St. David's HealthCare to Invest More Than $275 Million in Central Texas Healthcare Infrastructure

AUSTIN, Texas, May 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- St. David's HealthCare, which provides care for more Central Texans than any other healthcare system, today announced the investment of more than $275 million in the region's healthcare infrastructure over the next two years. 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.

"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."

"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," Steve Adler, Mayor of Austin, 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."

"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."

New Hospital in North Austin
This newly constructed facility, originally built by a developer, was designed as a specialty surgery hospital. The 8.5-acre property includes a 146,381-square-foot hospital and an adjacent 80,000-square-foot medical office building. The property also includes a 500-space parking garage.

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.

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. 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.

Leander
St. David's HealthCare has announced the acquisition of approximately 52 acres of land in Leander, Texas, contingent on finalizing agreements with the City of Leander. The healthcare system will initially invest approximately $20 million to bring to Leander a healthcare facility, to be constructed in phases, beginning with a freestanding emergency department (ED) and including 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. 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. Completion is anticipated in 2017.

The remaining plans for the site include at least one medical office building and an 80-bed hospital with the capacity to grow as the community grows.

During the emergency center's first year of operation, it is expected to hire 25 employees, including nurses, imaging personnel, laboratory personnel, registration staff and support personnel. With the future construction of the hospital, more than 200 jobs will be created.

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. St. David's HealthCare is investing $70 million to expand these services. The expansion project, which commences this summer, will include:

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

With this expansion, to be completed within the next 18 to 24 months, St. David's Medical Center will have more than 462 beds, including 40 ICU beds, and a total of 19 ORs.

St. David's Medical Center expects to hire more than 50 new employees, with 90 additional positions being added within five years.

St. David's South Austin Medical Center
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. Completion is expected in late 2017 or early 2018.

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. 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.

In addition, St. David's South Austin Medical Center will add an additional 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.

To support the increased services resulting from this expansion, the hospital will hire 50 new full-time employees in the first year, with the expectation that the number of positions will double within five years.

This $275-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 used to support the project.

St. David's HealthCare
With more than 110 sites across Central Texas, St. David's HealthCare includes seven of the area's leading hospitals and is one of the largest health systems in Texas. The organization was recognized with a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award—the nation's highest presidential honor for performance excellence—in 2014. St. David's HealthCare is the third-largest private employer in the Austin area, with more than 8,700 employees.

St. David's HealthCare is a unique partnership between hospital management company HCA and two local non-profits—St. David's Foundation and Georgetown Health Foundation. The proceeds from the operations of the hospitals fund the foundations, which, in turn, invest those dollars back into the community. Since the inception of St. David's HealthCare in 1996, more than $269 million have been given back to the community to improve the health and healthcare of people in Central Texas.

Media Contacts:
Kristin Marcum, Erin Ochoa, Misty Whited, Kat Harris
Elizabeth Christian Public Relations
512.472.9599

SOURCE St. David’s HealthCare