Dedicating a 'place of firsts'
It is being celebrated as "a place of firsts." Today, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio proudly dedicated the new $472 million UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital in front of leaders from The University of Texas System, UT Health San Antonio and Mays Cancer Center, as well as donors, elected officials and other distinguished guests.
The new hospital will be the only facility of its kind in South Texas where patients will have access to therapies and expertise unavailable elsewhere, including access to top specialists and pioneering therapies, especially in cancer treatment. Uniquely designed to deliver innovative care for the most complex diseases, the hospital embodies a patient- and family-centered approach, delivering exceptional outcomes through a commitment to personalized, compassionate care and groundbreaking research.
The eight-story hospital, located at 8311 Ewing Halsell Drive in San Antonio's Medical Center, will open on Dec. 10, focused on enhancing access to advanced medical care for patients throughout South Texas.
"We will focus on delivering patient-centered innovation, where every therapy and research effort will be designed with each patient's unique needs in mind," said Robert Hromas, MD, FACP, acting president of UT Health San Antonio. "This isn't just a hospital; it's a place that will offer individualized, life-changing treatments, with the medical expertise of our more than 1,600 medical providers."
The hospital will serve as a destination for patients needing both routine surgeries and highly specialized procedures, from neurosurgery and spine and vascular surgeries to therapies for cancer, orthopaedics, sports medicine and urology.
With early-phase clinical trials for cancer and other diseases, patients will benefit from the most innovative research being conducted in South Texas. At full operation, the hospital will house advanced interventional radiology, a specialized intensive care unit and an integrated imaging center that connects directly with 12 operating rooms to provide surgeons access to essential imaging and data directly to the operating room team.
Patients will have access to advanced immunologic and stem cell therapies for cancer, including bone marrow transplants and CAR-T cell therapy. A skybridge connects the hospital to the Mays Cancer Center, home of the UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, to allow direct access for patients and providers to the hospital.
"The new hospital allows us to extend the exceptional outpatient care already offered by Mays Cancer Center and UT Health Physicians into the inpatient setting – delivering comprehensive, seamless care across the full spectrum of our patients' needs," said Jeff Flowers, MBA, FACHE, the hospital's inaugural chief executive officer.
"From the patient and family perspective, a major advantage is knowing they'll receive advanced, state-of-the-art care that is among the best in the country, right here in San Antonio," he said. "Cancer patients, in particular, will have access to hundreds of clinical trials and a team of specialized experts, including those focused on cancers that deeply affect this community, like liver, lung, breast and prostate cancers."
Beyond exceptional health care, the hospital will bring 800 high-quality jobs to the city and, over time, add hundreds of medical trainees, including medical residents, fellows and nursing students.
