The atmosphere was electric with a mix of anticipation and celebration as employees of the UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital walked through the doors on opening day in the brand-new hospital. Excitement filled the air, and emotions were high as employees gathered for a team huddle to be inspired by heartfelt words from hospital and university leadership.
Adding to the celebratory environment, employees enjoyed breakfast and refreshments and received swag bags with hospital-branded tumblers and other goodies.
“This hospital is the culmination of seven years of dreaming. Years of sweat, of late nights, of designing and redesigning the plan. But it’s the people inside this place that make it so great,” Robert Hromas, MD, FACP, acting president of UT Health San Antonio. “We are so thrilled with the people that staff this hospital because they care. They’re more than just technicians; they’re people that care about the families and about the patients.”
On opening day, the hospital welcomed around 300 employees, including administration, providers and medical professionals. That number is expected to grow to approximately 1,000 by this time next year and will continue to grow in the years ahead.
“Today is day one for us. The way the team came together and worked to get us to this day took a lot of hours, a lot of effort and energy to reach this milestone. But it’s not just about day one. It is about the journey that begins today to take care of our patients and each other and take care of this community,” Jeff Flowers, MBA, FACHE, chief executive officer of the hospital. “We spent the day walking the floors and celebrating with our staff what this day means, but we also recognize that this is just a beginning.”
Although the doors are officially open, the hospital will roll out more specialty services in a series of planned phases. Currently, the hospital offers a limited range of services, with surgical specialties such as orthopedics, vascular care and spine surgery. As more floors open and services expand, the hospital plans to grow its offerings to include additional surgical specialties and introduce an oncology service line. In connection with the Mays Cancer Center and the research team, which are at the forefront of advancing health care for the community, oncology is expected to become one of the hospital’s focused service areas. It is projected that more than 50% of the hospital’s patient volume will be oncology related.
“This is a historic moment, not just for the university but for the state as well,” said Robert Leverence, MD, vice dean for clinical affairs and executive director of UT Health Physicians. “All the details and modeling that we did in this hospital was deliberate for our cancer care patients. This is the first university owned hospital in the city, so we can leverage all of the expertise and the strength of our university to support it and to offer potentially curative treatments to patients who have failed conventional treatments and would otherwise have to leave the city or even the state to be able to get those treatments.”
With opening day behind them, the team at the UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital is focused on the future—delivering world-class care, expanding services and offering a beacon of hope for the community.
For more information, go to www.UTHealthSAHospital.org.