A pair of large-scale medical center expansions at St. David’s HealthCare and Baylor Scott & White Health facilities in Round Rock are planned over the next two years.
An expansion at St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center will cost about $53.1 million and bring two additional floors to the center’s main hospital.
St. David’s CEO Jeremy Barclay said the expansion will help St. David’s keep up with the increasing need for health care in Williamson County as Round Rock and nearby cities continue to grow.
“Over the past couple years, we have certainly noticed an increase in demand for health care services, like we have with housing and everything else,” Barclay said.
One of the new floors will house a 34-bed intermediate patient care unit, and the other will be a shell space for future expansion.
The expansion will also create space for four new operating rooms in the hospital’s surgical suite that will be used for specialty services, such as neurosurgery and oncology.
Barclay said the fourth floor will contain another 34 intermediate care beds when built out.
“We added additional [intensive care unit] beds last year, so we were able to help with that demand, ... and the biggest need we have now is for that middle level of care,” he said.
St. David’s expects to hire approximately 60 employees over the next two years to fill the new space, according to a press release.
The St. David’s Round Rock expansion, which is expected to be complete sometime in 2023, comes as part of a larger $953 million investment in expanding St. David’s hospitals across Central Texas.
Regarding expansions for BSW, on Oct. 4 the Williamson County Commissioners Court approved a resolution to issue $55 million in bond funds for an expansion of the BSW medical center at 2600 E. Pflugerville Parkway in Pflugerville and $200 million in bond funds to expand the BSW medical center at 300 University Blvd. in Round Rock.
Gabe Martinez, senior public relations consultant for BSW, said details on the expansions are not yet available. BSW materials published online indicate the Round Rock expansion could add 165,000 square feet and include the construction of a 10-bed neonatal intensive care unit, 30 new labor and delivery rooms, and 30 new medical-surgical rooms.
Additionally, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation permits already filed for the expansion show initial construction could conclude in late 2024.
Even though Williamson County officials approved the issuance of $255 million in bond funds for the expansions, Martinez said cost estimates are still not set.
Barclay said hospital expansions, such as those at St. David’s and BSW, will remain crucial as area populations continue to boom.
“It definitely makes me excited to know that many more people will be able to seek health care within our community,” he said.
