Dunn details memory center plans for EDC

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 3/30/23

The Wood County Economic Development Commission got a detailed look at what its $50,000 donation to the proposed Memory Health Life Center has achieved thus far.

The commission board met last …

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Dunn details memory center plans for EDC

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The Wood County Economic Development Commission got a detailed look at what its $50,000 donation to the proposed Memory Health Life Center has achieved thus far.

The commission board met last Wednesday.

Quitman Mayor Randy Dunn, who noted he was appearing as a private citizen and not the mayor, detailed the plans for the campus just east and north of the UT Health Hospital in Quitman at Hwy. 154 and Hwy. 37.

The campus will be equal parts residential facility and educational facility.

Dunn noted that the East Texas area rates lowest in the state in income, health and education – all factors that impact memory health.

The campus will be unique in that it will be the first to combine all the principals of treating memory issues promoted by Dr. John Zeisel, recognized expert in the field.

“This has the potential to be a transformative project for Wood County,” said project manager and WCEDC board member Craig Lindholm.

It can be a destination nationally and perhaps globally, Dunn said.

A $60 to $70 million federal appropriation is being sought, along with state funding, he said. Large foundations and endowments in the area are also being contacted.

The Wood County Health Care Foundation that is overseeing the project just got word that the new medical school at the University of Texas at Tyler has proposed to send its fourth-year medical students to the memory center for training.

That training will extend to first responders, who often do not know how to deal with memory-challenged patients, Dunn explained.

He concluded that everything so far has been positive. The project has the ability to transform the local economy.

“It’s a big deal,” he said.

The board heard from Yantis City Councilman Gerald Schmidt about how best to market the many places to stay in the Lake Fork area for people coming to North Texas for the April 2024 total solar eclipse.

New Executive Director Christine Thomas noted that the contract with the Hibbs Institute at UT-Tyler has been signed to develop the WCEDC’s strategic plan, and the bids for the rest of the plan are being developed.

The WCEDC is also working on revising a tax rebate plan, she said.

The recent real estate form was successful, Thomas noted, and the Wood County Walls project is progressing with the goal of a countywide inventory of murals to attract visitors.

County Judge Kevin White said that county commissioners had approved the $2.5 million proposal by Peoples Telephone to expand rural broadband internet in the county – a project promoted by WCEDC.