AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Dell Children's Medical Center will expand its Mueller campus and build a new hospital in north Austin, officials announced Thursday.
The new hospital, which will be built on 34 acres on Avery Ranch Boulevard in Williamson County, will feature more than 135,000 square feet of hospital space including 36 hospital beds, emergency and trauma services, two operating rooms, endoscopy and procedure rooms, and space for future growth. The campus will also include an additional 60,000 square foot medical office building with dedicated free parking.
"The ongoing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it even more evident that we must continue to focus on expanding access to pediatric care so that families in Central Texas never have to leave home to receive exceptional care, especially for the most complex cases," said Christopher M. Born, president of Dell Children’s Medical Center.
Construction on the new hospital is expected to begin in early 2021, with the hospital expected to open in November 2022.
"Ascension Texas has invested heavily in Williamson County, and we are extremely grateful that they have decided to continue that investment by selecting Williamson County as the location for their second Dell Children’s hospital," Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said in a statement. "It’s the greatest type of economic development project to be a part of because we haven’t spent a penny of taxpayer dollars."
Officials also announced the addition of a four-story tower to the hospital's existing Mueller campus. The expansion will add 72 more beds, with room to add more in the future. One of the floors will be dedicated to pediatric critical care, one for hematology/oncology patients, and another floor for general acute inpatient services, with the fourth floor for future expansion.
Three parking garages will also be added on the Mueller campus, adding some 2,600 parking spaces - which will remain free.
The Mueller expansions join the previously announced Dell Children's Specialty Pavilion - a four-story, 161,000 square foot expansion underway that will provide space for the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, the Neurosciences Center of Excellence, and the Children’s Blood and Cancer Center of Excellence. That $113 million project broke ground in March and is expected to open in April 2021.