The new 24/7 emergency care center at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances HealthPark in Canton opened Thursday morning.

Canton and the Van Zandt County area residents now have 24/7 emergency care with the opening of emergency care center Thursday at Christus Trinity Mother Frances HealthPark in Canton.

The 7,650 square feet new facility serves as a full-scale emergency department at the health park, located off of Interstate 20 near the exit for Edgewood Road.

The emergency center has six exam rooms, one trauma room, a full-service imaging center including advanced imaging services and a laboratory for improved access to test results, according to Christus Trinity Mother Frances.

Several North Texas leaders toured the facility with administration and caregivers during an open house and ribbon cutting on Wednesday. Doors opened to the public at 8 a.m. Thursday.

Staff includes certified emergency medicine physicians and nurses with cardiac, orthopedics, sleep and oncology providers who already serve patients at the health park. There are Christus Trinity Clinic primary care providers, a physical therapy suite and a health and fitness center.

The emergency center will also take ambulance traffic.

“Being able to access quality, COVID-safe health care, especially emergency care, is of huge importance to our patients. With the new facility, we are answering the needs of our patients in Canton and the surrounding area,” Jason Proctor, president of Christus Mother Frances Hospitals in Tyler and the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital in Tyler, said. “We have been a part of this community for 30 years providing interventional health care services to Canton and Van Zandt county. We have added to this facility over time, increasing our footprint here in 2006, and today we are excited to complete the next step – emergency care available 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year.”

This latest addition from Christus TMF helps being further economic development in Canton and Van Zandt County.

“The new facility has added jobs, reinforcing Christus Trinity Mother Frances’ commitment to the growth of the Canton area,” Chris Glenney, senior vice president of group operations for Christus Health and CEO for Christus Health Northeast Texas, said. “With this new facility, we have 100 Associates onsite, adding emergency medicine physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses and staff to a skilled team already in place.”

While construction began last year, patients were able to receive care without interruption, according to Christus.

“I am proud to be a part of the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System,” Dr. Kenneth Nixon, physician leader at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Canton Emergency Care Center, said. “Our health system has been committed to providing quality health care in this community for over 30 years, and I have had the privilege to be a part of this team for almost 28 years. Even though there have been many challenges in health care over the last several years, our organization has managed to stay strong and to keep focused on our objectives. It has taken a lot of hard work and effort to make all this happen.”