CHRISTUS Santa Rosa heads west

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SAN ANTONIO • CHRISTUS Santa Rosa is heading west ? to Westover Hills, that is ? and president and CEO Don Beeler is justifiably proud. The original mission of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio was to go into an area where there were unmet needs, he notes, and this continues with the establishment of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Healthcare-Westover Hills in rapidly expanding far west San Antonio.

Approximately 350,000 people now live in that area, Beeler points out, which is 15 or so miles from the nearest healthcare facility. “This enables Santa Rosa to extend our healing ministry to another part of San Antonio that we have not reached in the past,” he says. “And as we reach out as the community grows, our commitment is to continue to grow and extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ because that is our mission.”

Based on the demographics of the area, he notes, the new facility will offer services for newborn to the elderly. The hospital will feature a 22,000-square foot emergency department, opening with 13 treatment and trauma rooms and the capacity to later increase to 22 rooms as the need for emergency care grows. The unit dedicated to women and their newborn children is slated to have 12 postpartum rooms and six private labor and delivery rooms, including C-section rooms and a newborn nursery, as well as a Level 1 neonatal intensive care unit.

The 60,000-square foot CHRISTUS Santa Rosa-Westover Hills Medical Plaza One tower is already in operation, with 100 percent of its office space leased. It temporarily houses an imaging center and rehabilitation facility which will move to the new full-service hospital when it opens July 10. A second 80,000-square foot office building is to be built within the next year.

The plan is to open with an 80-bed hospital and “build out” to 150 beds, with room to eventually accommodate 220, Beeler relates. Extra shell space is being built into the new facility from the start, to ensure plenty of room for the future, a hallmark of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa construction, thus eliminating remodeling and addition costs down the line.

The hospital complex will encompass around 30 acres, part of 100 acres owned by CHRISTUS Health adjacent to Highway 151 at the corner of Westover Hills Blvd. near the entrance to Sea World. “CHRISTUS really made a big investment in Westover Hills because we see the growth that will continue,” said Beeler, “and we wanted to make sure that we have sufficient land to expand in the future.”

State of the art digital technology will aid physicians and staff by capturing, storing and transferring orders, lab results, images, progress notes and the like and comprehensive patient care services offered will include surgery and critical care.

The Santa Rosa family of hospitals has received the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence and been named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent health care ratings company, and Beeler notes that legacy of excellence and commitment will continue in their newest hospital.