Shannon Officials Announce Six Expansion Projects Totaling $45 Million

Shannon Medical Center and Shannon Clinic announced six expansion projects to update facilities and provide additional space to serve the growing number of patients in the Concho Valley.  Totaling $45 million, the projects will be funded by the Shannon Trust and will be completed over the next five years.

The largest of the projects is a new multi-story medical office building that will be located downtown near Shannon Medical Center on Harris Street.  It will include 80,000 square feet of space along with a new parking lot on the north side of the building.  The project is expected to take two and half years and should be complete in early 2017.

“We are excited to be able to build much needed office space for our physicians and providers to better serve our patients,” said Bryan Horner, President and CEO of Shannon Medical Center.  “Since 2007, we have more than doubled our number of physicians and midlevel providers from 99 to almost 215, but we have really not done anything to expand our office capacity.  We know this additional space is going to provide a much more enjoyable experience for our patients and providers as well as free up more space for the physicians we are recruiting to meet future needs.”

The first floor of the new building will include ancillary services, such as lab and radiology, as well as Shannon’s downtown urgent care location. The second and third floors will include space for Shannon Clinic provider offices, with the goal of consolidating like specialties together.  A potential fourth floor is planned that would include dedicated meeting space and conference rooms.  The project is estimated to cost $23.8 million.

“Our community is growing at a fast rate, especially with the new oil and gas industry in our area,” said Horner.  “We want to make sure we are able to meet the needs of our patients here in the Concho Valley in the future.”

Two other planned projects will expand the space at the Shannon Ambulatory Surgery Center and the Shannon Southwest Clinic on Sunset to provide additional office space and capacity for gastroenterology procedures.  Shannon will add two additional GI physicians over the next two years, doubling its ability to serve these patients. The Surgery Center will add 3,800 square feet for patient procedure rooms and preparation and recovery space. The Southwest Clinic will add 1,800 square feet of office space for these specialists.  Both projects are expected to be complete in August 2015, and together the projects will cost around $3.5 million. 

An additional expansion will take place at the Shannon St. John’s Campus on Pulliam with the relocation of the hospital’s Rehab Care Unit. Construction has already begun on the third floor of the St. John’s facility, and will allow the Rehab Unit to utilize 13,000 square feet as it continues to grow in patient numbers.  The move will also create 14 additional acute care beds within the main hospital to serve the growing number of patients there.

“We have continued to experience one of our busiest years at the hospital due to continued growth of providers at Shannon, growth in our community and more people choosing Shannon for their healthcare,” said Horner.  “As a result, we have a need to increase our number of acute care beds to help reduce waits for patients requiring admission.  The Rehab Unit will open up at St. John’s in January, so this will give us 14 beds in time for the busy winter months.”

Another project slated to open in January 2015 is the new Shannon Urgent Care West location. The new urgent care location, Shannon’s fourth, will be located at the corner of Sherwood Way and Sunset Dr. at the former Big 5 Sporting Goods building.

“We have changed our urgent care clinics to more convenient locations and added longer operating hours in order to meet patient needs,” said Horner. “Along with those changes, the demand for urgent care services has increased. We also saw an opportunity to better serve our patients’ needs in the fast-growing west side of San Angelo.”

The 6,500 square foot space will include nine exam rooms and onsite x-ray and laboratory services. The clinic will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. All of Shannon’s Urgent Care clinics are staffed with two providers including at least one physician at all times.

“What we have seen is that patients like the retail/consumer choice these clinics bring with location and 7 days a week coverage, with extended hours,” said Horner.  “Also, this has reduced the number of outpatient visits to our Emergency department allowing for better access for true emergent patients.”

While expanding and adding additional space, Shannon Medical Center and Shannon Clinic will also have the opportunity to update their current facilities. An additional $14 million has been allocated to facility maintenance and modernization over the next 5 years. 

“While our main hospital and clinic facilities are more than 30 years old, they have good structure that can sustain our organization for many years to come,” said Horner.  “These projects will focus on updating the infrastructure behind the walls and enhancing our patient and visitor areas.”

 Shannon Medical Center plans to upgrade all patient rooms over the next two years, along with the lobbies and waiting areas. In addition, the main clinic on Beauregard is planning a renovation throughout its three floors.  Shannon also plans to implement an improved way-finding system throughout the organization.

“With decreasing reimbursement and increasing burden of unfunded care, most hospitals cannot do projects like this,” said Horner. “We are fortunate to have the Shannon Trust to provide funding for these expansion projects so we can ensure we have the capacity to serve our community as it continues to grow in the future. We are also looking at adding new services in the future so that patients will not have to seek them outside San Angelo.”

 “The vision of John and Margaret Shannon was to provide a healthcare entity dedicated to serving the people of West Texas, which they loved so much,” said Len Mertz, Chair of the Shannon Trust. “Through the past 82 years, Shannon continues to live that mission, growing so that it is a premier healthcare system that can provide exceptional care here in West Texas.  We are excited to see that capacity grow further with the addition of these new projects.”