St. David’s HealthCare is continuing its nearly $1 billion worth of infrastructure investments with the construction of a behavioral health hospital near St. David’s North Austin Medical Center.

The details

According to hospital officials, the $33.7 million project will:

• Provide mental health services for adolescents, adults and older adults with outpatient services, an indoor/outdoor therapy area and a separate adolescent area
• Feature 80 beds with the capacity for 12 additional beds in the future
• Create more than 200 jobs

The project was first announced in a February 2022 news release.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly compounded the challenges our region is facing, there was already a need for more physical capacity in our existing hospitals to care for patients, as well as additional services in our community, including behavioral health services,” said C. David Huffstutler, St. David’s HealthCare president and CEO, in the release.

More recently, the St. David’s Women’s Center expanded in July, adding 30 beds to its neonatal intensive care unit and renovating its Ronald McDonald Family Room.

What’s next

Hospital officials said that construction on the behavioral health hospital is expected to begin this summer. Construction was previously slated to begin in late 2023 and be complete by late 2024, as reported by Community Impact.