Medical networks respond to the population increase

Medical networks respond to the population increase

By Shannon Colletti, Christi Covington and Kara Vaught Monday, 07 January 2008

Third major medical center prepares to open in eastern Round Rock

One of the biggest concerns facing Central Texas healthcare providers is meeting the needs of the region’s rapidly growing population, said Mark Clayton, senior vice president for strategic planning and development with St. David’s HealthCare.

Area healthcare networks are addressing this issue with new hospitals and updated facilities.

In February, the Seton Family of Hospitals will open Seton Medical Center Williamson in Round Rock. Last month it unveiled Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in partnership with Community Health Systems, Inc.

Scott & White also brought a new Round Rock hospital on University Boulevard, Scott & White University Medical Campus, which partners with Texas A&M University, last summer.

St. David’s HealthCare is building a women’s facility that after completion will double the North Austin Medical Center’s current capacity for women’s and maternity services.

“There’s enough growth in this county that, although I believe we will be in an over-bedded situation for a couple of years with all the new facilities, ultimately there’s going to be plenty of patients for all of us to take care of,” said Hugh Brown, CEO for St. David’s Georgetown Hospital.

One thing is certain: When Central Texans need medical help, they have options.

Seton

The two new Seton hospitals are designed to provide comprehensive care for those with routine to complex medical issues.

“Our goal is that very few of our patients would need to go to our other sites for any super specialized care,” said Travis Froehlich, vice president of planning for Seton.

Seton Medical Center Williamson, 201 Seton Parkway in Round Rock, will open Feb. 7 with 365,761 sq. ft. and 181 beds with space for 350 rooms. Additional medical facilities on the campus include 120,000 sq. ft. of medical offices, an ambulatory surgery center, diagnostic and imaging center and oncology center.

“It’s going to bring a level of care and convenience to residents there that they would have had to drive a distance to get before,” Froehlich said. “I hope community health status — not the amount of health care, but how healthy they are because they have access to care — will go up.”

CPRMC, located on the northeast corner of RM 1431 and 183A Toll behind 1890 Ranch, is 300,000 sq. ft. and has 77 private rooms with space for up to 151 rooms. The emergency room has 18 private treatment bays, and the attached medical office building will house up to 18 physician offices including general surgeons and women’s services providers.

Scott & White

Scott & White University Medical Campus opened its hospital with 72 beds last July on 68 acres at University Boulevard. Although not yet full, patients have continued to take up the space. The current plan is to double the hospital’s capacity in the next three years and then grow to 300 beds in the next decade, but it will all depend on demand.

“The competitive market has a significant role in what we do,” said Ernie Bovio, University Medical Campus CEO. “We look at the services already offered and the amount offered to see what we can bring. You have to take into consideration what our competitors are doing and if we can do it better.”

The original Scott & White is based in Temple, and Round Rock’s location is the first hospital plant for the network, which emphasizes education and research.

On the Temple campus, nursing and medical students from higher education institutions such as the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Texas A&M University train on site. The University Medical Campus plans to continue the same tradition with area schools and will host students from Texas A&M Health Science Center when it begins Round Rock classes next fall.

St. David’s HealthCare

St. David’s announced last June it would invest $100 million in women’s and neonatal services. This includes the construction of an $82.7 million women’s center at its North Austin Medical Center, located on MoPac just south of Parmer Lane.

The hospital system has five area facilities that deliver about 12,500 babies annually.

“It’s long been a part of our strategic plan to grow women’s services at this facility,” said Don Wilkerson, CEO for the North Austin Medical Center. “We’re in a high-growth area where we’re located in North Austin. This hospital has realized very significant obstetrical growth over the course of the last 10 years. We realized we needed to grow.”

When finished, the 377,000 sq. ft., three-story center will boast of 37 labor, delivery and recovery rooms, 61 postpartum rooms, six Cesarean surgical suites and 36 neonatal intensive care unit bassinets. Ground broke last summer and the expected completion is April 2009.

Plans also call for a future ambulatory surgery center for women’s surgical procedures, and the building will be engineered to expand to eight stories as needed. The facility will be the largest women’s center in Central Texas, Wilkerson said.

Funds will also be used for NICU expansion at Round Rock Medical Center, where completion is expected in early March. St. David’s Medical Center in Austin expanded its NICU and will make renovations in women’s services, which should be finished in June.

Society of Chest Pain Centers

The Society of Chest Pain Centers certified Georgetown Hospital as a fully accredited chest pain center in June, giving that distinction to all five of St. David’s hospitals. Round Rock Medical Center and North Austin Medical Center received accreditation in March 2006.

In May 2006, the Round Rock hospital became home to a second catheterization lab and a new heart operating room. A catheterization lab enables doctors, nurses and staff to decipher what is causing a patient’s pain by inserting a catheter into the patient’s groin to view the heart’s veins and arteries to determine where the blockage might be.

“While there are many reasons people might need emergency room department services, one that is the most time critical is [for those] people who are having heart conditions,” said Hugh Brown, CEO for St. David’s Georgetown Hospital. “The old saying that time is muscle when it comes to heart attacks is true. The quicker you can identify the problem and get that patient the appropriate level of care is very important.”

Along with the chest pain center certification, Georgetown Hospital received new equipment, including bedside testing machines. These machines enable physicians to test heart blockages and get lab results in about 18 minutes, rather than the hour it previously took, said Marge Connors-Dirienzo, RN, director of emergency and intensive care services at St. David’s Georgetown Hospital.