of healthcare in the evergrowing Fort Worth Medical Innovation District<\/a>. Steve Montgomery, CEO and president of the chamber, emphasized the value of such conversations and the connection to the city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there\u2019s no question that healthcare and life sciences are central to that future,\u201d Montgomery added.<\/p>\n The forum saw hospital executives tout expansions, renovations and collaborations at their medical facilities. Highlighted projects included JPS Health Network\u2019s $1.5 billion hospital<\/a>, Baylor Scott & White Health\u2019s new emergency hospitals<\/a> in the area, Cook Children\u2019s Health Care System\u2019s $1.3 billion main campus expansion,<\/a> and new floors at Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth<\/a> to improve current emergency department strain.<\/p>\n Expansion, however, is useless without proper staffing, said Charles Williams, president of Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center . He pointed to the shortage in nurses, radiologists and phlebotomists as problems that need solving for medical systems to operate.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can build all the beds, but if you can\u2019t staff them, it\u2019s just empty, beautiful space,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n Amy Knight, chief administrative officer at Cook Children\u2019s Health Care System, and Dr. Karen Duncan, CEO and president of JPS, pointed to the collaboration between the hospitals at Las Vegas Trail. The public-private program alongside other partners is training Fort Worthians in the medical administrative field to fast-track them into a career in healthcare.<\/p>\n Last winter<\/a>, seven individuals were part of the first graduating class, receiving certificates from Tarrant County College.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to continue to look (to) partner with our university friends (and) partner with other summer two-year programs,\u201d Knight said. \u201cNot everything requires 16 years of training.\u201d<\/p>\n Workforce development isn\u2019t limited to adults. Duncan pointed to JPS\u2019s SHINE programs, which are short-term paid internships for high school and college students made to introduce them into the medical space in a controlled but immersive environment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really about building that pipeline, but more importantly, beginning to understand who the disruptors are in healthcare,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n Innovation\u2019s role in improving patient experiences while allowing medical caregivers to deliver high-quality service is also a current focal point, said Jared Shelton, president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking at creating artificial intelligence solutions that still have a human in the loop,\u201d Shelton said.<\/p>\n Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/04\/investment-in-healthcare-workforce-innovation-central-to-fort-worths-future-leaders-say\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=527554&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/04\/investment-in-healthcare-workforce-innovation-central-to-fort-worths-future-leaders-say\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script>