VIDA San Antonio is partnering with University Health to bring vital health and wellness resources to the Southside community through a new 68-acre health care campus. The campus will include two state-of-the-art facilities: the VIDA Health Clinic and the full-service Palo Alto Hospital.
The VIDA Health Clinic is expected to open in Fall 2025, with the Palo Alto Hospital following in 2027. Together, these University Health facilities will provide convenient access to essential health and wellness services and help address critical health care needs for the Southside and surrounding region.
Construction workers install the final steel beam for the Palo Alto Hospital
University Health brings community organizations together
In May, University Health hosted a community forum, bringing city leaders, community members, and representatives from over 40 local nonprofits and organizations together to discuss opportunities to collaborate to better serve Southsiders.
This collaborative approach is part of an effort to look beyond just providing medical services and offer a holistic approach to wellness. That includes learning opportunities such as cooking and parenting classes, and referral services to help meet Southsiders’ other nonmedical needs.
The University Health Vida clinic is designed with space for collaboration, including a coworking innovation space called Community Commons, where organizations can continue to work together to eliminate health disparities on the Southside.
Vida Clinic
VIDA Clinic on track to open later this year
Expected to open later this year, the University Health Vida clinic is a 60,000-square-foot, three-story building that will house primary and specialty care services, along with the headquarters for the Bexar County Institute for Public Health.
On the first floor, there will be primary care practices, urgent care services, an on-site pharmacy, laboratory, and radiology department. It will also contain multipurpose community spaces, including a teaching kitchen where people can take healthy cooking classes.
The second floor will house Institute for Public Health offices, Community First Health Plan offices, and meeting and coworking space for other community partners. On the third floor, there will be behavioral and mental health services available for patients of all ages.
Outside, there will be a lawn where visitors and staff can enjoy meals or outdoor wellness classes. A driveway will provide space for mobile units such as blood donation trucks, mobile libraries, or veterinary care vehicles.
A crew prepares Palo Alto Hospital’s final beam for placement
Framing of Palo Alto Hospital is complete
On June 18, University Health hosted a beam-signing and topping-out ceremony to celebrate a major construction milestone: the completion of the Palo Alto Hospital’s frame. Keeping with a centuries-old construction tradition, attendees had a chance to sign the final structural beam and watch it get placed onto the frame.
The Palo Alto Hospital is expected to employ over 1,000 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical professionals, and provide critical healthcare services to thousands of people who live and work on the Southside starting in 2027.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebecca Clay-Flores signs the final beam
Artists selected to help enhance design of University Health buildings
Through their SaludArte: Art of Healing program, University Health aims to improve patient outcomes and workplace satisfaction for health care workers by displaying art in each building and hosting workshops, classes, and performances for patients in their facilities.
Enhancing medical spaces with artwork has been shown to help ease patients’ anxieties and even contribute to faster healing with less medication, resulting in shorter hospital stays. It helps to create a pleasant, welcoming environment that can also have a positive impact on staff retention.
Earlier this year, the first round of artists were chosen to help enhance the design of University Health Vida clinic and Palo Alto Hospital.
- Vida Clinic: Louis Vega Trevino and Monika Bravo
- Palo Alto Hospital: Sabra Booth and Martin Donlin
-
- Louis Vega Trevino
-
- Monica Bravo
Louis Vega Treviño is a San Antonio-based painter with an emphasis on abstract shapes and vibrant colors. His art has been displayed at Palo Alto College and San Antonio International Airport, among other places. Monika Bravo is a Colombian, New York-based multidisciplinary artist whose public art is displayed all across the country.
-
- Sarah Booth
-
- Martin Donlin
Sabra Booth has spent over 20 years as an instructor at Palo Alto College and Southwest School of Art. She works in a variety of mediums including painting, printmaking, and animation, often exploring themes of nature and gender. Martin Donlin is a UK-based stained glass artist whose work has been displayed in health care facilities, educational institutions, airports, and other public spaces around the world.
Visit the Community News page for more updates on University Health initiatives and other exciting projects happening at VIDA.