Hospital officials are putting the finishing touches on an 81-bed Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital, which is on target to open by its March 31 deadline. The hospital is located at 27800 Hwy. 290, Cypress, between Mueschke and Mason roads. The $168 million project features a 24-hour emergency center, eight operating rooms, a 16-bed intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, labor and delivery center, cardiac catheterization lab and Life Flight helipad. The hospital offers a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and officials also plan to apply with the State of Texas to obtain Level III status for the trauma center. The new hospital is opening on a 32-acre campus where a 45,000-square-foot Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center opened in spring 2016, offering adult and pediatric primary care, an MD Anderson Breast Cancer screening center, sports medicine and rehabilitation services, lab services, outpatient imaging and an emergency center of its own. "Opening the convenient care center first gave us the opportunity to get involved in the community well before the hospital's opening, instead of everything coming online at once," hospital CEO Scott Barbe said. "Everywhere we go—employers, church groups, chamber and business people—everyone is really excited we're here." Barbe said the Cypress area had been a target for Memorial Hermann for a new hospital for years before the project finally began to move forward in 2014. An intensive study revealed the 77429 ZIP code as a highly desired area that wasn’t currently being serviced by the greater Memorial Hermann Health System. "We're here for the long-term, and we're pretty confident the need is going to be there," Barbe said. "The Grand Parkway connection has changed the flow of transportation. We're looking both at the existing population and the what's going to be happening in the next decade." Efforts to recruit physicians have gone well, with applicants coming in from both inside and outside of the Memorial Hermann system, Barbe said. He said he is working to recruit new physicians and to solidify a medical staff, but that the hospital has already brought on enough people to handle the volume expected over the first few months. Hospital staff includes board-certified diagnostic, interventional and electrophysiological cardiologists, a multidisciplinary orthopedic care team, neuroscience specialists, neonatoligists and nurses who are trained and experienced in critical care. In February, Barbe announced his plans to retire from the industry effective July 8. He remains on board in the meantime where he will continue to oversee the hospital's opening and operation through the first few months alongside new CEO Heath Rushing. Rushing will serve as CEO of Memorial Hermann's Cypress and Katy hospitals. "Heath has an extensive track record of being successful in our system as the leader of the [Memorial Hermann] Northeast campus," Barbe said. "I am confident that he will bring that same success to the Katy and Cypress campuses with the support of our outstanding leadership team." An open house for the new hospital will take place on March 25 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The public is invited to tour the facility, take advantage of complimentary health screenings and take part in games and other activities.