San Antonio, Texas (January 17, 2014) Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, a campus of Methodist Hospital, today opened its new 85,000-square-foot Intensive Care Unit Tower, continuing its commitment to serving the center city.
Greg Seiler, chief executive officer of the hospital, led H.B. Zachry, Jr., president of Zachry Interests, Inc., Charles A. Jeffreys, M.D., hospital chief of staff, Jeff Wilson, hospital chief operating officer, and Scott Cannon, Skanska USA project manager, in cutting a 105-foot-long red ribbon to officially open the new tower. A major expansion for the hospital, the tower includes expanded radiology and emergency department services, a new gastrointestinal lab, a 24-bed intensive care unit, and space for future growth. The new tower connects to the exhibiting building with a sky bridge that expands across Laurel Avenue.
“Metropolitan Methodist Hospital celebrated its 40th anniversary last November,” said Seiler. “In that vein, we incorporated somewhat of a history lesson in our opening ceremony by involving Mr. Zachry, who, along with his father, conceptualized and built Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, making history as the first hospital in the country to use modular construction for its patient rooms.”
The hospital was built in 1973 as Metropolitan General Hospital.
“When my father was looking at the costs involved in the construction of the hospital, modular construction was a very cost effective method,” said Zachry.
“At that time, we were in a unique position to undertake the project based on our work on the Hilton Palacio Del Rio Hotel for HemisFair 1968. When we began the hospital project, we had a casting yard in San Antonio, the special concrete room units needed and the people skilled in the process. We also had the equipment for lifting and transporting the concrete forms, which are very heavy.”
“As the first hospital in the country to use modular construction for its patient rooms, Metropolitan Methodist Hospital made history,” Zachry added. “We are proud to be part of that history and to join the hospital in celebrating its 40th anniversary and its continued growth.”
The construction firm responsible for the new ICU Tower was Skanska USA . "We are proud to have completed the construction of the Metropolitan Methodist Hospital ICU Tower with zero loss time safety accidents and we were able to recycle 95% of the construction waste,” said Keith Sitzman, Skanska senior project manager.
The hospital campus has evolved and expanded over the years with the addition of a free-standing Women’s Pavilion, two additional medical office buildings and now this major expansion. Officials envision more growth in the near future as the footprint of the city center expands and the volume of patients increases due to a closure of adult health care services at a downtown hospital that occurred less than two years ago.
“Metropolitan Methodist Hospital has established itself as a premiere hospital,” said Seiler. “Our hospital delivers patient-centered care with a staff of professionals who genuinely care for the well-being of others.” Key hospital accomplishments include:
- Metropolitan Methodist Hospital welcomes nearly 4,000 babies a year into the world in the Women’s Pavilion which opened in 2005 as the downtown area’s only stand-alone birthing center.
- Metropolitan Methodist Hospital was the first hospital in downtown San Antonio to offer robotic surgery for complex procedures.
- The Breast Center was the first in San Antonio to receive accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and the first to have a certified breast patient navigator on staff.
- The hospital has downtown’s largest emergency department.
Methodist Healthcare System – San Antonio Methodist Healthcare System – San Antonio is the largest provider of health care in South and Central Texas with 26 facilities including nine hospitals serving 90,000 inpatients and 390,000 outpatients annually. The Methodist Healthcare team is comprised of 8,000 employees, making Methodist Healthcare the third largest private employer in San Antonio. In 2012, Methodist Healthcare was one of only two hospitals in Texas recognized by the Texas Medical Foundation with a Gold Award for Quality. Methodist Healthcare has won the National Research Foundation’s Consumer Choice Award for 13 consecutive years, more times than any other health care provider in Texas. For the past five years, Methodist Healthcare has received “Best Hospital” Gold Award by the San Antonio Express-News’ Readers’ Choice Awards. With more than 2,700 credentialed physicians, Methodist Healthcare provides the largest array of medical services in the region including neurosurgery, bone marrow and solid organ transplants, cardiovascular services, oncology and women’s services. Visit www.SAHealth.com to learn more
