The new structure will contain a 24-hour emergency room, 14 operating rooms, an imaging unit with X-ray, CT scanner, MRI functionality and 30 inpatient beds. Though the facility will more than double in size, the number of beds will actually go down from 34, meaning most of the gains will be in services and procedures, not the amount of inpatients.

Hospital officials believe the move will create a small growth in jobs, creating 10 to 15 new positions. The move from Park Place and Eight avenues to 12th Avenue will also decrease the distance between the facility and Baylor All Saints Hospital. The facility will offer a wide array of services, covering surgical procedures including spine, urology, orthopedic and plastic surgery. Should they need it, hospital officials could look into Patient Financing from United Medical Credit to help with treatment costs involved in procedures like plastic surgery. There will also be room for general practice, and specialists in pain management and ear, nose and throat health.

Roger Rhodes, CEO of Baylor Surgical Hospital, explained his excitement in a statement, saying, “The project marks the beginning of a new chapter for our hospital system. Health care is rapidly changing and our goal as an industry leader is to remain on the cutting edge of service for our patients, doctors and community.”

Jones Lang LaSalle, based in Chicago, will serve as construction manager on the project and negotiated the land purchase on behalf of the hospital. Page Southland Page was selected as the architect on the project.

Baylor spokeswoman Susan Hall told the Star-Telegram the old facility would likely maintain its functionality as an ambulatory surgery center and be sold or leased to another medical group.

The project represents a small piece of a $6 billion building spike in the Dallas area with more than $1.2 billion of that activity coming from the Baylor Health Care System. Parkland Memorial Hospital’s replacement provides a strong rival, coming in at $1.27 billion, while numerous other hospitals are being built at smaller, yet significant, price tags ranging in the high hundreds of millions.

The trend has grown at an amazing rate, as the Dallas Morning News reported that the area experienced the largest growth in health care back in 2006, when the total expenditure was estimated at only $2.2 billion.

Though the growth may be good for the economy, some health care experts caution that the boom in construction might be too aggressive, with too many hospitals battling over a limited number of patients. Others believe the baby boomer generation will provide a massive increase in patients over the next two decades and prevent this upswing in the construction industry from becoming a bubble. Whether it comes to the number of patients or the number of projects, it seems that everything is still bigger in Texas.

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