Commuters on I-10 have seen some notable changes to the north as construction at Memorial Hermann Hospital Katy continues. What once was a ground-level foundation has turned into the shell of a six-story, 229,000-square-foot expansion of the hospital slated to open next year.

Construction began in May on the $85 million project that will add 52 beds in the patient tower—bringing the hospital's total to 194 beds—and a four-story, 100,000-square-foot medical plaza for office space west of the hospital.

Marshall B. Heins, chief facility officer for Memorial Herman, said work on both buildings is progressing within the original construction timeframe and is coming in slightly under budget.

The medical office building is slated to open in May, and the hospital tower is set to open in November.

Crews raised the four-story walls of the tower with a method called tilt-wall construction. The concrete walls were hoisted into position by cranes then

connected. Heins said after all the walls are put in place, crews will work to add the top two floors to the tower.

The shell of the tower should be completed shortly after Christmas, Heins said. Interior construction of the hospital will take three times as long as an office building because of all the special plumbing, ventilation and electrical work required, he said.

But expansion at the Katy hospital will not be complete after the two buildings are finished, Heins said. The current construction is the second of a three-phase plan for the 72-acre site. A third patient tower and medical building could be built within the next 10 years, he said.

Heins said the hospital's initial construction started ahead of schedule as did its current expansion, and added, "with the continued growth in Katy, we'll probably see Phase 3 ahead of schedule, too."