$146M expansion on the horizon From the cover
Why it matters
Explained
The elimination of double occupancy rooms, George says, allows for quicker transfer of patients into emergency rooms. She added that capacity constraints are something that’s experi- enced across the San Antonio area. “With extra capacity, we can move patients up into their private room more quickly so that they can get that care started,” George said. Je rey Fletcher, a board-certied cardiologist practicing with the Cardiology Clinic of San Antonio at the hospital, was part of a group of stakeholders giving input to the tower expansion. Fletcher said it’s important for patients to have a space free of outside noises, smells and other distractions. “There’s frank and honest and sometimes dicult conversations that are very dicult to have when you’ve got somebody behind a curtain next to you,” he said. “This is something that [sta has] heard [physicians] on, and we’ve been making this push towards getting rid of double occupancy for a while.” Impact of Methodist Hospital Northeast 8 operating suites 163 neurosurgery procedures 210 vascular and cardiovascular surgery procedures 237 bed facilities 948 robotic surgery procedures 1,000 orthopedic surgery procedures 8,519 cardiology procedures
cardiovascular and neurotrauma specialists. Both the second and third oors will have 34 beds and house all medical-surgical nurses, as well as telemetry monitoring or remote monitoring, De La Garza said. In total, increasing capacity by 58 beds will eliminate double occupancy rooms, De La Garza added. Aside from the new ICU and increased capacity, the tower expansion will renovate the Northeast kitchen and cafeteria, and leave shell space on the rst oor for future expansion. The kitchen and cafeteria will both expand in size, and every piece of kitchen equipment will be updated, De La Garza said. George said the cafeteria expansion is important due to its role as a “gathering spot” for families to feel a “little bit of normalcy” during a loved one’s hospital stay.
Expansion plans align with the rapid population growth of Northeast San Antonio, George said. All ve key Northeast San Antonio cities, those being Live Oak, Selma, Schertz, Universal City and Cibolo, have all grown in size since 2010, according to United States Census data. The most dramatic population jump occurred in Cibolo, adding over 12,000 residents from 2010 to 2020, an increase of 62.85%. The rst oor of the three-story, over 100,000 square-foot project will have a 14-bed Intensive Care Unit, or ICU, as well as managing inventory and expanding food services. George said the ICU will be Northeast’s second ICU, and can accommodate dierent specialists. Hospital ocials are working with physicians to see what they would want in the ICU, with a current plan to house both
Projected increase in population, 20202040 Northeast San Antonio’s population exploded in size over the past two decades, and the growth trend will continue through at least 2040. The increase is a main reason for expansions at Methodist Hospital Northeast.
Selma 81.61%
482
Live Oak 12.64%
1103
35
Cibolo 80.62%
78
1 Methodist Hospital Northeast
1
B
410 *POPULATION PROJECTIONS FOR UNIVERSAL CITY AND SELMA ARE FROM THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, AS THE CITIES DID NOT HAVE POPULATION PROJECTION INFORMATION AVAILABLE.
1604
1518
10
Universal City 9.57%
Schertz 67.32%
281
N
SOURCE: UNITED STATES CENSUS, LIVE OAK 2020 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, CIBOLO 2024 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, SCHERTZ PARKS AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN, TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD¤COMMUNITY IMPACT
NOTE: PROCEDURE NUMBERS FROM 2024 SOURCE: METHODIST HOSPITAL NORTHEASTCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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