As people continue moving to Cypress as fast as houses can be built, health care providers are doing everything they can to keep up with growing demand for services.

Major providers, such as Memorial Hermann Health System, Houston Methodist Hospital System and North Cypress Medical Center, have been targeting master-planned communities along the Grand Parkway in their expansion efforts throughout 2015. At the same time, developers are dedicating parts of commercial projects to medical office buildings to bring in primary care physicians and specialists.

“The evidence was overwhelming that we needed to have a presence out in Cypress,” said Scott Barbe, CEO of the new Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital under construction on Hwy. 290 near Fairfield. “We’ve been wanting to build in Cypress for a long time, but we’ve had many other projects we needed to dedicate our resources to. There is a lot of excitement now that we’re moving forward.”

Located on a 32-acre site, the Memorial Hermann Hospital is the largest project underway in Cypress, consisting of an 80-bed acute care hospital, a 45,000-square-foot convenient care center and 125,000 square feet of medical office space.

The development of hospital satellite centers and independent emergency centers address needs in the growing community, said Leslie Martone, president of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce.

“With a community of 700,000-plus, we need plenty of options for families with various insurance needs,” she said.

Closer to home

A common reason cited by health care providers to justify expansion plans is the need to bring services closer to where people live.

“We believe it’s important to be out in the community, not focusing our resources in one spot,” Barbe said. “It’s a win-win to be close to where people live because that’s where they want to go for medical care. We feel this strategy has worked for us for a long time.”

Barbe said the convenient care center will include a sports medicine and rehabilitation center, physical therapy treatment and a MD Anderson Breast Screening Center. It will cater to patients in emergency and nonemergency situations.

Master-planned communities in the area are keeping demand for health care services in mind as they develop retail projects. Plans for the Lakeland Village Center in Bridgeland include medical office space. In addition, the first wave of tenants at the Boardwalk at Towne Lake includes a 10,000-square-foot Texas Children’s pediatrics office, making it one of the larger tenants.

Mischer Investments, the company developing Cypress Creek Lakes, brought health care tenants to the Shops at Cypress Creek Lakes, including a Cy-Fair Medical Group location.  More health care tenants could come to a 55,000-square-foot development at Tuckerton and Fry Roads, said Randy Corson, Mischer’s Vice President of Residential Development.

“With the growth in residents moving in, there’s a big demand for medical development,” he said. “People [who] live south of Hwy. 290 want the infrastructure there.”

Developers with NewQuest Properties have also dedicated space for a two-story medical professional building at the Fairfield Marketplace, which is expected to open mid- to late 2016 at the northeast corner of Hwy. 290 and Mason Road. A dentist has signed on to occupy part of the building, and a Texas Children’s Hospital Emergency Room has also been proposed.

Saturating the market

Although multiple ERs, urgent care centers, satellite centers and the Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center are opening, health care officials do not appear to be worried about potentially oversaturating the market.

The demand is expected to grow even more after new Grand Parkway segments connect Hwy. 290 to I-45. The Cypress population is projected to continue its upward trend, meaning the need for more health care options is not going to be fully met anytime soon, said Carla Espinosa, director of the Houston Methodist Emergency Care Center at Hwy. 290 and Fairfield Creek.

The ECC—equipped with 10 exam rooms, a CT scanner and X-ray and lab services—opened Nov. 3 as one of several emergency centers coming to the Fairfield area.

North Cypress Medical Center has made a pointed effort to cater to master-planned communities, opening up a Mason Road location in October and another within Towne Lake on Barker Cypress Road in May. A First Choice Emergency Room is also under construction in the Fairfield area.

“There is a sense that the market is reaching a saturation point, but we have done our research and are confident that there is more than enough demand for our presence,” Espinosa said.

Barbe said Memorial Hermann looks at growth patterns, demographic trends and admission rates when considering where to build.

“The Cypress community and some of those ZIP codes in that market are some of the fastest-growing [areas],” he said. “These are the areas where we are seeing people coming from at our existing facilities and the source of the greatest unmet need for services in all of our markets.”

Memorial Hermann also made efforts to reach out to the community and connect with as many residents as it could, Barbe said. The Good Shepherd United Methodist Church on Cypresswood Drive hosted meetings where Fairfield residents were able to meet with hospital officials.

“There is a lot of excitement,” Barbe said. “It gives us an opportunity to update our story, and I’ve had a lot of people tell me how glad they are that we’re going to be in the neighborhood. These meetings seem to be an accurate gauge of feedback.”