The gist
The emergency department projects at Houston Methodist West Hospital and Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital are part of going multimillion-dollar campus expansions, officials said. Memorial Hermann’s Katy investment will help support hospital officials’ goal of upping its trauma designation, allowing it to treat more patients in critical conditions, said Jerry Ashworth, senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Katy and Cypress hospitals.
“If you look between Katy and San Antonio, there are not really very many options for care in general, specifically trauma care,” Ashworth said. “So that’s another driving factor for us. ... Everything we do, essentially, is in an effort to meet the needs of the community.”
Why it matters
The area within Katy ISD’s boundary, which comprises much of the Katy area, gained more than 54,057 new residents between 2018-23, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
With this growth has come more patients visiting the two hospitals’ emergency rooms, hospital leaders said. Data from Houston Methodist West Hospital shows annual visits have risen 55.74% since 2020.
The details
Houston Methodist West Hospital officials announced in August a $185 million expansion at its campus that will include a new emergency room observation unit, more operating rooms, more ER space and neonatal intensive care unit beds.
Stanzel said the emergency department project includes:
- 16 new ER rooms plus triage spaces
- A 36-bed observation unit for emergency room patients
Now, contractors are working to renovate the existing ER and labor and delivery room spaces—some of the last pieces of the campus’ project, Ashworth said.
“I would say we were an undersized emergency department for the level of volume that we see,” Ashworth said. “Within Memorial Hermann [system], Memorial Hermann Katy is one of the busier ERs, both overall volume and trauma volume. So it's an incredibly busy ER, and we're kind of getting it right-sized, if you will, from a capacity standpoint."
Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital officials were unable to return data on annual visits by press time.
Zooming in
In addition to capital improvements, Houston Methodist West Hospital began working in early 2024 to reduce ER wait times for patients, accelerating their time to receive treatment, Stanzel said.
In 2023, the median time between when a patient walked in the ER and met with a provider was 47 minutes. By focusing on internal process improvements, the median decreased to 22 minutes in 2024—nearing the Emergency Department Benchmarking Alliance’s national median of 21 minutes in 2023 , hospital officials said.
“Patients, their time is so valuable,” Stanzel said. “Time to treatment matters a lot for folks, and so our ERs are there to receive them. They know they're going to get really high-quality care when they come to Houston Methodist.”
The big picture
Meanwhile, the emergency department renovation at neighboring Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital—along other surgical upgrades in its ongoing expansion—will help support the hospital’s efforts to gain a Level II trauma designation, Ashworth said.
The Texas Department of State Health Services issues four trauma designations, with Level IV being the most basic and Level I being the most advanced, according to the DSHS.
Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital will be in “active pursuit” of the Level II trauma designation on July 1, meaning it will begin operating at that level throughout a roughly two-year period, Ashworth said.
Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital officials said the campus will provide the following Level II services while pursuing the designation:
- Board-certified trauma surgeons who must respond within 15 minutes
- Enhanced surgical capabilities and equipment
- 24/7 physician call coverage for specialists
Looking ahead
Houston Methodist West Hospital’s overall $185 million project will wrap up in late 2027, but some services such as the emergency department opening in late 2026, Stanzel said. Meanwhile, Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital’s ER and labor and delivery room renovations will finish in early 2026, Ashworth said.
