Dell Children's, Texas Children's name new leaders to run their North Austin hospitals

Friday, Dell Children's Medical Center, which is opening its North Austin hospital in April, and Texas Children's Hospital's, which will open its North Austin location in February 2024, announced new leadership in Austin.

Leading Dell Children's

Michael Wiggins will lead Dell Children's as the president beginning in June. He was previously the president and CEO at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Before that he was at Children’s Health System of Texas in Dallas, and at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham.

"Dell Children's has such an amazing reputation in the children's hospital world," Wiggins said.

Andy Davis, the president and CEO of Ascension Texas, of which Dell Children's is a part, said, Wiggins is "an extraordinarily talented healthcare executive with an extensive background in children’s healthcare.

Growing Dell Children's footprint

Dell Children's has been expanding at its main location at 1301 Barbara Jordan Blvd. in East Austin. The hospital, which opened in 2007, started a pediatric and congenital heart program in 2018 and did its first heart transplant in 2020.

It opened a comprehensive fetal care center 2021 and did its first in utero surgery at the end of that year. It also opened a labor and delivery unit in 2021.

Last year, it did its first kidney transplant, and opened up a fourth tower with 72 additional beds. That expansion allows it to grow the cardiac care intensive care unit, the oncology unit in preparation for stem cell transplants, the intensive care unit, and the neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital now has 299 beds, which is double what it had when it opened in 2007.

The Dell Children's North Austin is the completion of the current $700 construction boom for the hospital system. The North Austin hospital, 9010 N. Lake Creek Parkway, near 183-A tollway and Avery Ranch Boulevard, will be 135,000 square feet with 36 beds and a possible expansion to 100 beds. It will offer emergency care, pediatric intensive care, two operating rooms, endoscopy and procedure rooms, and sleep labs. It’s a $191.8 million project, with already open 60,000-square-foot medical office building onsite.

Wiggins said he is excited about the programs that are already at Dell Children's as well as the potential for new programs. One of the programs on the horizon for Dell Children's is a genetics and rare disease center.

"We're seeing that as the future and a significant area of research opportunity," he said. "When you think about a truly great hospital, it's not just focused on taking care of children when they are injured or sick, but taking care of children's health and preventative opportunities."

Growing children's care: 'Able to save more lives': Dell Children's expands capacity with new tower

In five years, Wiggins would like to see Dell Children's add programs.

Leading Texas Children's in Austin

Russ Williams will be the senior vice president for Texas Children's Hospital in Austin. Williams comes to Austin from Seattle Children's, and before that Riley Children’s Hospital at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis.

"Who wouldn't want to come to Austin?" Williams said. "To have such a vibrant and wonderful community, which is growing so fast, when you look at that and then be able to have a partner and an organization like Texas Children's, that has been one of the leading children's hospitals in the country, what an opportunity."

Williams begins on March 27, and will work to complete and open the hospital next year while , hiring the medical team.

“We are thrilled to have Russ Williams join our growing team at Texas Children’s Hospital Austin,” said Mark A. Wallace, president and CEO at Texas Children’s Hospital. “As the largest children’s hospital in the nation, we strive to continually strengthen our roster with exceptional talent that advances our commitment to providing the right care.”

Williams' vision is for children to get care at Texas Children's in Austin, rather than travel to Houston, its headquarters and primary campus.

"Distance is a barrier to care," he said.

Bringing Texas Children's to Austin

Texas Children's has been ranked No. 2 in the country by U.S. News and World Report for best children's hospital. It has been expanding in Austin, first by opening an urgent and specialty care center, plus buying 17 pediatric primary care practices. The Austin hospital is its first one outside of the Houston area.

The Texas Children's Austin hospital is at 9835 N. Lake Creek Parkway near Texas 45. (Yes, the two new hospitals are less than two miles apart.) It's a $485 million project with 365,000 square-foot hospital and 170,000 outpatient specialty building that are connected by a glassed-in lobby. The hospital will initially have 52 patient beds with room for expansion and include areas that will not be built out originally.

The Texas Children's site will have a labor a labor and delivery unit as well as a neonatal intensive care unit and a pediatric intensive care unit. It will have operating rooms, a diagnostic imaging center, a sleep study center and epilepsy monitoring unit, and an urgent care center on-site.

Williams said that he plans to do a lot of listening in his first six months to figure out what the community needs and bring the services that are needed where they are needed. In Seattle, he managed regional operations that included Alaska, Montana and Idaho as well as rural Washington state.

"Health care never stays the same," Williams said. "What we open with in February as the base and what we have a year from now will not be the same."

More:Here's what plans for the new Texas Children's Hospital in Austin look like

Doubling our children's hospital capacity

The two Dell Children's hospitals and the new Texas Children's Hospital join St. David's Children's Hospital, part of St. David's North Austin Hospital off North MoPac Boulevard and Parmer Lane.

Austin's growth in population has been fueling this need for more pediatric hospital beds. In the 2000 census, the Austin metropolitan area had 1.25 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2010, the population had grown to 1.7 million, and as of 2020, the population was 2.3 million.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Dell Children's, Texas Children's name new leaders as both close to opening North Austin hospitals