Plans progressing for San Antonio children’s hospital
AUSTIN - Plans are on track for the new state-of-the art children’s hospital and an associated network of clinics that together will change the paradigm of pediatric health care in San Antonio and beyond, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio President William Henrich told the UT System Board of Regents Wednesday.
The Board of Regents in September authorized UTHSC-San Antonio to join with Vanguard Health Systems and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to build and operate San Antonio’s first freestanding academic children’s hospital. The proposed $350 million, 250-bed hospital, funded by Vanguard, is expected to open in 2016.
An 18-acre site for the hospital has been selected at the corner of Floyd Curl Drive and Hamilton Wolfe Road in the South Texas Medical Center in northwest San Antonio, Henrich said. The site, owned by the San Antonio Medical Foundation, is just down the street from UTHSC-San Antonio, also located in the South Texas Medical Center.
Once Vanguard and CHOP work out the details of a lease agreement, they will sign an affiliation agreement with UTHSC-San Antonio, Henrich said.
A name for the hospital hasn’t been selected yet, but all the partners will meet in the near future to discuss options, Henrich said.
The hospital will serve children’s most serious medical needs while a network of outpatient clinics will be developed across the South Texas region to provide both general and specialized pediatric care to families, Henrich said.
“What is unique is that we’re creating an extensive, integrated outpatient system for pediatric care anchored by a highly-sophisticated, freestanding children’s hospital,” Henrich said.
Board of Regents Chairman Gene Powell said he was thrilled to hear that the UT System’s vision for pediatric health care in San Antonio was on pace.
“This children’s hospital and its network of pediatric clinics means that families will have access to the best and brightest physicians, no matter where they live and no matter the level of care they need,” Powell said. “This hospital has been a longtime dream for the city of San Antonio, and it is exciting to see it come to fruition.”
About The University of Texas System
Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities, six health institutions and a fall 2012 enrollment of roughly 216,000. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public universities in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $13.9 billion (FY 2013) including $3.1 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With more than 87,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.
