Last week, Bexar County in Texas broke ground for the construction of The Women’s and Children’s Hospital at University Hospital, a freestanding 12-story 600,000-sf tower that will include two separate emergency rooms, 300 beds, and a neonatal intensive care unit. The facility, which is scheduled for completion in late 2022, will open with a 900-space parking garage attached to it.
This $500 million project—whose funding was approved in 2017 by the county, which owns University Health System in partnership with UT Health San Antonio—will serve women and children patients exclusively, making it the first of its kind in South Texas, and one of the few such hospitals in the country.
Currently, children occupy the seventh floor of University Hospital’s 1-million-sf Sky Tower extension (which opened in 2014), and the labor and delivery wing occupies the fourth floor of the Horizon Tower, which was built decades ago.
Originally, this project was planned as a smaller building costing $390 million. But its size and budget were broadened to address the growing population of San Antonio, which is located within this county. San Antonio, with more than 1.5 million people, is the seventh-largest city in the U.S., and one of its fastest growing. The San Antonio metro area, with nearly 2.2 million, makes it the 24th-largest metro in the country.
The Women’s and Children’s Hospital will also serve as a medical school that partners with University Health System on research and educational initiatives.
ZGF, working with local architectural firm Marmon Mok, is programming and designing the new tower. Its construction and engineering partners include general contractors Joeris and JE Dunn, Broaddus & Associates (program management), Affiliated Engineers and Alderson & Associates (MEP), IES/Magnusson Klemencic (SE), and Pape Dawson/Gonzalez De La Garza (CE).
During the construction, the progress of the project can be viewed live via two webcams.
The new tower represents the next phase of the hospital system’s Capital Improvement Program, and as such is being funded without any tax rate increases, according to James Adams, chairman of the Bexar County Hospital District Board of Managers.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 24, 2017
5 insights for designing a human-centered pediatric experience
Pediatric experience design must evolve beyond the common mantra of “make it fun” or “make it look kid-friendly.”
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 3, 2017
CBRE: Developing a total project budget for a healthcare capital project
Successfully developing a complete and well thought out Total Project Budget is perhaps the most important task you’ll perform in the initial phase of your project.
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 26, 2017
A Georgia Tech white paper examines the pros and cons of different delivery systems for ICUs
It concludes that a ceiling-mounted beam system is best suited to provide critical care settings with easier access to patients, gases, and equipment.
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 24, 2017
The transformation of outpatient healthcare design
Higher costs and low occupancy rates have forced healthcare facilities to rethink how healthcare is delivered in their community.
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 7, 2017
Microhospitals: Healthcare's newest patient access point
Microhospitals are acute care facilities that are smaller than the typical acute care hospital. They leave complex surgeries to the big guys, but are larger and provide more comprehensive services than the typical urgent care or outpatient center.
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 6, 2017
NYC cancer hospital rises to the occasion
A recent analysis of patient volumes showed that Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center would run out of space for new construction at its Upper East Side campus in Manhattan in just a few years.
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 3, 2017
Urgent care centers: True pioneers of retail healthcare delivery
Hospitals, either individually or in joint ventures, run 37% of U.S. urgent care centers.
Healthcare Facilities | Jan 19, 2017
A survey challenges the efficacy of decentralized nurses station design
The Institute of Health + Wellness Design at the University of Kansas raised questions after reviewing a hospital’s renovated orthopedic unit.
Healthcare Facilities | Dec 22, 2016
Has ‘green’ delivered on its promise to the healthcare sector?
As we approach the end of the second decade of LEED, the financial costs and benefits of going green are well documented, write CBRE's Lee Williams and Steve Higgs.
Healthcare Facilities | Dec 13, 2016
How healthcare systems can reduce financial risk with developer-owned hospitals
When entering a new market, the financial risk can be magnified to the point that the investment – although critical to a system’s future – becomes unpalatable to a governing board.