Ascension Seton Southwest celebrated its 25th anniversary in May. As Southwest Austin continues to grow, the hospital also continues to expand its services to accommodate a growing community.

What’s new

In November, Ascension Seton Southwest opened its fourth operating room. According to Patrick Paver, hospital administrator for Ascension Seton Southwest, the hospital performs over roughly 750 orthopedic surgeries and 300 general surgeries yearly.

The new operating room features new lights and high-definition technology for endoscopy towers, which allows surgeons to more closely examine the inside of the body during procedures.

“All of these lead to, typically, faster recoveries and better outcomes...” Paver said. “It also has allowed us to increase our capacity, and so we're able to do more surgeries now.”


Ascension Seton Southwest’s outpatient care services have also grown significantly, which includes pediatric rehabilitation in collaboration with Dell Children’s Emergency Care and cardiac rehabilitation. Paver said those programs have grown 15-20% every year since they opened.

Paver said the hospital is also on track to open an intermediate care unit, or IMU, at the end of this year. The hospital currently has a medical-surgical unit. Paver said the IMU will allow more patients to recover closer to home, rather than being transferred to a larger hospital.

Ascension Seton’s Central Austin campus at 1201 W. 38th St., Austin, is on track to open its new women’s tower early next year, according to a hospital representative.

The tower features will include private neonatal intensive care unit rooms, C-section suites, areas for minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries and more.


“It really changes the outlook for, I would say, all of the Ascension hospitals, because we have that service now, and we very much operate in a network form, in the sense that we share resources,” Paver said. “We utilize each other's resources, we utilize each other's expertise, which ultimately delivers better patient care."

The local impact

Paver said Ascension Seton Southwest has evolved with the community since opening in 2000. As the Southwest Austin area keeps expanding, especially with ongoing road expansion along Highway 290 near the hospital, Paver said they look forward to increased visibility and expanding resources to meet the community’s needs.

“With all the growth that's happening out here, I think you know, this is just the start,” Paver said. “When I see the Intermediate Care Unit opening up, I think that's the first step towards the bigger step, which is continued growth. To be able to offer more services so people can get that care closer to home.”