The Defense Health Agency already has substantial operations in San Antonio, including Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. It’s the largest inpatient medical facility in the Department of Defense.
William Luther/Express-News file photo
A Texas commission has thrown a curve ball at county and city plans to lure the bureaucracy in charge of the military’s medical system to San Antonio — a relocation that could bring thousands of jobs to the city that’s already considered the home of military medicine.
Local, state and national officials have lobbied for years for the Pentagon to move the Defense Health Agency to Fort Sam Houston on Joint Base San Antonio.
Article continues below this ad
Part of the strategy now is to gather $30 million in state and local funds to begin work on a building for the agency, which is currently based in Falls Church, Va. The city and county each budgeted $10 million and the state was to pony up the other $10 million in two separate $5 million grants from the state’s Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance program.
RELATED: Pentagon in talks to move major agency to San Antonio
But the plan isn’t working as expected.
San Antonio Express News Logo
Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.
Add Preferred Source
The state’s military preparedness commission, which oversees the grant program, approved the city’s $5 million request but snubbed the county. That left it $5 million short of the funds needed to begin renovation of a building at Fort Sam, part of a plan to make the move smoother and more financially palatable to federal decision makers.
Article continues below this ad
Now, local officials are scrambling to figure out how to make up for the shortfall. One idea, they said, is to resubmit the $5 million grant request for when the state next reviews requests later this year.
County Commissioner Grant Moody said he sees the $5 million the state commission allotted to the city as progress and that it’s still “really early” in what’s expected to be a long process.
“Five million for this project … that’s a win. The glass is half full,” said Moody, who’s also a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. “We are going to have to take a step back, get some feedback and hopefully come back for additional funding either this fall … or next year.”
‘Too important’
The funds will go toward updating an old building on Fort Sam for the health agency. Known as the South Beach Pavilion, the World War II-era former hospital is a four-story, 109,000-square-foot structure that could support 600 workers.
Article continues below this ad
The plans called for the initial $30 million to get the structure of the abandoned building into shape. DHA has already committed from $30 million to $40 million for the second phase of the project to finish out the building.
The development is expected to bring 560 white-collar jobs to San Antonio and could open the door to bringing as many as 3,300 people and their families to the city if the agency’s entire headquarters is relocated. It remains unclear exactly how many workers or which portions of the agency would move.
READ NEXT: Cornyn, Cruz pressed Hegseth on relocating military HQ to San Antonio
“We’ll get this thing done eventually, one way or another,” Moody said. “It’s too important to our community not to.”
Article continues below this ad
The grant to San Antonio was part of $26 million awarded Thursday for seven projects across the state to improve infrastructure within military communities. The commission is expected to allot another $14 million later this year. Communities must provide matching funds and grants are capped at $5 million.
A source familiar with the process, who was granted anonymity to discuss confidential talks, said the nearly identical requests from the city and county led to only one being approved.
Moody acknowledged there could have been confusion over two grant applications tied to the same construction project.
“We can probably tell our story better and more clearly,” he said.
Article continues below this ad
Because there’s no guarantee the county will get the additional $5 million in the next grant cycle, though, the delegation is also looking at other funding sources.
Mayor Gina Ortiz said she was optimistic about the ongoing discussions with the Pentagon.
“As Defense leaders continue to evaluate potential sites for DHA, I remain confident San Antonio will fare well based on quality of life and cost of living considerations, and our unique defense health ecosystem,” she said. “We’ll continue working with state and federal leaders to bring additional DHA personnel and resources to Military City USA.”
In a statement, the city thanked Gov. Greg Abbott and the commission for the grant and acknowledged the program’s competitiveness.
Article continues below this ad
“While we had hoped to see both the City and County applications funded in this round, we anticipate another funding opportunity later this year, and we will continue working collaboratively to advance this critical initiative,” it said.
Congressional interest
In January, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on relocating DHA during a visit to Brooke Army Medical Center. Hegseth was in town to visit Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric A. Slover and another soldier who were recovering at BAMC after being wounded in a U.S. military strike on Venezuela.
Hegseth’s Pentagon has already yanked two military headquarters and most of their 1,100 workers from the city. It’s also stalled the Air Force’s plans to raise the status of its cyber hub at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
Article continues below this ad
The senators and Reps. Tony Gonzales, Chip Roy and John Carter wrote a letter in October asking Hegseth to stop the health agency from renewing its lease or attempting to buy its current headquarters building in Virginia.
“Instead, we request DHA relocate to Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), a course of action that was previously directed during the first Trump Administration, is fiscally responsible, and will improve operational efficiencies for military medicine,” they wrote.
RELATED: GIs wounded in Venezuela attack flown to San Antonio
The move would save as much as $87 million a year, according to the congressmen.
Article continues below this ad
Renewed talk of the move late last year apparently surprised members of the Virginia congressional delegation, possibly leading to delay of an expected announcement. At the time, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat whose district includes Falls Church, said he was not aware of a pending change.
With a global staff of 130,000, the agency manages programs worth $100 billion including more than 700 medical facilities around the world and all aspects of the Defense Department’s health system.
It already has a large and growing footprint in San Antonio with Brooke Army Medical Center, Wilford Hall and more than 3,000 employees working at nearly two dozen sites across the city. It already has hundreds of workers at the North Beach Pavilion on Fort Sam, a structure identical to the South Beach Pavilion that was previously renovated.