The new eight-story, 332,000-square-foot tower will be built on the south side of the medical center, which is located at 9250 Pinecroft Drive in Shenandoah. The tower is expected to open in early 2022, and it will serve as the hospital’s new main entrance off Medical Plaza Drive complete with registration, waiting and observation areas, according to a news release.
The tower will also house a 36-bed care unit, six operating rooms, an intensive care unit, a post-acute care unit, endoscopy services and cardiopulmonary and catheterization labs. In addition, the tower will include three floors available for future expansion, according to the release.
The expansion project was developed to address The Woodlands hospital’s growing patient base and high demand for service in the area, according to Josh Urban, senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center. Once it is completely built out, the new tower will house a total of 144 beds.
“It’s exciting to have the problem of running out of space and having to build more buildings, because it reinforces all the great things we do,” Urban said. “At the end of the day, we’ll have the ability to be a 535-bed hospital, and that's pretty exciting.”
Aside from the new south tower, the hospital addition also includes the expansion of more than 140,000 square feet of existing portions of the hospital. Imaging, surgery, orthopedic, pharmacy, in-patient care and food service areas will all be renovation targets, according to Memorial Hermann.
“It’s not just the places where we directly care for the patients—we’re also renovating and expanding really the entire facility,” Urban said. “Almost every ancillary and support department that helps us do the great work we do is getting renovated and expanded over the length of this project.”
The existing east and west towers are expected to reach final capacities of 129 and 262 patient beds, respectively, once all renovations are complete.
The project will add to the medical center’s parking capacity as well. Around 300 new parking spaces will be added over the course of the renovations, and a 7,400-square-foot bridge will be built to connect the new tower to an existing parking garage, Urban said.
The addition is expected to bring in hundreds of new staff members at the hospital over the coming years, Urban said, adding to Memorial Hermann’s approximately 2,650 employees currently working at The Woodlands medical center.
At a Nov. 8 announcement event for the project held in The Woodlands Medical Center's main hospital building, Shenandoah Mayor Ritch Wheeler shared his support for Memorial Hermann and its medical complex on the city's southern edge.
"This is a great area, The Woodlands region is a great area for medical services," Wheeler said. "Were excited that Memorial Hermann is going to continue to stay at the top of that list for many, many years to come as this campus expansion gets built out.”
Dr. James Field, a general surgeon and the hospital's medical chief of staff, said Memorial Hermann's continued expansion of The Woodlands campus has allowed the hospital to broaden its patient base throughout Texas as well as address the growing needs of its local community.
"Memorial Hermann is really at the centerpiece of [making] this a true medical center, and we’re very proud as a medical staff to have this expansion come at this particular time," Field said at the event. "It’s well-needed, and I think the community’s ready for it."
