Updated Post 5:20 p.m. March 28
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story reported that the Memorial Hermann Sports Park will include a UT Physicians Clinic staffed with Memorial Hermann Katy- affiliated orthopedic surgeons. The UT Physicians Clinic has not been confirmed by Memorial Hermann System staff as of March 28. The updated story includes this correction.
Original Post 8 a.m. March 22
Memorial Hermann Katy will break ground on a new $15 million sports facility complex March 29. Considering the partnerships the hospital system already has in place with orthopedics and sports medicine professionals, Memorial Hermann Katy representatives said the one-of-a-kind facility will take the hospital to new heights.
“We felt good about our position in the market of orthopedic and sports medicine, but we wanted to take it to the next level,” said Heath Rushing, senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital. “We wanted to be on the forefront of the cutting edge as it relates to providing a service for our community.”
The Memorial Hermann Sports Park consists of a 50,000-square-foot, two-story facility that will house an IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute offering recovery and endurance training services and a Memorial Hermann Medical Group clinic with primary care physicians trained in sports medicine, according to Meredith Whittemore, senior external communication representative for the Memorial Hermann Health System.
“The physical therapists with the institute will work closely with the Athlete Training and Health trainers so that people can return to their previous athletic endeavors as quickly and safely as possible as well as take their performance to new heights,” Whittemore wrote in an email.
Rushing said plans for the complex have been in the works for the past two years. He said the complex is the first of its kind because the expanded sports medicine services will be offered within the confines of the building.
“You really can’t find that anywhere else in the Houston area so that’s what we are excited about,” Rushing said.
A full size outdoor soccer field featuring field lights and soccer turf makes up the second half of the complex and will be located immediately adjacent to the facility on the east end of the hospital campus.
“That really creates an avenue for the youth sports program to access the facility as well for practices and games, etc.,” Rushing said.
The complex will offer services from performance enhancement and injury prevention to rehabilitation for injured athletes.
“The IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute offers a plethora of testing that will be available here,” Rushing said. “And then access to the orthopedic and sports medicine physicians through our partnership with UT Physicians … is an important piece of it as well.”
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held March 29, and construction is expected to begin the first week of April. Rushing said he expects to open the facility in January 2019.
Considering the sports climate in the Katy area and Houston, Rushing said he expects the facility to become a resource for athletes of all ages and skill levels—from youth and high school to collegiate to professional players.
“When you think about the reach a facility like this can have, that’s what we were really after. It’s not just about the youth, it’s not just about the weekend warrior, it’s about everything in between.”
Rushing said he thinks the facility will also draw people from all over the Houston area, specifically Cy-Fair and Sugar Land.
“Really, the goal is that this becomes a destination facility for sports medicine,” Rushing said. “And as big as youth sports are out here and as fast as Katy ISD is growing every year, we want to be the place that helps fill that need. We believe that this is a facility that creates that differentiation and allows us to do that.”
