UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital
The UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital broke ground in March 2021 and will provide biomedical research, patient care and medical education to the community. The hospital will focus on prevalent illnesses in the region such as cancer, which is expected to increase in our community.
With plans to open in 2024, the 144-bed, eight-floor hospital will be outfitted with 12 operating rooms, an ICU, pharmacy and imaging center, allowing for treatment of complex conditions in one location.
The new hospital will also connect to UT Health San Antonio’s Mays Cancer Center by a skybridge, uniting inpatient and outpatient care.
With cancer diagnoses being forecast to increase 35% regionally during the next decade, the hospital will feature a strong focus on cancer and will offer early-phase clinical trials and therapies such as immunotherapies, stem cell and bone marrow transplants, and cellular-based therapies.
San Antonio cancer patients who require specialty care and treatment will no longer need to seek care elsewhere, or spend months at a time in temporary quarters, Henrich said.
“We are building this hospital to make it possible for patients in San Antonio, including those with cancer, to stay close to home during their treatment,” he said. “As is true of all our efforts, we continue our commitment to serve the public good through care that puts patients and families first and provides them with the best chances of excellent outcomes.”
Wellness 360
The School of Nursing’s Wellness 360 clinical practice expanded its role in caring for the health of college students around San Antonio by partnering with Alamo Colleges and The University of Texas at San Antonio in 2020 and 2021.
Wellness 360 offers UTSA students and students on the Palo Alto and San Antonio College campuses both virtual and in-person health care services for a variety of medical issues including minor acute care, routine health assessments, nutrition counseling, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and women’s health. The clinic serves students with or without insurance.
“Wellness 360 is a nurse-led practice that takes a holistic approach to the health care needs of our patients,” said Cindy Sickora, DPN, RN, professor and vice chair for practice and engagement in the School of Nursing. “We are proud to partner with Alamo Colleges and UTSA to promote the health of college students in Bexar County.”
UT Health Physicians
UT Health Physicians expanded its patient reach with new primary care and multispecialty locations opening across the city.
With the addition of nearly 90 new physicians in 2021, UT Health Physicians is currently the largest physician group in San Antonio, with 20 locations across the city and 1,500 providers conducting more than 2.5 million patient visits annually.
“The new locations will continue to expand access to our services and extend our care beyond the Medical Center,” said Robert Leverence, MD, FACP, executive director of UT Health Physicians and vice dean for clinical affairs at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.
In the past year, the practice opened two new locations: UT Health De Zavala, which offers primary care and specialty care such as dermatology, gastroenterology, plastic surgery, sports medicine, imaging and nephrology; and UT Health Gateway, which provides care to children in need of pediatric specialties such as cardiology, gastroenterology, oncology and neurology.
Plans are underway for expansion at UT Health Gateway to increase access and meet the high demand for medical specialties and infusion services. Expected to open in spring 2023, the new location will offer adult speciality services in infectious disease, gastroenterology, nephrology, pulmonology, rheumatology, endocrinology, diabetes and infusion.
A multidisciplinary spine center, slated to open in October 2023 in the Medical Arts and Research Center, will bring together orthopaedic spine, neurosurgery spine and rehabilitative medicine to establish a collaborative approach to spinal care. The center will have the only imaging machine in South Texas able to provide high-quality, low-dose 3D imaging with a full view of the skeletal anatomy.
UT Health Outpatient and Surgery Center at Kyle Seale Parkway is expected to open in winter 2024 on the Park West Campus of The University of Texas at San Antonio. The five-story, 108,000-square-foot community medical facility will provide primary, specialty imaging and surgical care services to the growing area.
UT Dentistry
In January 2022, UT Dentistry launched the initial phase of its first-ever private practice. The General Dentistry Clinic provides dental care to staff, faculty and students of UT Health San Antonio, as well as the surrounding community. Under the private practice model, providers are dedicated dentists rather than teaching faculty.
“An important mission of the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry is the provision of clinical care to the community,” said Peter Loomer, BSc, DDS, PhD, MRCD(C), FACD, dean of the School of Dentistry. “With the rapid population growth of San Antonio, I feel the time is right to expand our dental services to meet our increased demand.”
The clinic is expected to grow over the next five years, adding more providers and the possibility of satellite clinics throughout San Antonio.
“Our mission for excellence in our education and training programs will remain a priority,” said Gary Guest, DDS, associate dean for patient care and professor in the School of Dentistry. “And this model allows for dedicated, non-teaching providers to provide high-quality patient care with greater availability and access.”
The School of Dentistry is also expanding its reach to meet the needs of people with cognitive and physical disabilities in a new clinic housed at UT Dentistry’s Center for Oral Health Care and Research on Floyd Curl Drive, designed especially for adults and children with special needs.
The Phil and Karen Hunke Special Care Clinic, named for the San Antonio-area philanthropists who provided seed money for the project, is the first of its kind in an academic environment in South Texas. The practice, expected to open in January 2024, will include seven dental treatment rooms and five IV sedation suites. In addition to providing oral health care to special-needs patients, the practice will offer interdisciplinary educational opportunities for students and residents.
“There are not enough dentists who provide care to those with disabilities,” Loomer said. “Since starting my tenure at the school, it has been my vision and mission to build this clinic to both directly provide care and, equally important, train our students to feel confident in providing care to those with disabilities in their dental practices after they graduate. Everyone deserves access to dental care.”
Center for Brain Health
Plans are underway for the construction of a comprehensive center dedicated to the treatment and research of all types of brain, nerve and neuromuscular disorders.
The Center for Brain Health will integrate research into a patient’s clinical care. Patients will have the opportunity to take part in observational studies as well as clinical trials for new medications and interventions while they receive care.
“The reason we wanted to have the studies in the same building as the clinical care is because we recognize that families of persons with dementia, ALS or other disorders already have a very challenging task looking after their loved ones,” said Sudha Seshadri, MD, founding director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases. “They also often have a strong desire to contribute to finding cures for their loved one and for others. So, we wanted to make it easy for them to volunteer their time to join clinical trials, and one way of doing that is to house both in the same space.”
The center will have 62,250 square feet of program space and state-of-the-art imaging equipment, including a 7-Tesla MRI, which will be the first in San Antonio, and a new PET-CT scan machine. There will also be space for assessing gait, essential for early detection of many neurological diseases, and dedicated space for psychological and genetic counseling, and physical and speech therapy. A mock apartment will be available for occupational therapists to work with patients and families to practice movements such as getting in and out of bed and other day-to-day activities.
The Center for Brain Health will be located next to the Medical Arts and Research Center on Floyd Curl Drive and is expected to open in 2025.