The tower cranes are up, the webcams are online and people can now watch the construction of University Health’s two new community hospital campuses on San Antonio’s South and Northeast sides.
Watch us grow with you
Monitor the progress in real time 24/7 for both University Health Palo Alto Hospital and University Health Retama Hospital by visiting our Growth & Expansion webpage. A time-lapse option allows viewers a compressed version of the birth of new health care access in parts of the city with growing populations and needs. Both hospitals have planned opening dates in 2027.
The growing South Side community is seeing a burst of new houses being planned and built south of Loop 410, including VIDA, a 600-acre master planned community adjacent to the Palo Alto Campus, across from Texas A&M University-San Antonio, while the Northeast area is part of the fast-growing I-35 corridor. The new community hospitals and specialty care at the medical office buildings will meet the needs of residents close to home while connecting them to top-tier hospital care at University Hospital and Women’s & Children’s Hospital in the South Texas Medical Center.
B roll of Palo Alto construction
Bringing new jobs in waves
As the sites grow into hospitals and medical office buildings, so will job opportunities for thousands of San Antonians on the South and Northeast sides. Currently, 80 people are working on an average day at the Palo Alto Campus and 110 at the Retama Campus. These numbers will change and grow as different trades take their turns at construction, supporting local contractors and creating positive economic impact for small businesses. When they open, the hospitals and medical office buildings will initially create about 2,100 good-paying health care jobs and hold shell space for further expansion.
University Health is already building the pathway to success for those future employees and patients.
“Bexar County has a fast-growing population with growing medical needs,” said University Health President and CEO Ed Banos. “To serve those needs with a strong health care team, we are partnering with educational and workforce development programs at all levels to create pipelines of opportunity. We started to put these plans in place years ago, and with this construction activity, we are excited about the future. These communities will grow healthier and stronger economically with the University Health hospital as an anchor.”
Junior volunteer programs, affiliation agreements with colleges and universities, tuition reimbursement programs, and partnerships with community programs are just a few of the ways University Health connects with the community to encourage young people to choose health care careers and help our employees grow their leadership potential and earning power.
A multifaceted growth strategy
Adjacent to Palo Alto Hospital with a planned opening date of early 2026 is University Health Vida, the primary and specialty care center, and location for the Institute for Public Health. University Health Wheatley, another primary and specialty care and public health center, is under construction with plans to begin serving patients on the East Side next year.
Both of these centers will also be sites for the Institute for Public Health. The Institute connects patients to resources that help them address the nonmedical drivers of health, improving their health and the health of the community.
ABOUT UNIVERSITY HEALTH
University Health is the only locally owned health system in San Antonio. For more than 100 years, University Health has been here to heal, improve health, train the next generation of medical professionals and ensure the people of San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas have access to primary and advanced specialty care close to home. Specialized services include the region’s only Level I trauma center for both adults and children, and maternal and neonatal intensive care centers designated at the highest levels by the State of Texas. As the region’s only academic health system, University Health is a hub of innovation and discovery, committed to delivering patient-centered, culturally competent, high-quality and compassionate care, based on a strong foundation of outcomes‐based research and innovative teaching. Learn more at UniversityHealth.com. Follow us on X and Facebook.
