Site work begins for South Side Hospital
While the 68-acre parcel of land at Zarzamora and Jaguar Lane is not ready for an official groundbreaking, drainage and other projects to prepare the site for construction are underway for the University Health Palo Alto Hospital campus.
Palo Alto Hospital will be a full-service, state-of-the-art hospital, including an emergency room for adults and children, labor and delivery suites, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), operating rooms and spacious hospital rooms for patients with medical and surgical needs. Connected to the hospital will be a medical office building to bring much-needed access for South Side residents to family medicine and a wide range of specialists closer to home.
The large campus, across from Texas A&M University San Antonio, will also be the new headquarters for University Health’s Institute for Public Health. Established in 2022, the Institute represents University Health’s commitment to promoting health, preventing disease and prolonging life in our community through programs, services and partnerships. This building will include primary care services, wellness and preventive health education and programs, and spaces for community partners to help University Health advance this critically important mission.
“I’m ecstatic that during my first term, the University Health hospital that I advocated for is coming to fruition,” said Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores. “The Southside deserves this state-of-the-art health care facility. The $60 million that Bexar County has put into preventive health, along with University Health, will continue to propel our visionary leadership forward, and the Southside will no longer be left behind.”
A crucial step in the development of this South Side hospital campus is upgrading the power infrastructure, and CPS Energy is doing just that. The power provider is bringing in primary and secondary feeds from two separate substations and helping bury power lines along Zarzamora to create a safe flight path to the helipad.
Expected to open in 2027, Palo Alto is one of two community hospitals under construction. University Health Retama Hospital on the Northeast Side will break ground in early 2024.
“These two campuses will help University Health meet the future health needs of our rapidly growing population, ensuring residents can have access to high-quality care closer to their homes, in hospitals and clinics that are connected with the entire University Health network through one electronic health record,” added George B. Hernández, Jr., University Health president & CEO. “Epic and its MyChart app enables patients to connect with their doctors, make appointments, refill medications and much more from the convenience of their phone.”
Patients needing the most advanced care can also be easily transferred to University Hospital in the Medical Center, as it is a Level I trauma center, organ transplant institute, and the highest level NICU and maternity center.
