US-based non-profit healthcare system Driscoll has opened a freestanding children’s hospital in Edinburg, Texas.

Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley is set to provide acute paediatric speciality care constantly.

It is equipped with 119 paediatric beds, including 63 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds, and has eight surgery suite operating rooms.

Located on West Michaelangelo Drive, the hospital covers 175,000ft² and employs more than 700 staff members.

It is understood to be the region's first designated freestanding children's hospital and the tenth free-standing not-for-profit hospital in Texas.

Construction of Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley required a $100m investment, which covered both construction and equipment costs.

Driscoll said the hospital's emergency department has already begun operations, with the first inpatient transfers from DHR Health underway. The hospital has also scheduled its first surgery.

Services offered at Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley include a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a Level III Pediatric Trauma Center, as well as a range of laboratory services and imaging services.

The hospital's construction began in November 2021 to address the future healthcare needs of Rio Grande Valley residents, who have previously faced shortages of paediatricians.

The new hospital aims to provide care closer to home for these patients, while also attracting healthcare professionals from the region who had left it in search of better job opportunities.

Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley is also intended to become an educational hub, launching the Valley's first paediatric residency training programme within the next two years.

Driscoll president and CEO Eric Hamon said: “The need for patients and their families to be close to home is why this hospital exists today.

“Proximity and accessibility to our kids was at the forefront of our mind before we ever broke ground or drew up blueprints.”