Hospital gave birth to Marble Falls boom

Aug. 3 marked a decade since the opening of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center near the Texas 71-U.S. 281 intersection in Marble Falls. In 2015, city leaders predicted the new hospital would have a long-reaching impact on growth and development in the Highland Lakes, and they were right.

Today, the 46-bed medical center has over 300 employees and is accompanied by seven clinics and urgent care facilities spread across Burnet, Marble Falls, Kingsland, Horseshoe Bay, and Llano. 

When the Marble Falls hospital’s doors opened in the summer of 2015, George Russell, the former mayor and city manager, made an accurate prediction.

“I definitely feel it’s going to stimulate some growth in the area,” he said in a 2015 interview with DailyTrib.com.

Some numbers of note regarding the local economy before and after the hospital arrived, per the Marble Falls Economic Development Corp.:

• Gross sales activity in Marble Falls grew from $725 million in 2013 to $1.335 billion in 2024.
• Taxable sales grew from $349 million in 2013 to $731 million in 2024.
• In Burnet County, the healthcare and social assistance industry grew from 1,482 employees with $18 million in earnings in 2013 to 2,282 employees with $41 million in earnings in 2024.
• Across all industries during the same time period, total employment grew from 12,686 to 16,843 and total wages rose from $126 million to $256 million.
• The infrastructure installed to support the hospital provided the utilities necessary for south Marble Falls developments like Thunder Rock and Gregg Ranch, making Marble Falls the seventh-fastest growing city in Texas from 2023 to 2024.
• The average household income in the Marble Falls trade area grew from $68,172 in 2013 to $123,476 in 2024.

“From an economic impact standpoint, (Baylor Scott & White’s) presence in Marble Falls coincides with the community’s most prosperous era,” said EDC Executive Director Christian Fletcher in an emailed response to questions from DailyTrib.com. “The hospital in Marble Falls was the first major catalyst for the community’s current trajectory.

Before the hospital, the nearest major medical care was in Burnet, Llano, and Austin. 

“(The Baylor Scott & White hospital has) been a real gift to the community, to the medical community,” Dr. Kimberly Russell told DailyTrib.com. 

Dr. Russell has been practicing family medicine in the Highland Lakes area for 24 years and has seen the change in medical services available for locals before and after the hospital’s arrival.

At the time, an emergency room visit meant traveling to Llano, Burnet, or Austin. The Llano Hospital was the only medical facility in the Highland Lakes with a labor and delivery department for expectant mothers. Locals needing to see a specialist often had to drive to Austin.

The Marble Falls hospital brought big city medicine to the country, including a labor and delivery ward, emergency care, and a suite of specialists in cancer care; plastic surgery; digestive diseases; ear, nose, and throat ailments; eye care; foot care; cardiology; hematology; imaging and radiology; mammography and women’s health; physical rehabilitation; surgery; urology; wound care; and more.

“Though we are in a smaller community, we have not sacrificed quality,” Dr. Russell said. “The Hill Country region is a refuge for shockingly overqualified people.”

The Marble Falls hospital is a hub for Baylor Scott & White activity in Burnet, Llano, Blanco, and San Saba counties.

BSW Hill Country Region President Tim Ols explained to DailyTrib.com that Baylor Scott & White is the largest not-for-profit hospital system in Texas, and that any profit made is reinvested into upgrading facilities. The Marble Falls medical center is no exception. It has added operating rooms, emergency department rooms, a mammography suite, and new robotic surgery technology since it opened.

“We’ll continue to grow organically as the community grows,” Ols said.

The hospital also grows thanks to big donations from the community. According to Ols, Highland Lakes organizations and individual donors have given more than $20 million over the past 10 years, which directly funded new operating and emergency rooms.

“We are very, very thankful for the generosity of the community,” he said. “(The community) wants their hospital and they want it to be strong, and we do everything we can to make that happen.”

Ols’ predecessor, Eric Looper, also saw the hospital’s future value for Marble Falls, anticipating general population and job growth in the wake of its opening.

“A new facility like this is typically a catalyst for growth for the community, for the immediate area around the hospital,” the former BSW Hill Country Region president said in a 2015 interview with DailyTrib.com. “Over the coming years, I would expect you’d see other healthcare services attracted to be close to us.” 

dakota@thepicayune.com