Expansions, Investments Give Strong Pulse to Health Industry
Published Dec 03, 2008
Providence Healthcare’s service area grew by more than 9 percent in the first half of the decade.
It’s said in Texas, everything is bigger. That’s certainly true for hospital expansions in the Heart of Texas, where two key providers are in the midst of a major building boom.
Hillcrest Health System is carving out a new campus with a community hospital and an adjacent Women & Children’s hospital. Combined, the projects will cover 472,000 square feet of space and represent a $184 million investment.
Glenn Robinson, president and CEO of Hillcrest Health System, said that despite additions and renovations, the 88-year-old original facility couldn’t keep up with technology advances, new structural requirements and patient access needs.
With a new hospital, patients will benefit from the latest technology, including a digitized diagnostic imaging center. The upgrade means patients will face less radiation exposure, need fewer repeat examinations and get quicker results. Wireless computers allow nurses to chart patient records at bedside. Elsewhere, better lighting systems and wireless Internet access will improve the patient experience.
The Women & Children’s hospital combines the two departments into a single location, where delivery, women’s services and pediatrics will take place.
Construction began in December 2006 and should be completed in May 2009, along with two medical office buildings to house an outpatient surgery and imaging center.
Hillcrest announced in May 2008 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding that is expected to lead to an affiliation agreement with Scott & White Healthcare. The agreement will lead to a partnership between Hillcrest and SWH to operate Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center.
Scott & White operates a 636-bed hospital and clinic in Temple, Texas, as well as an acute-care hospital in Round Rock and more than 20 outpatient clinics throughout Central Texas, including four in the Waco area. Scott & White is the principal clinical teaching facility affiliated with the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.
Nearby, Providence Healthcare Network kicked off a $48.5 million expansion to accommodate more people using the hospital. Completed last year, the moves were needed because of a rapidly growing population.
Jonathan Ford, vice president of marketing, said Providence’s service area grew by 9.1 percent between 2000 and 2005 and will match that again by the decade’s end. The emergency department that was designed for 30,000 visits per year was seeing 50,000 patients.
At the base of the hospital, the emergency department doubled in size to 50 beds. In a new five-story tower, operating suites, intensive care beds and labor/delivery beds were added. The ICU nearly doubled to 30 beds, and the surgery department – whose nine operating suites had a utilization rate of more than 80 percent – added six more suites with an additional suite devoted to cystoscopy, a procedure that allows doctors to examine the bladder and urethra. As part of this expansion, pulmonary and respiratory, radiology, rehabilitation, nutrition and other departments were given additional space. In all, 162,000 square feet of space was added and 67,000 square feet was renovated without compromising patient care or volumes.
“This was a dream from the beginning – to create the space needed to meet the market demand without compromising patient care. To be able to accomplish this dream in such a seamless fashion is just icing on the cake,” Ford said.
Story by Roy Moore
Photo by Jesse Knish
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