DRISCOLL EXPANDING SERVICES, TO BREAK GROUND
ON SOUTHSIDE URGENT CARE CENTER

(Corpus Christi, TX)  Grab your hard hats; the bulldozers have arrived! On X date, Driscoll Children’s Hospital will break ground on Driscoll Children’s Urgent Care, an outpatient service facility that will handle after and weekend hour minor emergencies and illnesses. As the only urgent care center in Nueces County caring exclusively for the pediatric population, the site of the new center will be located on Saratoga Drive in the newly named Driscoll Children’s South Plaza. The facility is slated for completion by early Fall of 2004.

Located on 12 acres of land, donated by the Driscoll Foundation, Driscoll Children’s Urgent Care is a freestanding, one-story, 20,000-square-foot facility that will care for minor pediatric emergencies and illnesses including lacerations, flu, asthma, running noses, chicken pox, shingles, rashes, as well as minor fractures and sprains. No broken bones will be treated at the facility. Currently, Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) cares for more than 40,000 patients annually. Upon opening, Driscoll officials estimate the new facility could potentially see 22,000 to 25,000 patient visits per year, reducing ED patient numbers, especially during peak volume times, allowing for quicker turnaround times and more in-depth, one-on-one care at both facilities.

Hours of the Driscoll Children’s Urgent Care will include weekdays 5 p.m. through 11 p.m. and weekends 1 p.m. through 11 p.m. Only open during non-business hours, the facility will not compete with local pediatrician’s offices.

In addition to five exam rooms and one procedure room, the facility will host a 250-square-foot pediatric laboratory with on-site analysis including complete blood count (CBC), chemistry panels, and urinalysis. All complex lab analysis will be referred to the hospital’s main campus. Officials expect 75% of its urgent care patients to require lab work. An 800-square-foot area will allow for radiology services. A physician review station will be available for initial reviews, but Driscoll pediatric radiologists will read and diagnos the images via the Picturing Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS system), a filmless radiological environment, networked with the hospital’s main campus. Officials expect 50% of urgent care patients to require x-rays. 1,450-square-feet have been earmarked for the reception area, check-in, and expansion space.

Driscoll Children’s Hospital will contract with Coastal Bend Emergency Services to staff the facility, just as they do with their current emergency department. In addition to two to three physicians, X nurse practitioners, two full-time office staff, and four to five clinical staff will also be hired. Some clinical staff will be cross-trained to reduce the total number of staff needed for the facility on a daily basis.

“With the opening of the new facility, Driscoll will continue to better serve the community, especially the Southside which is growing by leaps and bounds,” says Rick Merrill, CEO and President of Driscoll Children’s Hospital. “When visiting the Urgent Care center instead of the hospital’s Emergency Department, patients will experience convenience, as well as less expensive care and an all-inclusive bill.” Currently, there are six urgent care centers operating in the Corpus and the Calallen area, with one being located on Saratoga Drive. Most advertise comprehensive family services, but none specialize in full-scale pediatric services. In addition, two adult hospitals are also located in the Southside area.

The remaining 15,000-square-feet of the facility will host medical office space available for lease for local pediatricians and pediatric subspecialitsts. Driscoll officials expect five to seven physicians to occupy the new space and service 33,000 patients annually.

Construction is estimated at just over $4.6 million and expected to last approximately 12 months.

About Driscoll Children’s Hospital
“Improve the health of adults and you give them back their health …
Improve the health of children and you give them their life.”

Since opening its doors in 1953, Driscoll Children’s Hospital has been offering hope and healing to the children of South Texas for half a century. The facility is a 189-bed pediatric tertiary care center with pediatric board-certified specialists representing 19 medical and nine surgical specialties. Each year, more than 6,000 children are admitted for inpatient care, 5,000 for day surgery, and 50,000 for outpatient primary and specialty care, as well as 40,000 for emergency care, as the first South Texas hospital with emergency services exclusively for children. Additionally, Driscoll maintains a state-of-the-art ground/air transport team, 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit, 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and specialized medical outreach.

www.driscollchildrens.org

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