Texas Children’s Hospital opened a new facility April 11 in The Woodlands, providing pediatric specialties and youth-driven emergency care to the community.


The 500,000-square-foot facility, located at the southwest corner of I-45 and Hwy. 242, offers pediatric inpatient and outpatient services in addition to pediatric emergency services.


Dr. Charles Hankins, chief medical officer for Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, said the decision to build a third emergency care location of the Houston-based health care system was based on Montgomery County’s large population base of children in need of care.




Texas Children’s Hospital The facility was designed with children in mind, incorporating bright colors, aquariums and video systems.[/caption]

“The volume of children in this primary service area had grown to the point that we knew there were a lot of them traveling a long way to receive care,” Hankins said. “So we felt we could mobilize to be much closer to their homes.”


The freestanding children’s hospital provides pediatric care for the majority of illnesses and conditions for patients age 21 and younger. 


The new facility features an infusion center, which can treat immune, rheumatologic and hematologic problems as well as several types of cancer, and two MRIs with anesthesia assistance. It also offers a 20-plus bed pediatric emergency room staffed with board-certified, pediatric emergency medicine physicians 24/7 and pediatric specialists in orthopedics; ear, nose and throat; plastic surgery and gynecologic surgery.


“The difference that we’ve made to this community is through our surgical services because we have pediatric operating rooms staffed with pediatric general surgeons,” Hankins said. “Bringing that level of sophistication and training to the community really raises the bar.”


Hankins said the hospital will add pediatric urology to its list of services this summer as well as 20 more pediatric physicians, increasing its staff to 90.


The brightly colored facility also boasts a Child Life Playroom, aquariums and video systems to make young patients feel more welcome.


The hospital will continue to evolve its services based on the needs of the community, and in the next few years, Hankins said he would not be surprised if Texas Children’s considers further expansion.


"Our primary belief is that if we focus on the child, we can help them get better, and if we can help them get better, then their families will be better,” he said.