The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston embarked on nearly $1.4 billion worth of construction projects to repair the extensive damage incurred by Hurricane Ike.
Hurricane Ike’s arrival in September 2008 was accompanied by a storm surge that penetrated 1 million square feet of the 7.2 million square feet that make up UTMB’s campus. Damages to the campus — which consists of a hospital, medical school and research facilities — came in at $710 million, not including business continuity losses.
At the time, UTMB said it would spend $266 million to repair the 550-bed John Sealy Hospital, which was knocked out of commission by Ike. The hospital had been able to accommodate more than 250 patients daily since reopening in January, but was not fully functional by the summer of 2009.
UTMB officials had hoped to get construction approval from the UT board of regents in August.