University Health invests in area economy, hiring local businesses to help build new hospitals
When University Health opens its two new community hospitals in 2027, hundreds of employees from local businesses will be able to see how their hard work helped expand high-quality medical services for families across the community.
Since construction began in 2023, 75% of the budget for subcontractors building and equipping University Health Retama Hospital on San Antonio’s Northeast Side and 78.8% of the budget for University Health Palo Alto Hospital on the South Side went to local businesses in Bexar and neighboring counties. That amounted to a total of $737 million in local business contracts for both hospitals.
Those businesses range in size from companies with fewer than a dozen employees to those with hundreds of workers. Local vendors have supplied everything from electrical systems and concrete slabs to flooring, and something money cannot buy – pride in building community landmarks where lives will be improved and saved.
“They just want to be part of these new hospitals,” said Latifah Jackson, director of Vendor Engagement for University Health. “They take pride in telling their friends, ‘Hey, I helped build Retama Hospital or Palo Alto Hospital. I’m proud of that.’”
Payments to the local companies contracted for services at the two new hospitals comprised a significant portion of the $320.6 million University Health paid to all of its local vendors from April through June 2026.
Contracts ranged from several hundred dollars to many millions of dollars, with the average local contract totaling about $50,000.
Jackson said many companies get their start working with University Health through job fairs and networking events her team organizes throughout the year. They connect business owners with resources and partners that can help them get started, and their workshops teach entrepreneurs how to obtain certifications needed to bid on University Health contracts.
Her team’s outreach focuses on three groups: veteran-owned companies, nonprofit organizations and local vendors.
“It’s important for us to put money back into our community and help to create a stronger economy,” Jackson said. “When we hire local businesses, they’re able to employ our local people, often providing them benefits and health insurance as well as a salary.”
