Texas Children’s Hospital has announced plans for a $201M, three-phase, multiyear expansion of its Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, located in the Texas Medical Center.

The expansion plan includes transforming the former Baylor Clinic building at 6620 Main St. into part of Texas Children’s campus and renaming it Main Tower. That building will be connected to the Pavilion for Women by a new skybridge and will provide the hospital with an additional 190K SF of usable space.

In a press release, Texas Children's Pavilion for Women Obstetrician/Gynecologist-in-Chief Michael Belfort noted that the expansion would allow the hospital to increase delivery volumes by about 30%, and also provide more space for specialized clinics and specific programs.

The first phase of the expansion will involve relocating the Women’s Assessment Center from the 11th floor of the Pavilion for Women to the first floor, and backfilling the 11th floor with a 14-bed induction and observation unit.

The second phase will include preparing Main Tower for occupancy and relocating outpatient obstetrics and gynecology practices from the Pavilion for Women to Main Tower. In the third phase, the Pavilion for Women will be backfilled with additional inpatient care capacity.

Phase 1 of the expansion plan is expected to be completed in the spring of 2022, and the full expansion is slated for completion in 2024.

Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women was established in 2012, and is a comprehensive obstetrics and gynecology facility focused on high-risk births. It includes the Texas Children’s Fetal Center and a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, the highest level of care available.

The expansion announcement suggests that Houston’s healthcare systems have restarted development activity, after the coronavirus pandemic brought most projects to a halt. In March, healthcare and construction experts said the industry was bracing for a surge of activity that could strain the availability of labor and construction materials.

Several other large development projects are underway in the Texas Medical Center, including the 37-acre TMC3 life sciences campus; the Texas A&M University system and Medistar Corp’s $500M Texas A&M Innovation Plaza project; Hines and 2ML Real Estate’s 52-acre Levit Green project; and Medistar’s Innovation Tower project.