St. David's Healthcare Building Emergency Facility In Leander

LEANDER, TX -- St. David's Healthcare officials have bought more than 50 acres of land to build an emergency medical facility to be eventually expanded into a full-service hospital, hospital officials confirmed Thursday.

Healthcare company officials confirmed the company acquired 52 acres of Leander land to build the emergency facility by next year toward the goal of constructing a full-fledged hospital by next year. The new facilities will be located on San Gabriel Parkway between U.S. 183 and Toll Road 183A, officials confirmed.

The local expansion is part of a larger two-year plan involving $275 million capital investment in Central Texas Healthcare infrastructure for the company. Apart from the Leander expansion, the plan calls for the acquisition of a new hospital in North Austin.

"The investments include the acquisition and equipping of a newly constructed hospital in North Austin for $135 million, an initial $20-million investment for the development of a new hospital in Leander, a $70-million expansion at St. David’s Medical Center and a $50-million expansion at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center," officials said in a press advisory.

“This acquisition of a new hospital in the northern region of the market, development of the new Leander facility and significant expansions at two of our largest hospitals, mark another milestone in an unprecedented era of growth for St. David’s HealthCare,” David Huffstutler, president and chief executive officer of St. David’s HealthCare, said. “As this region experiences rapid growth and as St. David’s HealthCare develops additional programs and services, we are committed to expanding our network so that we may continue to meet the needs of the community with the highest quality care.”

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the expansion was key in accommodating brisk population growth in Central Texas.

“The St. David's HealthCare announcement of a $275-million capital investment in Central Texas is important on a number of levels. With 60,000 people moving to Austin each year, we must constantly expand our healthcare infrastructure to keep up,” Adler said. “However, capacity alone is not the answer, which is why St. David's is so vital to this region—it brings top-quality healthcare to the Austin area and helps us maintain our position as America's best place to live."

Austin Chamber officials lauded the move, pointing to the critical importance access to health care has to residents in the region.

“The Austin business community applauds this extraordinarily significant announcement,” Tony Budet, president and CEO of the University Federal Credit Union and current chair of the Austin Chamber, said. “Access to top-quality healthcare is essential to the long-term sustainability of our entire region. We commend St. David's HealthCare for making an investment of this magnitude, especially one that benefits all corners of our community.”

St. David's HealthCare officials detailed the scope of the envisioned new facility in North Austin.

"This newly constructed facility, originally built by a developer, was designed as a specialty surgery hospital," officials explained. "The 8.5-acre property includes a 146,381-square-foot hospital and an adjacent 80,000-square-foot medical office building."

Plans also call for a 500-space parking garage at the North Austin site. The hospital features 40 patient rooms, including 12 VIP rooms; 10 operating rooms; six-bed intensive care unit (ICU); and an emergency department, in addition to other hospital, clinical and support functions.

The opening of the hospital is expected to create approximately 130 new full-time positions, with that number expected to increase to more than 150 in the first five years of operation, hospital officials added.d

"St. David’s HealthCare intends to operate the facility, which will be a campus of St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, as a specialty surgery hospital," they said. St. David’s HealthCare will operationalize plans for the facility over the next few months and will announce details on the facility opening in the near future."

In terms of the Leander property, St. David's Healthcare officials said they were still working out the final acquisition terms with Leander city officials. The initial $20 million investment will allow construction to occur in several phases, starting with creation of a free-standing emergency department (ED) and future plans for a full-service hospital.

"The first in Central Texas to develop a freestanding ED, St. David’s HealthCare will construct in Leander an 11,200-square-foot freestanding ED with 10 to 12 rooms," officials noted. "The facility will also feature advanced testing capabilities including radiological testing and a medical lab. It will be staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians affiliated with St. David’s HealthCare and nurses trained in trauma care."

The ED is expected to be completed in 2017, officials said.

Other plans for the site include at least one medical office building and an 80-bed hospital with capacity for growth as the community grows, officials said. Creation of the emergency center will create 25 jobs in its first year of operation -- nurses, imaging personnel, laboratory personnel, registration staff and support personnel.

Eventually, more than 200 jobs will be created once the hospital is built, officials added.

Additionally, the company plans to expand St. David's Medical Center.

"The rapid growth of the world-renowned Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at St. David’s Medical Center, combined with the growth of the hospital’s surgical services, have necessitated the expansion of the cardiac electrophysiology program, medical/surgical bed capacity and intensive care unit (ICU) bed capacity at St. David’s

Medical Center," officials explained. "St. David’s HealthCare is investing $70 million to expand these services."

To that end, expansion efforts begining this summer will include

• The addition of 12 more ICU beds;
• Adding 24 medical/surgical beds that will be used primarily for the care of electrophysiology patients; creation of a new electrophysiology center with six new electrophysiology lab suites and space for the addition of a seventh suite in the future;
• Two additional operating rooms (ORs).

Once the expansion concludes within the next 18-24 months, St. David’s Medical Center will have more than 462 beds, including 40 ICU beds, officials said. The company expects to hire more than 50 new employees as a result, with 90 more positions added within five years.

At St. David's South Austin Medical Center, officials plan a $50 million capital expansion project, with expected completion next year.

"With programmatic growth in areas such as oncology and trauma at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center as well as the organic growth in the south of the market, St. David’s HealthCare is investing $50-million in a capital expansion project at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, which includes the hospital’s emergency department and patient care room capacity," hospital officials said.

Currently, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center’s emergency department (ED) is the largest-volume ED in Central Texas, serving approximately 110,000 patients per year, according to company officials.

"To accommodate this volume, the hospital will increase the size of the emergency department by nearly 14,000 square feet, including the addition of 16 beds and the expansion of other support functions in the emergency services area."

Additionally, St. David’s South Austin Medical Center will add 26,000 square feet, including a new 34-bed medical/surgical unit, to be developed as an additional floor on top of the hospital’s South Tower, hospital officials noted. Fifty new full-time employees will be added in the first year to support the increased services resulting from this expansion, they said.

That level of hiring is expected to double within five years.

Officials added that the $275-million investment will be paid with funds from St. David’s HealthCare operations. No debt would be issued to finance the expansion, nor will philanthropic dollars be utilized to help pay for the growth plans.