St. David’s Health Care investing nearly $1 billion in Central Texas healthcare infrastructure

Staff Reports

AUSTIN — St. David’s HealthCare, which provides care for more Central Texans than any other healthcare system, announced today the investment of $953 million in the region’s healthcare infrastructure.

“St. David’s HealthCare is committed to meeting the needs of our rapidly growing community,” David Huffstutler, president and chief executive officer of St. David’s HealthCare, said. “While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly compounded the challenges our region is facing, there was already a need for more physical capacity in our existing hospitals to care for patients, as well as additional services in our community, including behavioral health services. And, as the population growth in Central Texas continues to expand into outlying areas, this has created the need for us to establish additional sites of care in those areas.

“These needs will only increase in the future with the ongoing, rapid growth of Central Texas,” said Huffstutler. “As a result, we are initiating plans to build two new hospitals, embarking on the construction of a new behavioral health hospital, as well as plans for multiple expansion and renovation projects to ensure we can continue our mission to provide exceptional care to every patient every day.”

St. David’s HealthCare has already invested more than $2.5 billion over the past 25 years to expand and develop its facilities and to deploy state-of-the-art technology to best meet the healthcare needs of the rapidly growing Central Texas region.

St. David’s HealthCare’s investments will include:

• $142.5 million for a new full-service, acute care hospital in Leander
• $185 million for a new full-service, acute care hospital in the Kyle area
• $33.8 million for a new 80-bed behavioral health hospital near St. David’s North Austin Medical Center
• $145.9 million for renovation and expansion at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center
• $249 million for renovation and expansion at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center
• $53.1 million for an expansion at St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center
• $20.9 million for an expansion at Heart Hospital of Austin
• $43 million for renovation and expansion at St. David’s Medical Center
• $80 million for construction of future capacity at area hospitals to accommodate future growth

This $953-million investment will be paid for out of St. David’s HealthCare operations. No debt will be incurred by the healthcare system, and because of St. David’s HealthCare’s business model, no philanthropic dollars will be solicited or used to support the projects.

New hospital in Leander

In response to the growing healthcare needs of the Leander community, St. David’s HealthCare will begin the third phase of its plan for a medical complex on San Gabriel Parkway. Phases one and two of the development included the construction of a freestanding emergency center and a medical office building, both of which are currently open. The third phase of development includes a $142.5-million investment for a full-service hospital, with construction beginning in 2022. Completion is anticipated in 2024.

The 150,000-square-foot facility will offer comprehensive medical care including a 24-hour emergency department, inpatient and outpatient surgery, critical care capabilities, robotic services, and maternity and newborn services. The hospital will initially open with 34 beds, with room for additional growth.

The opening of the hospital is expected to create approximately 200 new full-time positions.

This brings the healthcare system’s total investment in healthcare services for the Leander region to more than $170 million.

New hospital in the Kyle area

St. David’s HealthCare is in the process of acquiring land in the Kyle area where it will build a full-service, acute care hospital that will include 34 beds, with room for expansion as the community continues to grow. This project will result in an investment of approximately $185 million in the Kyle community.

Similar to the Leander hospital, this 160,000-square-foot facility will offer comprehensive medical care including a 24-hour emergency department, inpatient and outpatient surgery, critical care capabilities, robotic services, and maternity and newborn services.

The hospital, planned to open in 2024, will create about 200 new full-time jobs.

Behavioral health hospital

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many Central Texans struggled to find access to mental health services close to home. We are also routinely challenged to find resources for behavioral health patients who present to our emergency departments and need continued treatment. To meet these needs, St. David’s HealthCare is investing $33.8 million to build an 80-bed behavioral health hospital, with space to add an additional 12 beds in the future. The hospital, which will be located near St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, will provide mental health services for adolescent, adult and geriatric patients. The 63,000-square-foot facility, which will include indoor and outdoor therapy areas, a separate adolescent area, and outpatient services, is expected to open in 2024 and will be designed for future expansion as needs grow. More than 200 jobs will be created with the opening of the new facility.

St. David’s North Austin Medical Center

St. David’s North Austin Medical Center is undergoing a $145.9-million renovation and expansion that includes St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas, as well as the main tower of the hospital to add more patient rooms.

Expansion of St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas will be completed in two phases, beginning with the renovation of 28,325 square feet that will add 30 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds. Phase two of the project will add three additional floors and will include a 166,369-square-foot expansion, with four C-section operating rooms, 36 labor and delivery beds, 24 antepartum beds and 32 full-term nursery beds. The final phase of the project is scheduled for completion in 2023.

St. David’s North Austin Medical Center is also currently expanding the main tower of the hospital to add 21,214 square feet, including 32 medical/surgical patient rooms and an additional 438 parking spaces. It is scheduled for completion in 2022.

St. David’s South Austin Medical Center

St. David’s South Austin Medical Center is currently completing an $81-million expansion, which includes a buildout of the 7^th floor medical/surgical space, a new parking garage and a women’s services unit. Construction on the medical/surgical space and parking garage was completed in late 2021, creating an additional 34 patient beds and 700 parking spots for patients, visitors, physicians and staff. The renovation of the women’s services unit will begin this year, starting with the conversion of several existing postpartum rooms into labor/delivery/recovery/postpartum rooms, along with a renovation of the C-section suites. Additionally, the nearby 11-bed medical/surgical unit will be fully renovated to be used as postpartum rooms.

St. David’s HealthCare is also investing an additional $168 million for a future expansion of St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, to be completed in 2024, featuring 30 additional patient beds, 4 new operating rooms (ORs) and support space, as well as a 24-bed rehabilitation unit.

 St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center

With the rapid growth of the Round Rock community, St. David’s HealthCare is investing $53.1 million in a capital expansion project at St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, including the hospital’s operating room and patient care room capacity. The expansion project, which will begin in 2022, will include two additional floors, including a 34-bed patient care unit, as well as four additional operating rooms (ORs) and support spaces.

Heart Hospital of Austin

Heart Hospital of Austin is currently completing a $20.9-million capital expansion. With the majority of the project completed last fall, the hospital added 14 progressive care unit (PCU) beds, increasing bed capacity at the hospital by nearly 25%. Additionally, the facility is expanding its support service areas, including pharmacy, laboratory and dietary services. 

St. David’s Medical Center

St. David’s HealthCare will invest a total of $43 million to renovate and expand St. David’s Rehabilitation Hospital, as well as expand oncology services and women’s services at St. David’s Medical Center.

Nearly $18 million will be invested at St. David’s Rehabilitation Hospital for the construction of an additional floor that will add 20 more patient beds to address capacity constraints created by a growing need for rehabilitative services in the community. Additional renovations will include the restoration of the therapeutic pool, which will allow the hospital to reinstate its aquatic therapy program.

With a growing need for oncology services in the region, St. David’s HealthCare is investing $7.5 million to develop the hospital’s dedicated specialty unit for women’s oncology, including the renovation of 23 patient rooms, as well as the construction of 15 additional post-operative patient rooms.

St. David’s HealthCare will also invest $17.5 million to renovate its women’s services unit at St. David’s Medical Center.

These projects are estimated to be completed in 2023.