For Harris County Precinct 3, the town hall meeting is scheduled for Nov. 17 in Spring.
What you need to know
Harris Health officials are in the process of a major expansion of Ben Taub Hospital, which would incorporate 8.9 acres of Hermann Park. The expansion is backed by a $2.5 billion bond package approved by Harris County voters in 2023, which supports Harris Health’s multiyear facilities plan and includes the addition of approximately 100 private patient rooms and expanded surgical capacity through a new patient tower adjacent to Ben Taub Hospital.
Harris Health officials are anticipating a growing demand for inpatient care at Ben Taub Hospital, projecting an additional 18,000 emergency visits over the next 10 years. The current campus couldn’t be expanded due to infrastructure limitations, officials said, and a lack of available space within the hospital’s current footprint.
During the Nov. 12 town hall at the Texas Medical Center for Harris County Precinct 1, Harris Health CEO Esmaeil Porsa said Ben Taub serves a county with 1.2 million uninsured residents, and the hospital's overcrowded spaces impact hospital efficiency, safety and infection prevention. Porsa said that patients sometimes have to wait for more than 24 hours to see a doctor in their emergency service department.
"Would you want your loved ones to be cared for like this? Chances are, the answers for the majority of us, the answer is no," Porsa said. "This is not dignified. This is not how patients should be cared for. This is a daily occurrence at Ben Taub Hospital."
Those opposed
Attendees who were against the expansion voiced their concerns to hospital officials during the Nov. 12 town hall, which included addressing the complexities of pitting the health care community against public green space users in Houston. Several attendees asked hospital officials how they will protect and mitigate potential negative impacts to Hermann Park during the proposed construction phase, how Harris Health will improve pedestrian access and if they would consider the expansion somewhere else besides the proposed tract.
The new site would be built adjacent to Ben Taub Hospital and would allow the new tower to connect directly to the hospital through a sky bridge, Porsa said. Financially and logistically speaking, Porsa said that building a separate facility wasn't feasible due to the enormous cost and would require shutting down critical hospital operations, which he said is "just not possible" given the capacity and patient care demands.
“This adjacency is essential,” Porsa told Community Impact.
Get involved
The town hall meeting will take place Nov. 17 at 6:45 p.m. at the George H. W. Bush Community Center, located at 6827 Cypresswood Drive, Spring.
After the Precinct 3 town hall, the next in-person town hall will be in January at a community center in Harris County Precinct 2, according to a Harris Health announcement.
