| COVER STORY, SEPTEMBER 2009
A BIG IMPACT
Three Texas healthcare projects will undoubtedly make a difference in their growing markets.
By Lindsey W. Marcec
As Texas’ population continues to grow, so does the state’s need for bigger, better healthcare facilities. Texas Real Estate Business showcases three important new medical centers — Seton Medical Center Hays, New Parkland Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus — that will provide much-needed medical services to residents in fast-growing areas.
Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus
Houston
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Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus
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West Houston has one of the nation’s fastest growing populations of children, which led Texas Children’s Hospital to select a 55-acre campus near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Barker Cypress Road in West Houston for its newest location. According to Michelle Riley-Brown, assistant vice president for Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, the overall area from Sugar Land to Bryan-College Station is expected to see its population grow by 51 percent between 2000 and 2015.
“This strong growth trend is expected to continue over the next 10 years,” she adds.
The new, approximately 534,000-square-foot facility will accommodate this growth. Phase I of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus will include a 220,809-square-foot ambulatory building, and Phase II will include a 294,198-square-foot inpatient facility. The hospital plans to add, as needed, 48 acute care beds within the inpatient facility in subsequent phases.
“Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus will bring expanded access to the same unsurpassed standard of care patients have come to expect from Texas Children’s Hospital’s main campus,” Riley-Brown says. “The West Campus will be a prestigious centerpiece of the community, designed with easy freeway access, ample free parking and natural, park-like grounds that will make it a convenient and accessible addition to the neighborhood.”
PageSoutherlandPage designed the hospital campus, which will incorporate design elements that promote healing — such as natural light, views of water and nature, and outdoor, park-like settings for patient and family use. Additionally, the design of the West Campus reflects Texas Children’s focus on family-centered care, Riley-Brown says.
“Special accommodations for siblings are provided onsite to allow parents to be fully involved in the diagnosis and treatment of their sick child, including examination rooms large enough to accommodate parents and other family members, colorful play rooms, patient rooms with fold-out beds and child-life specialists on staff,” she says.
Tellepsen Builders is serving as the lead construction company on the project, and the first phase is scheduled to open in late 2010. The West Campus is a planned component of Texas Children’s Hospital Vision 2010 initiative to expand facilities for research and pediatric services, and it was made possible in large part through the generous support of donations from the community.
“We have been pleased by the high level of interest and enthusiasm expressed by the communities surrounding our new campus,” Riley-Brown says. “Families have told us they are eagerly awaiting the extended access this will provide them to the pediatric healthcare services offered by Texas Children’s Hospital.”
New Parkland Hospital
Dallas
Dallas also is experiencing a population boom, and the city’s Parkland Memorial Hospital has announced it will leave its existing 54-year-old location for a brand new, 1.97 million-square-foot facility in 2014 to better meet the healthcare needs of the growing region. Containing 862 private beds, 120 neonatal intensive care unit beds, 48 labor/delivery/recovery beds and 23 operating rooms, the New Parkland Hospital will be the largest medical facility in the city.
“The size of spaces for patient rooms and diagnostic areas has grown significantly since the original hospital began operation 54 years ago,” says Walter Jones, senior vice president, facilities planning and development, for the Parkland Health and Hospital System. “The current facility is overcrowded and undersized for the volume of patients, and it cannot be further expanded on its current site in an efficient, economical manner for modern delivery of care.”
All current inpatient hospital services will be located in the new hospital, and there will be significant enhancements planned for many existing services for better patient safety, more efficient care delivery and wayfinding. Patient rooms and diagnostic areas will be designed with more space to meet current code minimums as well as to provide ample space for family, visitors, storage, support and teaching/academic activities.
“Space is also sized to be flexible and to more easily allow for changes in the type and amount of care that may be delivered in the future, and for new technologies that may be used in the future,” Jones says.
“Additionally, our projections show a significant increase in the population of Dallas County over the next 20 years,” adds Jones. “The increased size of the facility is to accommodate that growth.”
The team working on the project includes Karlsberger Healthcare Consulting (operational planning and programming); HDR/Corgan (architecture); Balfour Beatty Construction, Austin Commercial LP, H.J. Russell & Company and Azteca Enterprises (construction management at risk); and CH2MHill (program controls). The hospital will be built in one phase, and ancillary structures will be constructed and completed on coordinating schedules so that the entire campus will be completed at the same time.
The New Parkland Hospital project is being funded through a combination of available cash, generous philanthropy and bond sales, according to Jones.
Jones adds, “Perhaps our best public response was the overwhelming approval by 82 percent of the voters of Dallas County for the approval of $747 million in bonds on November 4, 2008.”
Seton Medical Center Hays
Kyle, Texas
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Seton Medical Center Hays
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Covering approximately 6 acres in the fast-growing Central Texas city of Kyle, the new Seton Medical Center Hays — the latest member to open under the Seton Family of Hospitals umbrella — will provide an expansive facility to the expanding population in Hays County.
“Hays County, historically, is a medically underserved area that is expected to grow to a population of 185,000 by 2010 and then to 285,000 in 2020 — a more than 50 percent growth rate in 10 years,” says Herb Dyer, vice president and chief operating officer for Seton Medical Center Hays.
Upon opening on October 1st, Seton Medical Center Hays will fill a void for residents, of which 58 percent currently receive inpatient care out of the immediate service area. Spanning 331,761 square feet at 6001 Kyle Parkway, the new medical facility will be the largest in the county and will offer a full array of medical services.
Some of the center’s unique amenities include a healing garden, an outdoor courtyard, a chapel and a reflection room, which is open to people of all faiths.
“Patients, family members, physicians, staff and visitors will find a peaceful environment at the medical center where nature, technology and spirituality coexist,” says Dyer.
The Seton Family of Hospitals and Ascension Health are funding the construction of the $143.7 million project. Ascension Health is the largest non-profit Catholic healthcare organization in the United States. Additionally, the Seton Hays Foundation, which was created to support the new facility, is raising funds through community philanthropy to benefit the construction and equipment at Seton Medical Center Hays.
“We have received a very positive and incredibly warm welcome at the numerous presentations and events that we’ve participated in throughout Hays County,” says Dyer.
On top of bringing much-needed medical services to the area, Seton Medical Center Hays also will bring new jobs and attract new tax dollars to Hays County. The medical center, related medical services and support businesses are expected to create around 19,000 jobs by 2020, Dyer says.
“In addition to new jobs, Seton Medical Center Hays [...] will help boost Hays County’s competitive standing as a premier location to start, relocate and grow a business,” Dyer says.
Lott Brothers Construction Company is serving as general contractor for the project, and HKS, Inc. is the architect. Universal Health Services (UHS) Building Solutions is the project developer.
“The team at Seton Medical Center Hays is eagerly awaiting the opening of the facility in October,” says Dyer. “We are so appreciative of the incredible support and welcome that we have received and will do everything within our power to provide the very best medical care possible.”
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