University Health is making big strides in improving health care access on the South Side with a brand-new $550 million hospital and a robust public health department.
The Bexar County Hospital District is now unveiling plans to expand access to even more medical services with University Health Vida, which will offer preventative, primary and specialty care and an ExpressMed walk-in clinic.
But health system officials say they’ll need some help.
University Health is inviting San Antonio-area nonprofits and other organizations to collaborate and help address health issues ahead of the opening of the community health center, which is planned for later this year.
More than 100 representatives from local nonprofits, health care providers, educational institutions and other organizations gathered Thursday at Texas A&M University-San Antonio to hear about opportunities to get involved.
University Health Vida will be located just outside of Loop 410 and South Zarzamora Street near Vida, an emerging 600-acre master-planned community.
According to University Health officials, University Health Vida will also serve as the headquarters of its planned Institute of Public Health (IPH).
Additionally, the three-story, 60,000-square-foot facility will offer mental health care for people of all ages, collaborative spaces for community organizations, a teaching kitchen, a community garden and public meeting spaces.
Ed Banos, University Health president and CEO, said UH Vida will be built near the system’s newest hospital, which will be called University Health Palo Alto Hospital opening in 2027.
Banos said University Health seeks to address concerns of Southside residents over a lack of nearby health care providers given the abrupt closure in 2023 of privately-owned Texas Vista Medical Center, formerly Southwest Hospital, which served as one of the only hospitals in that part of the county for decades.
“Every person deserves quality health care in our county and in Texas,” Banos said.
Carol Huber, vice president of UH’s Institute of Public Health, pointed to the health and socioeconomic disparities highlighted in UH’s 2023 South Bexar County community health needs assessment report.
Nearly 4 in 10 households in South Bexar County are working but have limited financial assets and struggle to stretch their incomes to cover basic expenses. One in six renter households lacks access to a vehicle, and many areas lack access to public transportation.
Fewer residents in this area have health insurance, and fewer households have broadband internet. South Bexar County has scarcer resources and services to support health, with lower food access, less accredited child care capacity and fewer health care providers.
Huber says that new collaborations with private and public organizations through UH Vida could better help residents who are struggling with these challenges.
“It’s through partnerships that we will be able to accomplish these things,” Huber said. “It takes a village to raise a child.”
Each story at University Health Vida will serve a specific purpose, Huber said. The first floor will contain primary and urgent health care, a pharmacy, laboratory and radiology activities, and community spaces, such as a multipurpose meeting room that will double as a teaching kitchen where residents can learn how to make healthy meals. There will also be a communal lawn, and a driveway for a mobile health care unit.
The second floor will feature offices for IPH and Community First Health Plans, and coworking and meeting space for select community partners. University Health will deliver child, adolescent and adult behavioral health services on the third floor.
Karla Cortez, assistant public health services director at University Health, said any community organization interested in becoming a formal partner should complete and submit a partner interest form by 5 p.m. June 5.
Interested organizations may use the form to share ideas and proposals for one or more available partnership pathways, including joining UH’s patient referral network, offering classes or services at the center’s community spaces, or maintaining a presence inside the center’s coworking spaces.
Bexar County Pct. 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores commended the collaboration between local government, businesses and community groups that helped to make University Health’s expansion in the South, West and East sides a reality.
“Together, we have the tools to address challenges that include chronic disease, behavioral health issues, and the social and economic conditions that help to drive health outcomes,” she said. “The South Side is growing, and we need and deserve access to high-quality medical services close to home.”
Jose Sanchez, a youth prevention specialist with the San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Awareness, said University Health Vida and UH Palo Alto Hospital will help ease the nerves of South Siders who frequently worry about having to access a major hospital or other health care provider elsewhere in town.
“We work with students who have substance abuse disorder. Many of our clients’ families don’t have transportation, so we’re having to find a location to meet parents,” Sanchez told University Health officials. “This would be a great opportunity for us. Hopefully, we can create that partnership, and you can open your facilities to us, so we can meet these families there.”
Cathy Valdez, CEO of Project MEND, a nonprofit that helps to support disabled individuals, said possibly having a presence at University Health Vida is an exciting opportunity to better serve clients in the area.
“It’d be a perfect way for us to get into the South Side completely and extend our services. I’m looking forward to this partnership,” she added.
This article was originally published by Edmond Ortiz for the San Antonio Report.