As the fifth-fastest growing county in Texas, Hunt County’s communities are booming, with new businesses, subdivisions, and families calling the area home. This growth is a testament to the region’s appeal: proximity to the Metroplex but with a small town feel and a better quality of life. With the region’s popularity and this surge in population comes an urgent challenge — ensuring that our healthcare system grows alongside the community.

“Hunt County was a very different place 20 years ago,” explains Kevin Sawatsky, broker-owner of Onward Texas Real Estate Providers. “Now, subdivisions and businesses are scattered all over. The highways are widening, and the growth we’ve anticipated for years is finally here. But we need infrastructure, including healthcare, to support this boom.”

Hunt County’s population alone is expected to grow by 25,000 more people in the next five years – as many people as moved here in the last two decades.

“We all know how difficult it is to get to the Metroplex or to McKinney,” said Lee Boles, Hunt Regional Healthcare CEO. “We have made it our mission to make sure we can provide all the services that we can provide to our residents.”

Why Healthcare Infrastructure Matters

The influx of residents has brought increased demand for comprehensive healthcare services. Hunt County is no longer a place where residents can rely on traveling to neighboring cities like Dallas or Rockwall for advanced medical care. The travel times are prohibitive for busy workers and busy families. The availability of local healthcare is critical. It impacts everything from quality of life to workforce productivity, as employees and their families depend on convenient access to primary care, specialty care, and ongoing rehabilitative services and treatments.

“Employers want their employees to access care locally, not travel to Rockwall, Rowlett, or Dallas like we used to,” added Sawatsky. “It’s not just about convenience — it’s about efficiency and quality of life.”

That’s why Hunt Regional Healthcare continues growing by expanding existing offerings and adding new sites and services across the region.

In the last couple of years, for example, the hospital in Greenville expanded the neonatal intensive care unit, operating room capacity, and Women’s Center, all in response to the growing population and increasing demand for local medical care. Today, across the system, there are 34 sites of care providing an array of services from urgent care to rehabilitation.

“Anybody who drives in Hunt County knows that our population has increased exponentially,” said Debbie Clack, RN, former chief nursing officer, Hunt Regional Medical Center. “Because the population’s growing, the hospital has to grow with it.”