METHODIST STONE OAK HOSITAL: THE HOSPITAL OF THE FUTURE OPENS IN NORTH CENTRAL SAN ANTONIO
This article posted on: March 27, 2009
New hospital, designed to deliver latest concepts in diagnosis and treatment, brings additional economic development stimulus to the city
San Antonio, Texas…Methodist Stone Oak Hospital, the first full-service hospital built in San Antonio this century, opened today in ceremonies that featured the planting of a 18-foot legacy oak tree to symbolize the branching out of quality Methodist Healthcare to North Central San Antonio.
Dean Alexander, chief executive officer of the new hospital, joined Rev. Jerry Jay Smith, chairman of the Methodist Stone Oak Hospital Community Board, Vernon Benson, M.D., hospital chief of staff, and members of hospital senior management team, in cutting colorful ceremonial ribbons that enabled a crane to lower the live oak tree into the ground. All attendees were given oak tree seedlings as mementos of the occasion.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and District 9 City Councilman Louis Rowe delivered remarks welcoming the hospital to the community and recognizing its important economic impact.
“The opening of Methodist Stone Oak Hospital already has been an economic stimulus for North Central San Antonio, and as the hospital grows, it is destined to be one of the leaders of economic development in the area,” said Councilman Rowe. “Methodist Healthcare has played a major role in making San Antonio a destination for medical services. It is major expansions—like the opening of Methodist Stone Oak Hospital—that have enabled San Antonio to continue to be a bright spot in the nation’s economy.” More than 3,000 construction workers and subcontractors have worked on the site in the last three years. Today, the hospital employs nearly 300 people.
Other special guests included Kristen and Steve Koronczok, (pronounced KAH ron sic) parents of Brooks, the first baby born at the hospital during the facility’s “soft opening” period. Born on February 25, Brooks tipped the scale at nine pounds and was 22 inches long. He was delivered by Dr. Gil Villanueva, a San Antonio obstetrician/gynecologist.
The opening of Methodist Stone Oak Hospital, the Hospital of the Future, is the realization of efforts begun by Methodist Hospital administrators nearly two decades ago to bring a modern, full-service hospital to North Central San Antonio. HOK, a global architectural firm that specializes in planning, design and delivery solutions for buildings and communities, designed the facility, working closely with Skanska USA, the site construction team.
“I’ve often described our hospital as the place where high tech and high touch come together,” said Alexander. “We’re very proud of the equipment we’ve incorporated to provide excellent care to patients. But the heart and soul of this hospital are the people we’ve hired who like what they do and thrive in an environment where innovative ideas are encouraged and rewarded.”
The new hospital is located at Hardy Oak and Sonterra Boulevards, with convenient access from Loop 1604 and Highway 281. Its design reflects the need to think differently about how hospitals are organized in response to the rapid evolution in the ways patients are diagnosed and treated. The hospital opens with nearly 100 patient beds and an additional 28 private emergency treatment rooms with the potential to grow to a 350-bed facility.
Services include a 24/7 emergency department staffed by board-certified physicians; an acute care facility offering services for cardiology, neurosurgery, general surgery, orthopedics, oncology, and critical care; and women’s services, including labor and delivery.
One of the most important new concepts used in the design of the hospital is the organization of patient access arranged into Portals of Care along a sunlit atrium. The Portals of Care include admitting, women’s services, diagnostic and treatment, cardiology and surgery. This simplifies the layout on the first floor to help patients easily find the services they need. Other features include sinks located at the entrance to each room to encourage consistent hand washing by all visitors, staff and physicians; bathrooms located closer to the patient’s bed to eliminate long walks and reduce the likelihood of falling; electrical outlets placed halfway up the wall instead of near the floor to help staff avoid back injuries; and special acoustic elements in patient rooms that include a white noise system to introduce ambient noise and the elimination of overhead paging.
The five-story hospital is connected floor-by-floor to a medical office building that allows physicians and their patients to easily access hospital services when necessary.
In addition, Methodist Stone Oak Hospital is the first hospital in the nation to open as an Accredited Hispanic Healthcare Hospital, a prestigious designation from the Country of Mexico. The accreditation recognizes the efforts of Methodist Stone Oak Hospital to make health care accessible to international and Spanish-speaking patients by removing cultural barriers.
Methodist Healthcare is San Antonio’s largest and most preferred health care provider with eight hospitals: Methodist Hospital, Methodist Children’s Hospital*, Methodist Heart Hospital*, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital*, Northeast Methodist Hospital*, Metropolitan Methodist Hospital*, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Hospital and Methodist Stone Oak Hospital.
