Seton Healthcare Family's parent company has approved funds for the new teaching hospital slated to replace University Medical Center Brackenridge, Seton president/CEO Jess Garza said.

Local health care and education leaders held a news conference June 18 to offer updates on the new hospital. State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and representatives from Central Health, The University of Texas and Seton spoke at the announcement.

Ascension Healthcare funding for the roughly $295 million project in mid-June, Garza said. Seton will invest $245 million and will aim to raise an additional $50 million through philanthropy, he said.

Construction is expected to begin in 2014; the facility is expected to be open and operational by mid-2017, he said.

"This will still be a safety net, but it will no longer be a single location for treating our poor and vulnerable neighbors," he said. "Seton and its partners will create safety net systems to improve care of everyone we serve at several locations [including Brackenridge]."

Garza said the new hospital will be roughly the same size as UMCB because of the health care industry's shift away from emergency room and inpatient care. It will include 14 psychiatric beds and enhanced cancer care and treatment among its features.

"The teaching hospital and Dell Medical School will attract world-class faculty [and] the best medical students from around the country. We will have more research and choices, and patients will not have to travel to receive care at other locations in Texas. They can stay home," Garza said.

Central Health board member Clarke Heidrick said the hospital and new medical school will teach the physicians of tomorrow.

"As our friend Dr. [Ken] Shine said, health care is a team sport now, and these physicians are going to be taught alongside the nurses, pharmacists and social workers who are already being taught [nearby] at [UT]," Heidrick said.

Garza said the hospital, medical school and research enterprises that sprout up around it are expected to bring 15,000 jobs to the downtown area.

The teaching hospital will be built on the north side of 15th Street, across from the current UMCB. The land is owned by UT and is leased to Central Health, Travis County's health care district, according to a news release.

Seton has selected Dallas firm HKS Inc. to be the lead architect for the project.

Peter Rieck, vice president of facilities and support services at Seton, said HKS is one of three preferred architects Seton uses for large projects. He added that HKS's selection does not mean that the firm will handle all aspects of construction.