San Marcos — Central Texas Medical Center celebrated its 25th birthday appropriately on Thursday with the birth of a new building.

Hospital officials broke ground on a $35 million, 64,000 square foot expansion, which will include 20 obstetrical rooms, two antepartum rooms, a cesarean-section operating suite, a high-risk delivery suite, a neo-natal critical care unit, seven labor/delivery and recovery rooms and 36 medical/surgical cardiac-monitored units.

“We have really gone the extra mile to make sure that our guests, when they come to the hospital, are completely cared for,” said Gary Jepson, president and CEO of CTMC.

Other improvements to current facilities will be included in the plan, he said. Upon completion in 2010, every room at CTMC will be a private one.

Among honored guests at the groundbreaking ceremony was Diana Renee Bullock Armand, the first baby to be born at CTMC. Armand’s mother was transferred to the Wonder World location on Sept. 4, 1983 and gave birth only hours after the hospital’s doors were open to the public.

“I have literally watched this place grow,” she said.

Armand celebrated her birthday, along with her daughter’s, who was born on the same day last year, with a cake and a song at the ceremony.

The new facility will bring more square footage and more jobs, Jepson said.

“It’s a conservative estimate that we will be needing to add between 50 and 75 new jobs. We very much want to recruit new staff members who live in San Marcos,” he said.

Attendants recalled memories of visiting CTMC, whether for the birth of a baby or the final days of a loved one’s life.

A time capsule was open for participants to leave notes for future employees and patients. It will also include various news clippings and commemorative materials, a key to the city and a city pin.

CTMC is currently a 113-bed acute-care general hospital providing a range of healthcare services in San Marcos and neighboring communities.

The hospital, which originated in 1923 as Hays County Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Memorial Hospital, was restructured in 1960. The present facility was opened at its current Wonder World Drive location in 1983.

The CTMC staff of more than 600 employees works with more than 170 active and consulting physicians to provide services to patients and families.

In addition, more than 100 community members and interns from Texas State University volunteer their services to the hospital.

“It’s really our passion and our privilege to be there for those who need us,” Jepson said.