Although I wouldn’t exactly have chosen the reason, my current stay at the Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation has given me time to reflect on Baylor’s importance to East Dallas.
Baylor “Rehab” is best-known for its extraordinary success in getting patients up and running again. A recent U.S. News and World Report survey of medical schools deans ranked Baylor fifth nationally. Lesser known even here in East Dallas, is the crucial role Baylor plays not only in renovating people but in renovating our neighborhoods.
During the 1960s, Baylor considered leaving East Dallas for a more northerly location. This was a period when many of our venerable institutions departed – Hockaday School moved to Forest Lane, and St. Paul Hospital moved to Harry Hines Boulevard.
After careful consideration, Baylor decided to stay in East Dallas and build its long term campus. The decision proved to be a crucial turning point.
Baylor was not content just to stay. The hospital’s leaders recognized the dynamic relationship between the neighborhoods and its major institutions. Baylor’s leader, Boone Powell Sr., decided Baylor would become a leading partner in the revitalization of East Dallas.
A study team visited Washington University Hospital in St. Louis, where hospital officials worked with local leaders to revitalize surrounding neighborhoods.
Baylor’s approach was two-fold. First, Baylor purchased adjacent land and built world-class hospital facilities. Second, Baylor worked with neighborhoods to properly zone large portions of East Dallas.
Powell also served on the board of Lakewood Bank and Trust Company, and he encouraged the bank’s far-sighted lending programs. Bill Powell Jr. and Bill Carter are ably continuing this role begun in the 1960s.
Baylor continues to implement its long term plan. The Tom Landry Center, with its impressive work-out facilities, is but one of the most visible examples. With its indoor and outdoor tracks, three pools, dozens of rooms full of aerobic and weight-lifting machines, the Landry Center gives East Dallas by far the largest and most complete health club in the area.
Other facilities such as Baylor Rehab, the Susan Komen Center and Baylor Medical School are renowned throughout the country. Baylor’s leaders have worked hard to attract these research and hospital related facilities, as well as the General Headquarters of the Texas Baptist Convention, to East Dallas.
They’ve actively supported surrounding zoning cases, from the Lakewood Shopping Center to Deep Ellum, where Baylor recently restored a large, low-rise building on Elm Street to house some of its offices.
Thoughtful institutions such as Baylor add immeasurably to the quality of life. There are a few neighborhoods where you can live five or 10 minutes from one of the country’s most advanced medical centers.
And not many neighborhoods can count on an institutional giant such as Baylor to attend City Council hearings to testify on behalf of crucial neighborhood plans.
