Hospital Picks San Antonio for Data Center

The data center clustering phenomenon continues to gain momentum in San Antonio, where another company has announced a new data center project in the Westover Hills area. Christus Health plans to build a $21 million data center on 10 acres in Westover Hills, near where Microsoftis building a huge new data center. Dallas-based Christus Health is one of the 10 largest Catholic health systems in the country, and plans to build a 43,000 square foot data center, with a site plan that allows for expansion in 25,000 square foot increments.

Microsoft's decision to locate its $550 million data center in Westover Hills has been followed by announcements of data center projects by the National Security Agency and Stream Realty. As was the case in those projects, Microsoft's decision to build in San Antonio (which followed a national search) was cited as a factor in the data center site location for Christus.

Mario Hernandez, president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, told the San Antonio Express-News that he expects that at least two other local companies will announce similar data center projects this year. Hernandez and a group of local officials recently visited Silicon Valley to scout data center prospects.

Christus will house confidential patient and hospital records and company information in the data center. The hospital system needs more storage space, as existing data centers in San Antonio and Houston are almost full.