By Dan Hounsell

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed and upended a host of construction projects for healthcare facilities nationwide, but for one Texas hospital’s construction project, the pandemic was just one more challenge to overcome in creating a new facility.

Tower III of William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital has been opening in phases since the end of 2020 and eventually will add 715,000 square feet of space to the more than 1 million-square-foot hospital according to D Magazine. For an addition that was underway as the healthcare industry was turned upside down by the pandemic, the facility remains up to date and adaptable to changes brought on by COVID-19. The tower was added and attached to the existing hospital while it continued to function during the pandemic, which was no easy task.

The 12-story, $480 million expansion includes 292 new inpatient beds, bringing the hospital’s total to 752. The tower will also have a psychiatric, acute stroke, and epilepsy monitoring units. There will be 19 neuro operating rooms, neuro-interventional suites, and a 17-room outpatient apheresis unit. The addition expanded the emergency department as well