Brownsville hospital begins multimillion-dollar upgrade project

BROWNSVILLE -- After several delays and plan changes, construction officially began Friday on a new, $8 million surgery wing at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville.

It's the latest step forward in a $40 million hospital renovation project that has taken years to unfold but will provide necessary improvements to the aging facility, officials said.

"The improvements we're making are much needed," said Leslie Bingham, chief executive officer of Valley Baptist-Brownsville, at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday. "It's a busy hospital in a high-need area ... and no one would argue that the improvements aren't needed."

The hospital was first built in the 1950s, but it was expanded and renovated significantly in 1984, said Valley Baptist spokeswoman Teri Retana.

The facility went through some renovations and expansions in the 1980s and 1990s, but the last major expansion was about 10 years ago, Retana said.

Already, Valley Baptist Health System has spent about half of its allotted $40 million to renovate the main lobby, several waiting rooms, the air-conditioning system and certain wings of the hospital, Bingham said. The hospital also has upgraded equipment and purchased a $2 million magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machine.

The funds for some of these improvements are coming from $94 million in hospital revenue bonds, which Valley Baptist secured late last year. The hospital system used $77 million of the bond money to repay a loan used to purchase Valley Baptist-Brownsville from Tenet Healthcare Corp. in 2004, officials confirmed.

An additional $13.4 million is going toward construction and renovation projects, according to the bond prospectus.

Originally, Valley Baptist approached the Brownsville City Commission to issue these bonds through its Brownsville Health Facilities Development Corp., but commissioners denied the request last summer.

The health system later secured the bonds through Tarrant County, which has issued bonds for several hospitals across the state, Bingham said.

Fort Worth is the Tarrant County seat.

The hospital's new wing, which will be completed in about 15 months, will include four surgery suites, renovation of four existing operating rooms, 12 recovery rooms, 20 private beds, high-definition monitors and other new features, officials said.

"It's going to be a great project," said Dr. Roselle Pettorino, past chief of staff at Valley Baptist-Brownsville and a general surgeon.

All renovations likely will be finished by 2009 or 2010, Bingham said.