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Area hospitals eye 2009 expansion
By Lucretia Cardenas
After making much progress in 2008, Montgomery County hospitals will continue expansion projects next year.
Unlike the other two county hospitals, CRMC isn’t planning build-outs or additions, but it is restructuring spaces and programs to improve services and accommodate more patients.
“Adding space is very expensive, so we’ve focused on how we can use our existing space without expending more dollars,” said Jerry Nash, CRMC’s chief executive officer.
During 2008, one of the largest expansions the hospital undertook was creating a 24-bed neurological unit, which is in a medical office building next door, Nash said. The new unit is just one part of CRMC’s Stroke Center, which was established this year.
The hospital also worked at becoming a premier destination for sick mothers, babies and children.
Before the end of 2007, CRMC partnered with The Women’s Hospital of Texas to bring an array of subspecialties to conception and pregnancy to the region. In 2009, the hospital plans to add digital mammography to its services, Nash said. In the fall, CRMC opened a 12-bed pediatrics unit and now has a pediatric surgeon on staff.
The biggest project for Conroe Regional next year is regaining Level 3 trauma center status, Nash said. The hospital is recruiting surgeons to join the emergency team. CRMC will work to expand and improve its recognized cardiovascular services.
Memorial Hermann was able to cross off a lot of items on its expansion “to-do” list in 2008.
The hospital completed the addition of two operating rooms, which were up and running the week after Hurricane Ike in September, said Susan Griffin, chief patient care officer.
“It was a good thing we did because one of our highest operating months was in October,” she said.
The hospital is completing a build-out on the sixth floor for a 36-bed patient care unit. The renovations should be finished in February. Also, the hospital is completing renovations to the emergency center and instituting a new ER program, which should enable personnel to move patients through the emergency room quicker, Griffin said.
Memorial Hermann also is in the final stages of opening a freestanding emergency center on Woodlands Parkway at FM 2978. The facility is a joint venture between Memorial Hermann and Tomball Regional Medical Center. The 24-hour, full-service center should open in the spring.
Memorial Hermann is operating as a Level 3 trauma center and is expected to receive accreditation from the state this spring.
“We already have our trauma directors in place,” Griffin said. “Our physicians and surgeons are really excellent.”
St. Luke’s experienced the most change in 2008, and it is scheduled to have a new hospital for heart and orthopedic care by the end of 2009.
“Our achievements this year reflect the culmination of hard work and five years of unprecedented growth,” said Debra F. Sukin, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “Our ability to lead into the future during these uncertain times of health care will be critical.”
In November, the hospital opened Patient Care Tower II, a four-story building with 30 intensive care unit beds, 29 medical/surgical beds and 82,000 square feet for medical, surgical and intensive care services. Two of the patient rooms in the new addition are designed as guest suites, with hotel-level amenities to accommodate extra visitors.
Also this year, a second St. Luke’s Community Emergency Center opened at The Vintage Park in the Houston and Tomball area to complement the first center at Woodlands Parkway and Kuykendahl.
The hospital’s major undertaking for 2009 is the construction of the St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital, which will neighbor the main St. Luke’s campus in The Woodlands. The 77,830-square-foot hospital will have 30 beds, 13 preoperative and postoperative rooms, four operating rooms, two catheterization labs and diagnostic imaging. The new facility is scheduled to open in the fall.
In addition to the new facility, the hospital plans to expand its surgical suite with four additional operating rooms to expand the heart program and other specialties.
Unlike the other two county hospitals, CRMC isn’t planning build-outs or additions, but it is restructuring spaces and programs to improve services and accommodate more patients.
“Adding space is very expensive, so we’ve focused on how we can use our existing space without expending more dollars,” said Jerry Nash, CRMC’s chief executive officer.
During 2008, one of the largest expansions the hospital undertook was creating a 24-bed neurological unit, which is in a medical office building next door, Nash said. The new unit is just one part of CRMC’s Stroke Center, which was established this year.
The hospital also worked at becoming a premier destination for sick mothers, babies and children.
Before the end of 2007, CRMC partnered with The Women’s Hospital of Texas to bring an array of subspecialties to conception and pregnancy to the region. In 2009, the hospital plans to add digital mammography to its services, Nash said. In the fall, CRMC opened a 12-bed pediatrics unit and now has a pediatric surgeon on staff.
The biggest project for Conroe Regional next year is regaining Level 3 trauma center status, Nash said. The hospital is recruiting surgeons to join the emergency team. CRMC will work to expand and improve its recognized cardiovascular services.
Memorial Hermann was able to cross off a lot of items on its expansion “to-do” list in 2008.
The hospital completed the addition of two operating rooms, which were up and running the week after Hurricane Ike in September, said Susan Griffin, chief patient care officer.
“It was a good thing we did because one of our highest operating months was in October,” she said.
The hospital is completing a build-out on the sixth floor for a 36-bed patient care unit. The renovations should be finished in February. Also, the hospital is completing renovations to the emergency center and instituting a new ER program, which should enable personnel to move patients through the emergency room quicker, Griffin said.
Memorial Hermann also is in the final stages of opening a freestanding emergency center on Woodlands Parkway at FM 2978. The facility is a joint venture between Memorial Hermann and Tomball Regional Medical Center. The 24-hour, full-service center should open in the spring.
Memorial Hermann is operating as a Level 3 trauma center and is expected to receive accreditation from the state this spring.
“We already have our trauma directors in place,” Griffin said. “Our physicians and surgeons are really excellent.”
St. Luke’s experienced the most change in 2008, and it is scheduled to have a new hospital for heart and orthopedic care by the end of 2009.
“Our achievements this year reflect the culmination of hard work and five years of unprecedented growth,” said Debra F. Sukin, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “Our ability to lead into the future during these uncertain times of health care will be critical.”
In November, the hospital opened Patient Care Tower II, a four-story building with 30 intensive care unit beds, 29 medical/surgical beds and 82,000 square feet for medical, surgical and intensive care services. Two of the patient rooms in the new addition are designed as guest suites, with hotel-level amenities to accommodate extra visitors.
Also this year, a second St. Luke’s Community Emergency Center opened at The Vintage Park in the Houston and Tomball area to complement the first center at Woodlands Parkway and Kuykendahl.
The hospital’s major undertaking for 2009 is the construction of the St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital, which will neighbor the main St. Luke’s campus in The Woodlands. The 77,830-square-foot hospital will have 30 beds, 13 preoperative and postoperative rooms, four operating rooms, two catheterization labs and diagnostic imaging. The new facility is scheduled to open in the fall.
In addition to the new facility, the hospital plans to expand its surgical suite with four additional operating rooms to expand the heart program and other specialties.
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