Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital held a groundbreaking on May 16 for the next phase of a $131 million expansion project—a six-story patient tower at the corner of Hwy. 59 and Sweetwater Boulevard.

"Our investment in new facilities, like our new patient tower, enables us to continue to expand our service offerings and provide the latest and most sophisticated procedures right here in Fort Bend," said Chris Siebenaler, CEO of the Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital.

The tower is expected to add 104 beds—bringing the campus' total to nearly 350 beds—for intensive care and surgical patients. The tower will be built out to handle additional capacity, according to the Houston Methodist Health System.

Houston Methodist began its expansion to meet the health demands of a growing community, Siebenaler said.

"Our expansion effort was undertaken following an extensive strategic review to determine what the community's medical needs were today, as well as what they will be in the next 10 to 20 years," he said.

The patient tower, which is slated to be completed spring 2016, is one of several projects that make up the hospital's expansion plan. Houston Methodist is wrapping up work on its first facility in Missouri City—a stand-alone emergency center between the master-planned communities of Riverstone and Sienna Plantation. The 9,600-square-foot emergency room is being built at 8200 Hwy. 6 and will house 10 treatment rooms. The facility is expected to open this summer.

"The new emergency care center will give Missouri City residents a first-class medical facility within minutes of their homes," Siebenaler said.

Other expansion efforts include renovations to the Sugar Land campus, the relocation of the hospital's heart center and the construction of a new 60,000-square-foot orthopedics and sports medicine clinic.