Texas Children’s in Austin Announces NICU Expansion, Expanding Access for Families Needing Critical Newborn Care

NICU Receives Level IV Designation, Demonstrating Expertise in Highest Level of Treatment for Youngest Patients

AUSTIN (August 13, 2026) – Texas Children’s in Austin announced plans to double the size of its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with a $39 million expansion. The expansion will utilize current shell space on the fifth floor of the hospital and will increase the NICU capacity from 14 rooms to 31 to meet growing community need for this care. 

With the doubling of available NICU space, Texas Children’s will be able to serve more families across the Central Texas region and beyond, including West Texas. The hospital also expects to see an increase in critical cases that require longer NICU stays, enabling more families to receive the expert care Texas Children’s provides. 

"This NICU expansion and our highest available designation as a level IV ensure that babies with the most complex medical and surgical needs can receive highly specialized care close to home,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shilt, President of Texas Children’s in Austin. “By bringing together pediatric surgical specialists, pediatric neonatal intensivists and experts under one roof, we're able to provide comprehensive care for Central Texas families when they need it most."

Texas Children’s in Austin received Level IV NICU designation from the state of Texas earlier this month, indicating it provides the highest level of care for the most complicated newborn cases. This designation reflects significant collaboration among NICU leadership, staff and employees, as well as comprehensive support services that help the neonatal team care for babies with critical conditions since the hospital opened in 2024. 

“The patients we treat and their families come to us at one of the most stressful times in their lives.” said Dr. Mark Thompson, Texas Children’s in Austin NICU medical director. “This designation affirms the expert care we provide and reassures families that their newborns are in trusted hands at Texas Children’s.”

The Price family from San Marcos knows firsthand the importance of having a NICU close to home. Their daughter, Noel, spent 81 days in the NICU after an in-utero diagnosis of complex gastroschisis, which resulted in both a fetal surgery from the maternal fetal medicine team at Texas Children’s in Austin and two more procedures shortly after birth. 

“Spending the first months of your child’s life in the hospital is something no parent wants.” said Casey Price, mother to Noel. “But if things do go wrong, we know that these are the people you want caring for your family. The care we received at Texas Children’s was state-of-the-art, lovingly personal, and truly life-saving.” 

The expansion of the NICU will allow more families throughout the country to receive the highest level of care when their children need it most. The average length of stay for a Texas Children’s NICU patient in Austin is 22 days, more than three times as long as the average in-patient stay. With the doubling of NICU beds, Texas Children’s will be able to care for as many as 300 additional newborns requiring critical care each year. 

Texas Children’s in Austin also received Level II Maternal Care designation from the state earlier this month, demonstrating the hospital’s commitment to providing expert maternal health care for expectant mothers. 

This expansion and designations reflect the growth of Texas Children’s Pavillion for Women services in Central Texas. In addition to three Maternal-Fetal Medicine physicians and four OBGYNs, Texas Children’s opened a new clinic in Lakeway in January and recently expanded obstetrics and gynecology services to that area to meet community needs. The NICU expansion at the Austin hospital is expected to start this fall and be completed in fall 2027. 

About Texas Children’s

Texas Children’s in Austin brings world-class care to the women and children of Central Texas. Part of Texas Children’s Hospital system, the leading and largest pediatric hospital in the country, Texas Children’s Austin provides care in more than 30 specialties, including maternal fetal medicine, orthopedic surgery, and cardiac care. The full-service hospital opened in 2024, strengthening the Texas Children’s presence in Central Texas, which includes Texas Children’s Pediatrics, Texas Children’s Urgent Care, Texas Children’s Specialty Care, and Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Texas Children’s is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. For more information, visit  www.texaschildrensaustin.org.