Five years ago on Aug. 19, 2013, Scott & White Medical Center opened its doors to the Brazos Valley community. Now known as Baylor Scott & White, the hospital has since expanded adding 24 hospital beds, two operating rooms, a comprehensive cancer center, and a second convenient care clinic.
Jason Jennings, president of Baylor Scott & White — College Station region, says this anniversary is important to him and his team. “Just like in all our personal lives we have certain dates that we remember. Hopefully, we remember our anniversaries or the birth of a child,” he says. “Myself, as well as this team, will always remember Aug. 19.”
Before the medical center opened, Scott & White was a group practice with several clinics in the College Station and Brenham area. In 2010, Scott & White decided to build a hospital so patients could receive a complete continuum of care closer to home, Jennings says.
Serving nearly 25,000 patients in the last five years, Baylor Scott & White has won numerous awards for their care. Some awards include the designation as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, accreditation as a ChestPain Center by The Joint Commission, designation as a Texas Ten Step Facility by the Texas Department of State Health Services, and the Guardian of Excellence Award for Patient Experience by Press Ganey, says Megan Hoffman, marketing and public relations consultant.
More hospital beds and operating rooms are in the works at Baylor Scott & White, but Jennings says it’s important not to forget about what they already do well. “We plan to continue to have the best, utmost customer service for our patients and then I anticipate that we’ll continue to add more primary care clinics to support the Brazos Valley,” he says.
Another future development of Baylor Scott & White is new innovations in cardiac care, Jennings says. One specific procedure coming to the hospital in the near future is the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement procedure. Jennings explains that the heart valve operation previously required surgeons to crack the patient’s chest open to replace the valve. The TAVR procedure feeds the new valve through a blood vessel in their leg and the patient can leave within one day as opposed to multiple days.
Baylor Scott & White Health is the largest not-for-profit health care system in the state of Texas, according to Hoffman. The hospital offers emergency care, heart and vascular services, cancer treatment, and (soon) TAVR procedures.
“We definitely want to thank the community, [staff, and providers] for their support,” Jennings says. “We believe that our mission is to be a Christian ministry of healing, and we’re so happy to have a hospital to take care of the Brazos Valley yesterday, today, and into the future.”
