University Health buys two medical office towers on its new Babcock campus

January 20, 2026

University Health has purchased two medical office buildings totaling more than 200,000 square feet; one four-story building and the other seven stories high and connected by a sky bridge to its newly purchased Babcock Specialty Hospital.

The purchase will save significant funds by reducing University Health’s reliance on leased space in the Medical Center. University Health already occupies part of one of the towers, can take advantage of available vacant space and can move other clinics into the buildings as space becomes available.

The Bexar County Hospital District Board of Managers unanimously approved the purchase. Board member Dr. David Cohen described it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, noting that “there’s no new land coming into the medical center.”

University Health bought CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital, a 4-story, 236,000-square-foot acute care hospital in the South Texas Medical Center, in the summer of 2025 along with 45 acres of land.

"The location and size of the CHRISTUS Medical Center property and the timing of this opportunity could not be better, as we are experiencing unprecedented growth in patient volumes,” University Health President and CEO Ed Banos said. The two medical office towers on the campus were owned by a third party, San Antonio MOB NW Medical Tower LLC.

Northwest Tower I was built in 1986 and is a seven-story building with 123,055 square feet of space. Northwest Tower II was built in 1992 and is a four-story building with 77,778 square feet of space. Since 2018 both towers have received $5.2 million in renovations.

Strategically improving care while saving on costs

The strategic benefit of owning the towers is that it allows University Health clinics and providers to be next to the specialty hospital, increasing convenience for patients and improving the quality of their care. The $50 million acquisition, consolidating clinics and reducing reliance on leased Medical Center space, could also save University Health up to $15 million, with a payback period of less than 14 years.

Babcock Specialty Hospital is set to open by early 2027 with 15 emergency beds and 40 inpatient beds. University Health specialty clinics at Babcock will open in phases, with University Health Women’s Heart Center open in Tower II and Allergy & Asthma already open and treating patients in Tower I. Babcock Rehabilitation has also moved to the campus and is seeing patients in Cottage H.

Outpatient Cardiology and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation will move in the second phase, with eventual plans to move University Health Transplant Institute outpatient clinics to space within the Babcock Specialty Hospital.

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