Memorial Hermann broke ground May 14 on its expansion in Sugar Land that will bring more services and nearly double the size of the campus at Hwy. 59 and the Grand Parkway. The $93 million expansion will be completed in three phases during the next two years, said Greg Haralson, president of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land.

"We are extremely proud to expand the presence of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land here in the heart of Fort Bend County," he said. "You can see in the growth in this community how badly we need these additional beds."

Phase 1 of the expansion includes an eight-bed expansion of the hospital's emergency department, a six-story, 90-bed patient tower and a 100,000-sqaure-foot medical office building, which is slated for completion next year.

"Having this capacity in our new tower allows us to double the capacity of our intensive care unit from eight beds to 16, will double our neonatal ICU from four beds to eight, add an MRI suite, [and] add an eighth operating room with shell space for four additional operating rooms," Haralson said.

The expansion is expected to complete in summer 2016.

Houston Methodist expansion

Another significant expansion is underway a few miles northwest at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. The hospital has invested $131 million to upgrade and expand its campus at Hwy. 59 and Sweetwater Boulevard, which includes the construction of a new 104-bed patient tower.

Methodist is also nearing the completion of its stand-alone emergency facility at 8200 Hwy. 6, Missouri City as part of its first phase of expansion. The emergency room is slated to be complete in July.

Chris Siebenaler, CEO of the Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, said that a significant percentage of Fort Bend County residents travel to Houston to receive medical care.

"We want to grow to meet the demand for more services that are comparable to the Texas Medical Center, but closer to where [residents] live," he said.