DFW Opens First Airport Emergency Room

In tandem with the surge of travelers seeking wellness experiences from their vacation destination, airports have started to amp up their wellness offerings, often providing health clubs, yoga rooms and even full-service spas on site.

But now Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), the world’s 12^th busiest airport, is taking a major leap forward in delivering wellness options with the opening of a new emergency room and urgent care center.

The ER, located near the DFW Airport Rental Car Center, is being billed as the first of its kind in the United States. Since it is located just off-site (AKA before security), it is accessible to the general public, as well as the 60,000 people who work in and around the airport and the 65 million passengers handled by DFW each year.

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The 24/7/365 facility, operated by Frisco-based Code 3 Emergency Partners, a physician-owned network of emergency room and urgent care clinics, houses a full-service emergency room with on-site CT scanner, ultrasound, X-ray, lab and pharmacy. It also includes rooms for short-term observation admissions and an urgent care facility.

"Code 3 offers a level of service and care unmatched by hospital emergency departments," said Dr. Carrie de Moor, MD, FACEP, CEO and founder. "Our staff and facility provide VIP care at an affordable cost, with no wait times, so that travelers, residents and employees can quickly get back on their journeys. We want people to know you don't have to have a boarding pass to be treated. Just come in. We look forward to serving the Dallas-Fort Worth community."

The privately owned and operated Code 3 already has a solid track record in mixing airports and patient care. In August 2017, the company opened Code 3 Urgent Care & Pharmacy inside DFW’s Terminal D. Previously, it also opened an Urgent Care facility inside Terminal 1 at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Earlier this year, USCareWays opened a similar facility at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), which operates daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Terminal 4 (Level 3, inside Drugs & More.)

The facility will treat any patient over the age of six months who need to see a medical provider quickly. The facility is geared towards treating typical travel ailments such as ear infections, asthma, anxiety, flu, cold/cough, dehydration, UTIs, rashes, lacerations, contusions, sprains, and more."

The facility’s official ribbon-cutting took place April 23, 2018.

Other North American airports with existing healthcare facilities include Calgary International Airport, San Francisco International Airport and Chicago O’Hare.