The hospital, located at 1917 Ashland St. in the Heights, closed after doors were locked and a note was posted saying the former owners of the building owed $461,302 in rent and fees.
The hospital has reopened under a new management group that also operates Spring Hospital in Spring. Prior to reopening, The Heights Hospital underwent a renovation to get through the regulatory and compliance process, said Dr. Mirza Baig, a retired neurosurgeon and board member of The Heights Hospital.
The building has five operating rooms and more than 40 inpatient beds as well as intensive care units, intermediate medical care units and a six-bay emergency room, Baig said. It also offers diagnostics and laboratory services as well as outpatient clinic facilities.
“It’s almost like a one-stop shop from a facility perspective,” Baig said.
New owners are committed to community and patient-centric care, Baig said. The coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the need for hospitals to be nimble, he said.
“We really want a significant amount of convenience as well as accessibility and opportunity to treat patients like human beings and not just necessarily a number,” Baig said.
The team running the hospital has run Spring Hospital for more than five years and has plans to open other hospitals in Houston, Baig said. The Heights Hospital, which is the larger of the two facilities, is considered the flagship location, he said.
In March or April, Baig said plans include introducing more services, including in women’s health and cardiology, though he said supply chain challenges have made it difficult to say when all of those new service lines could be up and running.
Since opening, Baig said demand for services at the hospital has been steadily increasing, including both in emergency care and elective care. The hospital has garnered interest from physicians looking to work there as well, he said, including doctors who worked at the hospital under the previous ownership and are looking to return.
As of mid-February, the hospital had about 7,000 square feet of unfurnished space available for retail on the first floor, and officials are exploring other opportunities for how to use space on other floors as well, Baig said.
“We are committed to being present for a long period of time,” Baig said. “I honestly think there is so much opportunity in this area.”
