The Defense Health Agency already has substantial operations in San Antonio, including Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
San Antonio and Bexar County officials are pressing forward with their bid to lure the headquarters for the military’s health system to Fort Sam Houston even though they’re still $5 million short of the $30 million they say is needed to fix up an old building for the unit.
Bexar County commissioners will vote Tuesday on a proposed “proffer letter” that offers $25 million
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The move would consolidate some of DHA’s administrative functions and bring more than 650 jobs to San Antonio while also saving the agency money currently being used on high-cost leases it holds nationwide, according to the county.
Local officials originally planned to enter negotiations with $30 million for the renovation — $10 million each from the city, county and state — but a state panel threw a wrench into the plan when it awarded only $5 million for the effort earlier this year.
In March, the Texas Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant Program awarded $5 million to the city for the DHA project, but it snubbed a similar request by the county, leaving only $25 million for the proposed renovation.
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The Texas Military Preparedness Commission, under Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, runs the grant program. It hasn’t explained the decision, and the Texas Attorney General’s Office recently denied an open records request about the denial.
If approved, the joint letter from Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones would be sent to Air Force Brig. Gen. Randy Oakland, the commander of the 502d Air Base Wing, which operates JBSA.
Moving the DHA headquarters would need approval from both the Pentagon and Congress.
The renovation of the four-story, 130,000-square-foot building is still expected to cost $30 million. Bexar County plans to apply again in September for $5 million in state military grants, according to the letter. The improvements funded by the city and county would become property of the federal government.
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Commissioners will receive a presentation about the project from Dan Curry, director of the county’s management department.
There have been multiple meetings between DHA and JBSA about the project, and Chesney Morales Partners is conducting predesign and construction estimating services, according to the presentation.
County officials recommended commissioners approve the proffer letter and move forward with the project with Bexar County as the lead.
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In January, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about 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 already has moved two military headquarters and most of their 1,100 workers out of San Antonio. It’s also stalled the Air Force’s plans to raise the status of its cyber hub at JBSA-Lackland.
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.
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“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.
The move would save as much as $87 million a year, according to the legislators.
Renewed talk of the move apparently surprised members of the Virginia congressional delegation late last year, possibly leading to a 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.
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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 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 previously renovated structure that’s identical to the South Beach Pavilion.
