Bethesda Health Clinic reveals details about future clinic center, announces Greater Works Campaign

Published 6:00 am Thursday, February 12, 2026

With construction noises drifting in the background, Bethesda Health Clinic announced its public phase of the Greater Works Campaign and details about its future clinic center in Tyler on Wednesday.

“We needed to reach the people that would be served here,” said Brandy Ziegler, partner, architect and director of design at Fitzpatrick Architects. “This is about the guests and the experience and the patient that comes here, so being able to take this building and turn it into a place that is welcoming, that has a sense of dignity and excellence is going above and beyond just the status quo or the average.”

Community leaders, officials and clinic personnel gathered on the grounds of the old Hollywood Theater on the West Loop to celebrate the expansion of Bethesda Health Clinic, a Tyler faith-based nonprofit that provides affordable medical, dental and mental health care to low-income or uninsured families in East Texas. After 22 years in operation, the nonprofit outgrew its current 13,000 square foot location on West Ferguson Street and will be moving into the new 60,000 square foot building designed by Fitzpatrick Architects, which was formerly a movie theater, around spring 2027. The Greater Works Campaign raised donations will go towards the $24.3 million project, which has reached 90% of its fundraising target.

“We have had a great response from our community and the challenge is when that happens you begin to run out of room and that’s exactly what’s happened to us,” said Dr. John English, CEO of Bethesda Health Clinic. “About five years ago, we started to look for potential building options, and the movie theater fit into place, so it’s an exciting opportunity.”

Since 2003, Bethesda Health Clinic’s mission encompasses the biblical story of the “Pool of Bethesda”, where Jesus healed a paralyzed man who had waited 38 years at a pool of water in Jerusalem. The story emphasizes mercy, healing and serving those in need.

“We wanted to make sure we were aligned with the mission and the concept and the story behind Bethesda Clinic,” Ziegler said. “(The paralyzed man’s) story is compelling in the idea that the last becomes the first and we elevated that experience in the design.”

The construction and remodeling of the new building began in early January and will allow for more exam rooms, procedure rooms, increased capacity to serve patients, reducing hospital referrals and combined adult and pediatric services in one location for greater efficiency. The clinic will take up 45,000 square feet and the remaining 15,000 square feet will be used for the new HOPE Thrift Store, which helps fund clinic services, and future expansion.

“At first glance you would look at it and you’d say, ‘That could never be transformed into a clinic or that’s just not going to work,’ but the first time Brandy and I took the program elements that we needed in the clinic and laid it out in the plan, it was a perfect fit,” said Steve Fitzpatrick, president of Fitzpatrick Architects. “At that time, we knew this was going to work.”

The clinic currently provides around 20,000 medical visits and 10,000 dental visits annually and the new location will increase capacity to around 30,000 to 40,000 visits with the building’s visibility, parking and adaptability.

“For me personally I think the most exciting thing is just the way the communities come together,” English said. “When we put out a big project that made us all kind of go, ‘How in the world is this going to happen?’ We gave it to God and God said, ‘The community has always come through and they are going to do it again,’ and they have certainly stepped up big time and over a year, we have been able to do the majority of the fundraising.”

The fundraising campaign has been underway for around a year, with planning and early fundraising efforts spanning five years. English said Bethesda Health Clinic hopes to complete fundraising within the next few months and encourages the community to continue their financial support. Oncor was recognized at the event with a large check for the first public donation in this phase.

English said Bethesda Health Clinic helps those who fall through the healthcare gaps and need assistance.

Shannon Dacus, Tyler attorney and former Bethesda board chair, said growing up her single mother worked three jobs and whenever someone fell ill, it caused a financial crisis.

“My mom had to literally decide, am I paying the water, the rent, the groceries or am I taking my sick baby to the doctor?” Dacus said. “What I want you to understand is that there are many families in our community facing that same dilemma every day and it’s a reality here in East Texas. I understand the impact that every single one of you in this room can have on the hardworking East Texans in our community.”

Dacus said many families suffer in silence without access to affordable health care and the new location will expand reach to those families.

English said if any individual thinks they may qualify, volunteer or want to become a patient, they can go to the Bethesda Clinic website to find all the qualifications.

“This facility will make sure everybody can be seen in a timely manner and it gives us a lot of opportunities for a lot more procedural and specialty services,” English said. “There’s a huge need in this community and our purpose is to serve the working families of East Texas.”

For more information on Bethesda Health Clinic visit, https://bethesdaclinic.org/.