| Brackenridge Hospital | |
| Map Type: | Texas |
| Region: | Austin |
| State: | Texas |
| Country: | US |
| Funding: | Non-profit |
| Type: | General |
| Network: | Ascension |
| Emergency: | I |
| Former-Names: | City–County Hospital; University Medical Center Brackenridge |
Brackenridge Hospital, also known as University Medical Center Brackenridge,[1] (UMC Brackenridge) was the public hospital of Austin, Texas. It had the nickname "Brack".[2]
On July 3, 1884, the City-County Hospital, which had two stories, was established on a block in what was then northeast Austin. That block had been, in the 1839 Waller Plan, designated to house a hospital. The cost of the initial building was $10,000. It became solely owned by the City of Austin when Travis County ended its share of the ownership in 1907. A 45-bed replacement building opened in 1915. In 1929 the Austin City Council renamed the hospital after hospital board chairperson Robert J. Brackenridge.[3] In 1969,[2] a replacement building opened, with a price tag of $43 million. It eventually housed 363 beds,[3] as the final phase opened in 1984.[2]
In 1995 the city began contracting the operation of the hospital to Seton Healthcare Family.[4] In 2004 the city sold the hospital to Central Health.[5]
The hospital closed on May 21, 2017, as it was replaced by the Dell Seton Medical Center.[2]
Brackenridge's demolition began in August 2017.[6] The tower's demolition originally was to begin in 2018, but as the Austin city government took time to issue a permit for that,[7] its demolition began in summer 2019.[1] Demolition ended in 2021.[8] An office building is to be built on the former site.[6] Central Health planned to use the money gained from selling the land to fund healthcare services.[5]
While it was vacant, the hospital was used as a filming location for the television show Fear the Walking Dead.[9]