DHR Health’s partners with Driscoll Children’s Hospital to build eight-story, state-of-the art medical facility in Edinburg

A visionary idea to build the eight-story Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, which will be located at on the campus of DHR Health in Edinburg, has drawn praise from South Texas state lawmakers, who say the ultramodern complex will be another valuable asset for the four-county region’s healthcare and bioscience industry. 
Construction is expected to start later this year and be completed by late 2022. In early 2019, leaders with Driscoll Children’s Hospital and DHR Health began discussions to expand pediatric services to the Rio Grande Valley to include inpatient acute care. From there, a plan developed in which DHR Health would build a hospital on its campus to be leased to and operated independently by Driscoll Children’s Hospital. On June , the results of those talks were revealed to a standing-room only gathering of legislative, medical, business, economic development, and political leaders at Driscoll Children’s Medical Plaza, 1120 E Ridge Road in McAllen. Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley will provide the following pediatric services:  • Pediatric specialists• Acute inpatient and outpatient surgery• Emergency services• Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)• Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)• Rehabilitation: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy• Radiology Imaging• Laboratory• Child Life program 
Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, whose Senate District 20 includes the Corpus Christi-based Driscoll Children’s Hospital, said bringing Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley to DHR Health’s 130-acre site, which features several major hospitals, medical offices, and related facilities, means Valley residents will be welcoming one of the “premier children’s hospital in the United States.” “This is really a great day for us here in Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “It’s about children. I always say that health care is not a luxury, it is a necessity, and children are the most precious lives that we have to grow and to be our leaders. I am very happy and very proud to continue working with Driscoll Children’s Hospital and DHR Health and all of our health care providers to increase better health to our children.” Currently, Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi features a 191-bed pediatric tertiary care center with more than 30 medical and surgical specialties offering care in its hometown, as well as throughout South Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, Victoria, and Laredo. Driscoll Children’s Hospital  has had a presence in the Rio Grande Valley for decades, with specialty centers in Brownsville, Harlingen and McAllen staffed by Driscoll pediatric subspecialists and other clinical team members. Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley will improve the quality-of-life for the region in many ways, said Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg. “Not only will it have an important economic effect with the estimated 450 professional jobs it will create once it opens its doors, but it will make a vital, and in many ways, life-saving difference to current and future generations of children and their families who will have advanced specialized medical services for which they no longer will have to leave the Valley to receive,” said Canales.