In September, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced another major medical facility will be coming to Texas. Dallas would be home to one of three hubs for the Advanced Research Projects Agency, with a focus on health; also known as ARPA-H.
"It's part of the federal agencies," said Ayan Mittra, senior managing editor for the Texas Tribune. "I think there's a lot of energy behind this because… it's about innovation and tries to do things differently. So that's what's got people excited."
But how did ARPA-H decide to move its customer experience hub to Dallas specifically? The Dallas Regional Chamber played a huge part in bringing the agency into the Pegasus Park area. Mike Rosa is the senior vice president of economic development at the DRC.
"This is a great location to base a headquarters," said Rosa. "People coming and going, all the direct flights we have, all of the corporations… that provide the testimony that, 'yeah, if you're operating something that's nationwide and even global, Dallas is a great place to do that from.'"
Texas is said to the the leading state for advancing healthcare and medical education, but is still lacking in resources. While it's a big state to cover, the move of ARPA-H seems promising to Texans.
"I think it's a sign of how much our state has been pivotal to advances in health care," said Kushal Kadakia, a M.D. candidate at Harvard Medical School. "That people know that what makes 'everything's bigger in Texas,' [it's] including the hospitals, but also the kind of care we have for our patients and the medical advances we made for society."
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