CHRISTUS St. Catherine administrators recently announced the Katy hospital's emergency services will end Jan. 31.

The closure follows the completion in December of a buyout by Houston Methodist.

Shortly following the completion of the deal, CHRISTUS St. Catherine shuttered its birthing and neonatology center. The official date of the closure was Dec. 30 and included triage and outpatient testing services offered within the Women's Birthing Center.

"While closing any service is difficult, we believe this step continues the transformation of CHRISTUS St. Catherine from an acute care hospital into a long-term care facility in early 2014," said Gene Wright,CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital interim CEO.

Patients who arrive seeking emergency services after the closure will be directed to another hospital or emergency facility.

"I urge the community to become familiar with the area emergency rooms," Wright said.

Other services at the hospital, including sports medicine, imaging, surgery and emergency services, remain open pending the release of a complete schedule for the transition of the hospital to Houston Methodist's control.

Houston Methodist hospital officials have said that they intend to convert the facility into a post-acute and long-term rehabilitation center. The group's Houston Methodist West campus at 18500 I-10 offers acute care and recently expanded to accommodate additional patients.

The agreement preserves CHRISTUS as a minority partner and allows it to maintain a role in governance. CHRISTUS may also have the option to manage St. Catherine, in its current location at 701 S. Fry Road, as a post-acute facility, according to a public statement.

Houston Methodist is also acquiring the CHRISTUS St. John Hospital in the Nassau Bay/Clear Lake area. That location will remain largely as it is now, but under the Houston Methodist name.

Methodist West Houston Hospital is slated to open a second, 135,000-square-foot, medical building by May 2014. Growth at the main hospital is also in progress. An expansion of the intensive care unit with the addition of nine beds is expected to be completed soon, and seven operating rooms are scheduled to be added in the near future.