CHRISTUS Health expands services in West San Antonio with opening of new hospital addition

CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Westover Hills unveiled a new addition today with a ribbon-cutting and grand opening event, marking the expansion of compassionate and exceptional health care services in rapidly growing west San Antonio.

“This expansion powerfully reflects our mission: to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ,” said Derrick Cuenca, CEO of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Westover Hills. “This expansion represents our continuing commitment to expand access, as well as depth and breadth of health care services to Westover Hills.”

The addition significantly expands the CHRISTUS footprint and health services on the far west side of Bexar County, which has experienced tremendous growth that shows no sign of slowing. The Westover Hills neighborhood, in particular, has seen an annual 4.9% growth rate, and city officials estimate more than 11,000 new homes will be built by 2040. The hospital first opened in 2009 as the area’s first and only full-service acute care hospital.

The 164,000-square-foot addition expands obstetric, neonatal and adult intensive care services with 100 new private patient beds and the most modern hospital designs conducive to patient comfort and healing. Each area is outfitted with the latest technology.

There are 30 new private post-partum rooms, a newborn nursery, a new obstetrics emergency room unit equipped with private rooms, 44 new adult intensive care beds, 20 neonatal intensive care beds and an expanded pharmacy. In addition, labor and delivery added several new rooms to serve growing families in the community with the highest level of care for mothers, as established by the hospital’s Level IV Maternal Designation.

The new NICU is equipped to care for a majority of newborn needs, with the most critical neonatal care readily available nearby at CHRISTUS Children’s Level IV NICU.

The Kowalski family, renowned in the region for a history of culinary and hospitality service as well as community philanthropy, was a significant contributor to the new maternal-fetal care program. Greg Kowalski, president and CEO of The RK Group, serves on the Friends of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Foundation board. He and his wife, Bekki, pledged their gift of $1 million in 2023 toward the health system’s goal of expanding critical subspecialty care.

“We are truly delighted to be part of CHRISTUS’ growth, which will serve even more mothers and their newborns in San Antonio and across the region,” Kowalski said. “Seeing this program and the Westover Hills project come to fruition and being part of such an important effort for our city’s future is truly an honor for our entire family. We are grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to making a positive difference for so many lives in the future.”

CHRISTUS Children’s has already added pediatric primary care and subspecialty clinics to the Westover Hills campus along with the dedicated pediatric emergency center and Center for Maternal and Fetal Care.

“This expansion makes high-quality maternal and pediatric care even more accessible,” said Cris Daskevich, CEO of CHRISTUS Children’s and senior vice president of maternal and pediatric services for CHRISTUS Health. “Generations of families have trusted CHRISTUS to care for their entire family, and we look forward to building on our legacy for many years to come.”