CONTINUED FROM 1
HEART OF HEALTH CARE
ago aged in place and, as a result, are moving their parents closer to home and require medical ser- vices, such as vascular and cardiological care, and rehabilitation and assisted living opportunities in the area. Wilson also said Stone Oak keeps attracting young families who require their own health care services, such as pediatrics and general family practitioners, in the neighborhood. “Health care is local. Patients like to be seen by someone in their own community. The number of physicians opening up practices in Stone Oak has been robust,” Wilson said, referring to services that include urgent care clinics and home health care programs. Bill Waechter, president and CEO of North Cen- tral Baptist Hospital, agreed with Wilson about Stone Oak’s continuing population growth fueling the neighborhood’s health care industry. North Central Baptist Hospital, which opened in 1991 and has since undergone numerous expan- sions, features more than 400 beds and is home to a children’s hospital and Baptist Orthopedic Hospital. Waechter said North Central Baptist Hospital was one of the rst major nonresidential struc- tures built in Stone Oak, and from there the hospi- tal’s sta has seen the community’s medical needs evolve over time. “It is like a mini-[South Texas Medical Center] here now,” Waechter said. “It used to be, if you lived in Stone Oak, you had to travel for any kind of major medical care. That’s really no longer the case.” Accommodating future growth Waechter and Wilson said their respective hospi- tals are planning an increasing number of ways of providing patients with comprehensive care well into the future. Methodist Stone Oak will begin a 10-month, $8.5 million project in July. The project involves construction of a catheter laboratory, the addition of three new operating rooms, and three catheter preparation and recovery spots in existing hospital space, Wilson said. Wilson also said Methodist Stone Oak angiogra- phy lab is being remodeled to better serve patients who undergo examinations of their arteries, veins or heart chambers. “We are still growing,” Wilson said. Waechter said North Central Baptist Hospital is planning its own future expansions, including a dedicated heart health center and a hybrid vascular operating room that would be out tted with the same camera equipment typically found in a catheter lab. North Central Baptist Hospital has previously undergone multiple upgrades, including the open- ing of a nearly $3 million, revamped women’s health service area in summer 2022, Waechter said. This May, North Central Baptist Hospital o cials announced the opening of two new robotic surgery suites in the women’s services area. “It was a needed service. It was something that there was demand for, and we were able to open that up,” Waechter said of the women’s services area.
KEY
Surgery center
Hospital
Physician
Two major hospitals and two children’s hospitals are among more than 30 health care-related facilities along a nearly 2-mile part of East Sonterra Boulevard in Stone Oak. Local health care service providers and civic leaders said Stone Oak is becoming a core of various health care services on San Antonio’s north side. This map is not comprehensive.
STONE OAK
MADISON OAK DR.
P A L M S D R .
SIGMA RD.
281
1604
MAP NOT TO SCALE N
SOURCES: METHODIST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, BAPTIST HEALTH SYSTEM, CHRISTUS HEALTH SYSTEM COMMUNITY IMPACT
HUB OF ACTIVITY Next to the South Texas Medical Center ZIP code 78229, the Stone Oak ZIP code 78258 has among the highest concentrations of health care workers in north Bexar County.
two major hospitals, two children’s hospitals, and numerous general and specialty providers—re ects the area’s growth and contributes to the city’s total health care economic output. They also said health care o erings available in Stone Oak set the stage for more expansions and other capital projects at neighborhood hospitals to accommodate even more growth. ”Growth of health care here is warranted and it re ects the needs of people here,” Courage said. Hospitals anchor growth Leaders of North Central Baptist Hospital and Methodist Stone Oak Hospital—both located in Stone Oak—agreed with the chamber report’s assessment that health care providers have fol- lowed the area’s residential and commercial boom for 30-plus years. According to the Methodist Healthcare System, Methodist Stone Oak has undergone several expan- sions since opening in 2009, including going from having 140 beds in 2018 to 242 beds alongside 13 operating suites, another 42 beds for acute care and rehabilitation, and a fertility clinic. Methodist Stone Oak CEO Je Wilson said his facil- ity, as well as North Central Baptist Hospital, serves a diverse number of patients who live throughout north central San Antonio, north Bexar County and even some residents of nearby Comal County. Wilson added the population of the Stone Oak ZIP code 78258, which grew from 40,586 residents in 2010 to 51,073 in 2020, has pro- pelled a continuing infusion of health care o er- ings into the neighborhood. “If you drive along Loop 1604 and US 281, the thing that has really changed in the past ve years is the increase in the number of multifamily dwell- ings, such as apartment complexes and townhouse communities,” Wilson said. Wilson said many people who moved to Stone Oak when it was beginning to develop 25-30 years
Total number of health care workers
STONE OAK
991
4,863
286
78258
78259
2,797
78232
1,870
450
78230
SOUTH TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER
78229
19,677
N
SOURCES: WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS ALAMO, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, BAPTIST HEALTH SYSTEM, METHODIST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM COMMUNITY IMPACT
biannual health care economic impact report, released in December, the overall economic e ect, payrolls and workforce numbers in local health care continue to rise or remain steady. The economic impact of San Antonio’s health care and bioscience industry in 2021 totaled $44.1 billion, a 48% increase over 10 years, the report states. North San Antonio community leaders said Stone Oak’s ourishing health care sector—with
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COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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