Baylor St. Luke’s Breaks Ground on Tower 2 at New Integrated Medical Campus

CHI St. Luke’s Health–Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (Baylor St. Luke’s) today celebrated the groundbreaking of Tower 2, a 420-patient bed tower, on Baylor St. Luke’s McNair Campus.

The 27.5-acre, $1.1 billion McNair Campus will be home of the collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine and Catholic Health Initiatives, and will also be the future site of the Texas Heart® Institute (THI). As announced in December, the campus will feature a $916.8 million, 650-bed hospital built across two bed towers, a medical office building and ambulatory care complex, and new facilities for basic science and translational research. All clinical services currently provided at the Texas Medical Center location of Baylor St. Luke’s will relocate to the new campus.

“Today’s groundbreaking for Tower 2 is an important sign of the success of the joint venture partnership of Baylor College of Medicine and CHI St. Luke’s,” said Dr. Paul Klotman, President, CEO and Executive Dean of BCM. “When the replacement hospital, additional clinics and research activities are completed in three years, the clearest winners will be the people of Houston who will have nationally recognized services in one location with easy access.”

“From the beginning of this extraordinary building campaign, we have been fortunate to have exceptional companies in the development and building of new integrated medical campus,”
said Michael H. Covert, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer, CHI St. Luke’s Health. “McNair will serve as a new standard of academic and medical excellence, which will exceed current healthcare industry standards— from scientific research and education to innovative treatment and care.”

At the groundbreaking, Baylor St. Luke's officials announced that Tellepsen/Hunt will serve as the construction manager firm for the construction of Tower 2. Tellepsen/Hunt was also responsible for the construction of CHI St. Luke's Health-Springwoods Village Hospital. Tellepsen/Hunt is a joint venture between Houston-based Tellepsen and Hunt Construction Group, a national healthcare contractor.

“For decades, Tellepsen/Hunt has had the privilege of playing an important role in the landscape of Houston and Texas," said Howard Tellepsen, chair and CEO of Tellepsen. "The McNair Campus represents the future of healthcare through a transformative alliance focused on leading edge patient care, research and education. It's a privilege for Tellepsen/Hunt to be the construction partner in this innovative venture.”

JE Dunn Construction will continue with the interior build-out for Tower 1 of the McNair Campus.

Completion of the Baylor St. Luke’s McNair Campus is expected in 2019.