Healthy growth From the cover
Two-minute impact
the demand, the clinic expanded its space to add more exam rooms, increase lobby size, and expand lab and nurse stations. This is the second expansion for the clinic, which opened in 2007. In regard to emergency services, calls that Williamson County Emergency Medical Services received from the Hutto area went from 2,151 to 2,708 per year—an increase of about 26%—from 2021 to 2024. Hutto Director of Economic Development Cheney Gamboa said the city’s increasing population has drawn the attention of health care providers and bringing a hospital to Hutto is “an active recruitment opportunity for us.” “The nice thing about Hutto is, because of our growth and because of all the great things that we have going on, a lot of these companies already have their eye on us,” she said. “It’s just a matter of time.”
The growth in Pflugerville’s and Hutto’s populations, coinciding with a rise in development and tech ventures flooding to the region, has spurred a greater demand for health care services. While it’s only been six and a half years since Baylor Scott & White Medical Center- Pflugerville—the only hospital in Pflugerville— opened in December 2018, the facility has already seen the need to expand services. In that time, the hospital has experienced a 112% increase in patient visits. “With all the development going on to the east with Samsung and with Tesla to the south, we expect to see continued growth here,” said Tim Tarbell, vice president of operations at BS&W Pflugerville. “So we expect to grow right along with it.” At the Baylor Scott & White Clinic-Hutto, patient visits have nearly doubled since 2021. To meet
Increase in patient visits Area hospitals have seen increased demand as patient visits have grown in recent years.
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Pflugerville 2019-2025: 112% increase
Ascension Seton Williamson 2020-2024: 39% increase
St. David’s Round Rock 2020-2024: 32.7% increase
SOURCE: BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE, ST. DAVID’S HEALTHCARE, ASCENSION SETON/COMMUNITY IMPACT
About the project
Managing the impact
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center- Pflugerville timeline February 2017 Baylor Scott & White breaks ground on Pflugerville hospital
The expansion of the BS&W Pflugerville cam- pus, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, will double the size of the hospital and will include a three-story medical office building, tripling the capacity of the clinic. To allow the hospital to make the most of its space, the expansion includes universal beds. These help the hospital convert space into the type of bed or room needed, based on the current demand. Other improvements, Tarbell said, include an expanded cardiology program and imaging services, more surgical capabilities, and a larger emergency room. Tarbell said the hospital receives patients from throughout east Travis and Williamson counties, and anticipates the upgraded facility to provide further relief to care centers in the region. “As we run our services, we expect to see more [patients] and kind of help [support] Round Rock, which has been a strong presence in the area and has really grown,” he said. “They’ve got some very, very well-run programs there that have really helped provide care for everybody to the east. So we’re here now to help support them as well as provide additional options for patients.” Williamson County EMS Director John Gonzales also said he expects his ambulance crews to utilize the Pflugerville site more often with the addition of a catheterization lab to perform cardiac procedures.
Beyond better health outcomes and more care options, increased health care facilities have an economic impact, said Jerry Jones, Pflugerville Community Development Corporation executive director. In Texas, every dollar spent by a hospital generates $2 of additional economic impact to the community, according to the Texas Hospital Association. A February report from the American Hospital Association also shows that community hospitals purchased over $1.3 trillion in goods and services from other businesses in 2023. Jones said projects such as the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Pflugerville increase daytime populations, which create more traffic for retail stores, restaurants and child care services. “So we may not see a huge monetary gain with having hospitals in our community, but I can make an argument that we can indirectly see some job growth and we can indirectly see some sales tax growth,” Jone said. “More importantly, we can see a quality-of-life enhancement for our citizens, which is, in my opinion, just as important as any economic development growth that we would be able to see,” Jones said.
December 2018 Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Pflugerville opens
Early 2024 BS&W begins construction on hospital expansion End of 2025 Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Pflugerville expansion to open
SOURCE: BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Expansion facts Cost: $125 million New services:
New positions: 130
Heart catheterization lab, radiology technology, nuclear medicine, additional CT scanner and X-ray room, on-site urgent care
SOURCE: BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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