Jim Parisi was named the new CEO at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital in August after serving as chief operating officer for four years and as chief nursing officer for two years. He takes over the top job at the hospital in the midst of a major expansion that will add a 229,000-square-foot patient tower with 68 beds and a four-story medical plaza that will primarily house physician offices.

What has changed in your role with the hospital since being promoted to CEO?

There are changes in responsibilities, sure—now the buck stops here. I make the decisions. But the way we work here, we're a very tight-knit team. We're more a consensus-driven kind of group and work very closely on what we're trying to accomplish. What's so appealing to me about this job is you're able to surround yourself with really sharp people who can give you good information so those decisions are easier to make.

How will the expansion affect Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital?

The new tower is bringing added space we desperately need. It can't come fast enough. Most every day our beds in the intensive care unit are completely full, and the beds in the hospital are full. The tower will add 68 beds to bring the total in the hospital to 210, and we'll have 20 beds for the ICU, adding on the 12 we have now. That is going to be huge for us. We'll also have the ability to build out another two floors on the tower to bring us to about 300 total beds.

It's phenomenal to watch all that construction and to know what is coming soon. To see our campus essentially double in size is amazing. It's exciting for the leadership here and all the staff to see.

The hospital is going through massive growth, is more ahead?

The growth out here in the Katy area is so strong that I think this campus is just going to keep growing along with it. There's more and more people coming here. There's a need for health care, and we're going to do our very best to keep up with those needs. I don't think there's much of a limit on what we can do.