University Health has initiated construction on a new full-service hospital next to Texas A&M University in San Antonio, Texas, US.
The new hospital, named University Health Palo Alto Hospital, is being developed to address the healthcare needs of the South Side community in Bexar County, Texas.
Expected to open in 2027, the University Health Palo Alto Hospital will be a five-storey acute care facility, along with a connected medical office building, built on a 68-acre campus adjacent to Texas A&M.
The facility will initially house 166 inpatient beds, with plans to eventually increase the bed capacity to 286.
In addition, the hospital will feature an emergency department, a labour and delivery unit, operating rooms, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and inpatient units, as well as radiology, and lab services.
The beginning of the construction of University Health Palo Alto Hospital was marked by a ground-breaking ceremony.
Addressing the event, University Health president and CEO George Hernández, Jr said: “My ask of you today is that you commit to watering the seeds we plant. That you commit to further develop the foundations we lay.
“In the end, we will all leave a real legacy for this community, for San Antonio, for Bexar County, and for Texas that will not only heal the sick and injured, or train the next generation of health care workers, but also improve the good health of the community.”
University Health Palo Alto Hospital and campus will also benefit from a partnership with the Texas A&M System Board of Regents, which includes a $45m College of Education and Public Health to enhance healthcare professional training, medical research, and care provision to southern Bexar County residents.
The latest milestone follows the start of the construction of a multi-speciality healthcare centre, Vida, on the same campus and headquarters for the University Health Institute for Public Health last month.
Vida is expected to open in 2026.
In addition, University Health is also breaking ground on another community hospital, University Health Retama, in February.
