HCA Holdings Inc. has announced it will build a $71 million acute-care hospital for the Alliance area of the Dallas-Fort Worth megalopolis and plans to begin construction there in June.

The 140,000-square-foot hospital will offer 30 beds to the area and will be attached to HCA’s existing freestanding emergency room. HCA North Texas will own the four-story project. According to news reports from the DFW local affiliate of CBS, HCA administrators say the hospital is needed to meet the expanding needs of a rapidly growing Alliance area.

“The size of Alliance is now close to the size of Lubbock, Texas. It’s an incredibly big population,” said Randy Moresi, North Hills Hospital's CEO.

Texas is a vital market for HCA: Of the 163 hospitals it owned at the end of 2011, 36 were in the Lone Star State. Those facilities accounted for more than 25 percent of the company's licensed beds.

Cigna, the parent of local Medicare Advantage specialist HealthSpring, has completed the acquisition of several plans with members in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas from Arcadian Health and Humana, which are joining forces and were told by regulators to shed some operations. One thing has changed since the parties announced their deal last summer: The Fort Smith market straddling the Arkansas/Oklahoma market has also changed hands, adding 17 counties to the 18 in the original agreement. In all, about 4,500 people are being added to HealthSpring's rolls.

SEE ALSO: Cigna's HealthSpring set to acquire Texas, Arkansas operations from June

The joint venture coupling Nashville-based Ardent Health Services with Amarillo's Baptist Community Services has completed the ownership change of the West Texas city's BSA Health System. Ardent now owns 80 percent of the network, which includes a hospital, a cancer center, various clinics and a health plan, among others. The company has committed to investing tens of millions of dollars in renovation and new construction projects.

Nearing the end of a year in which his team will close $1 billion in new loans for the first time, Churchill Mortgage President Mike Hardwick says the company has hired another 10 people in operations and sales roles. Four of the additions are based in Brentwood and another four are in Texas. Check out the details here.

Engineering and facility consulting firm Smith Seckman Reid has promoted Justin Davis to manager of its Dallas office. Davis has been a senior project manager in the office for the last two years and will continue to work as an electrical engineer and client manager. He is a 2001 graduate of Kansas State University and is a registered engineer in six states. SSR has 15 offices from Colorado to Florida.

Franklin-based Clarcor said late Monday it plans to spend an unspecified amount to increase the size of its Dallas air filter plant by more than half. The construction, which is supposed to wrap up by the end of this year, will add about 45,000 square feet of manufacturing and distribution capacity to the 22-year-old plant. The company (Ticker: CLC) also plans to hire more workers.