The federal government is getting closer to finalizing plans for a new 1.6 million-square-foot Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in the San Antonio Medical Center.
The proposed new hospital would replace the existing Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital at 7400 Merton Minter Blvd.
Plans are outlined in a recently published solicitation for architectural engineering services from the Army Corps of Engineers seeking input on design and construction of the hospital. The notice stated the project, valued at $90 million, will consist of a primary facility, administration space, utility plant and two garages with 3,000 parking spaces.
The notice also states it is merely a “sources sought” announcement for preliminary planning purposes and is not a solicitation for proposals for which a contract will be awarded.
The VA is in the early planning stages of a proposed relocation of the VA hospital, stated a department spokeswoman, Jessica Jacobsen, and the department is currently researching sites and preparing an environmental impact statement for the proposed project.
The recent announcement is considered “market research” for architectural and engineering and construction services, the spokeswoman added. Locations, costs and timelines would come into focus with a future federal budget submission.
In the notice, it states the new hospital would be located less than two miles north of the existing Audie L. Murphy hospital.
The proposed new hospital’s site is 50-plus acres of vacant land at the northeast corner of Hamilton Wolf Road and Floyd Curl Drive. It adjacent to a neighborhood along Cinnamon Hill Drive and owned by the San Antonio Medical Foundation.
In lieu of a new hospital in a new location, the department also is considering an option to demolish the existing hospital and replacing it with a newly constructed facility on the Audie L. Murphy site.
Named for a decorated WWII combat hero and actor from Texas, that facility opened in 1973 and is one of 17 health care facilities run by the VA in South Texas, including a medical center in Kerrville. The VA opened an outpatient clinic along State Highway 151 and Rogers Road in late 2023.
The South Texas VA system serves more than 115,000 veterans, according to the hospital’s website.
Veteran care in San Antonio
SAMA’s leadership has been discussing the possibility of its vacant land being used for the VA hospital project for several years, said Richard Perez, president of the San Antonio Medical Foundation.
Perez and his team have been participating in the environmental impact statement process in San Antonio.
A report on the public comment period for the impact statement should be finalized by March, he said, “and that will, in essence, give the VA the green light to begin the process to potentially buy the property from us for the new VA Hospital.”
The VA is working toward a potential completion date of 2032, Perez said.
Perez added that the VA hospital is critical to the South Texas Medical Center ecosystem and the synergy between health care and research institutions there.
Bexar County is home to 173,000 veterans.
“One of the things that we know is that in order for the South Texas Medical Center to continue to thrive and to just be all the things that it is right now, and more, the VA is an important part of not only the provision of health care to veterans and their loved ones, but also because of the tremendous amount of training that goes there,” he said.
The existing hospital is in dire need of upgrades, Perez added. But it could be repurposed for other VA health care uses even after a new hospital opens.
When the Foundation sells the property to the VA, it will be left with about 200 acres of the original 950 it once owned in the Medical Center in Northwest San Antonio.
The design and construction solicitation for the VA Hospital was posted on Tuesday and allows 30 days for responses to be submitted. The contract is expected to be issued in April.
The Report produced a map of all San Antonio hospitals here.
Andrea Drusch contributed to this report.
