San Antonio: University Health rolling out $61M pediatric trauma center

SAN ANTONIO – University Health System (UHS) is investing more than $60
million and is pursuing a new designation for its University Hospital in an
effort to become a more formidable competitor in the pediatric arena.

UHS has operated for years as a Level I trauma facility,
handing some of the most severely injured adult patients in San Antonio and
South Texas.

Now, it’s working with the American College of Surgeons to
secure similar top-level status for its pediatric trauma care.

Operating a Level I pediatric trauma center is an expensive
proposition. It will require UHS to secure and retain additional resources—including
highly trained medical teams and technology—that must be available to pediatric
patients every day, around the clock.

The comprehensive pediatric strategy also includes a major
renovation of University Hospital’s Horizon Tower.

The $61 million project will include the development of a
separate pediatric emergency department, new pediatric operating rooms, a
designated unit for pediatric heart patients and a center for pediatric
patients with cancer and blood disorders.

Some of those new facilities, including the
pediatric emergency department, will be completed later this year.