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Ascension Seton opened its new Women's Hospital on June 25 at 1201 W. 38th St., bringing the first hospital of its kind in Central Texas dedicated exclusively to women's care, according to the Ascension Seton Foundation.
The hospital will begin accepting patients June 29, according to a news release.
The big picture
The $362 million, 325,000-square-foot, 178-bed women’s center is connected to the existing Ascension Seton Medical Center, per the release.
The facility broke ground in March 2023, according to the Ascension Seton Foundation, but faced construction delays related to meeting city and state codes that pushed its opening from a planned fall 2024 date, said Matt Stabe, assistant chief operating officer of Ascension Seton, during a June 23 media tour.
Austin's rapid growth made the need undeniable, and the new facility means women no longer need to leave for specialized care, Laura Swaney, chief strategy officer of Dell Children's and Ascension Texas Women's Services, said at the June 25 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Once a woman chooses Ascension, she'll never have to leave that family of hospitals. That is true continuity of care,” she said.
Why it matters
Central Texas has grown by more than 11% since 2020, Swaney said at the ribbon-cutting, citing U.S. Census Bureau data.
Labor and delivery rooms at the existing Ascension Seton Medical Center have been at capacity weekly, with staff regularly working across the hospital system to find space, said Amanda Cobb, director of perinatal services.
The new building is designed to handle 7,500 to 8,500 births a year and nearly doubles NICU capacity, Cobb said.
The hospital consolidates care that was previously fragmented across the campus into one dedicated building, organized by service across multiple floors.
Emergency care
The ground floor features a 24/7 women's emergency department with 14 private rooms—double the current seven triage rooms—with its own ambulance entrance separate from the main hospital.
"Historically, after hours, access to labor and delivery was restricted,” Swaney told Community Impact. “Now, we have our own staffed women's emergency department that's easy to find with valet parking available up front."
On the second floor, 20 standard labor and delivery rooms are joined by six low-intervention birth suites with soaking tubs.
The third floor houses 31 antepartum and post-surgical patient rooms as well as a Ronald McDonald Family Room with a kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry facilities and Wi-Fi, giving families of patients a place to rest without leaving the building.
Postpartum recovery
Floors 4 and 5 are dedicated to postpartum recovery, with 60 total private rooms featuring adjustable indirect lighting so families can dim clinical fixtures and create a quieter environment during their first days together.
The sixth and seventh floors house the NICU, which grows from 44 to up to 84 beds. The NICU shifts from an open-bay model to 60 private rooms designed for “couplet care,” allowing mothers to stay with their babies and actively preventing the physical separation of mother and newborn, according to hospital press materials.
Parents who can't be present can monitor their babies remotely through AngelEye cameras installed in each room.
A "NICU Graduation Day" sign in the hallway of the unit marks the moment families take their babies home, while a recreation of Austin's iconic "I love you so much" wall provides a photo opportunity for parents.
"The most meaningful innovation here is our new expanded neonatal intensive care unit, which features private rooms intentionally designed to prioritize the connection between family and patients and enhance bonding between mothers and babies," she said.
By the numbers
The Ascension Seton Foundation launched the Women's First campaign in December 2022 and announced at the ribbon-cutting that it has raised more than $19.5 million through 3,770 gifts.
A donor recognition wall in the lobby cycles through the names of contributors to the Women's First campaign through an interactive digital display.
The hospital also created more than 50 new clinical and support positions, Swaney said.
What's next
The space currently used for women's services in the main hospital will be repurposed as the campus continues to grow, though no announcement has been made on its specific future use, said Matt Cova, president of Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, at the ribbon-cutting.
"We are not done growing," he said. "We are analyzing the next best steps for our community."
The Ascension Seton Women's Hospital is located at 1201 W. 38th St., Austin.
Ben Thompson contributed to this report.
