Katy-area hospitals growing to meet a growing local demand for healthcare services

By George Slaughter, News Editor
Posted 11/17/22

Katy-area hospitals are investing in new facilities as the local population grows and, with it, the demand for healthcare services, hospital executives said.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Katy-area hospitals growing to meet a growing local demand for healthcare services

Posted

Katy-area hospitals are investing in new facilities as the local population grows and, with it, the demand for healthcare services, hospital executives said.

Jerry Ashworth, senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Katy; Carla Braxton, chief medical officer and chief quality officer of Houston Methodist West Hospital; Lara Hamilton, executive director of Christ Clinic; and Amanda Hamlin, executive director of locations for The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, were panelists at a state of healthcare discussion sponsored by the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce. The Nov. 9 discussion took place at the Embassy Suites, 16435 Katy Fwy. Jason Hodge, owner/manager of Medical Fitness Pros and chamber vice chairman, served as moderator. Ashworth said Katy has a significant growth market.

“It’s the greatest largest growth market and the greater Houston area,” Ashworth said. “We’re going through expansion. We are experiencing at times overwhelming volumes. The hospitals are very full. Ours is no exception.”

Memorial Hermann Katy announced in March a $167 million plan that, when finished, would add about 115,000 sq. ft. of new and renovated service areas.

Ashworth described the environment as challenging, though Memorial Hermann is excited about the growth and expansion. Braxton said her hospital shared the excitement. It, too, is developing more local facilities.

In May, Houston Methodist West broke ground on a $65 million expansion project that includes a 150,000-square-foot, six-story medical office building. The new building will house orthopedics and sports medicine on the top two floors and physical therapy on the ground floor. In addition, the hospital is developing a sports field for physical therapy that will be adjacent to the building.

“We’re happy to grow based on the expectations and the demand of the community and what’s necessary to provide high-level care here in Katy,” Braxton said.

While hospitals are developing their facilities, gaps can remain when it comes to people getting needed healthcare. Christ Clinic works to fill those gaps, Hamilton said.

“We work really closely with the hospitals, and we see one of our key roles in the community as being able to identify where the gaps in the big systems are as the population increases and we start to see new things coming up in your community or the need increasing,” Hamilton said. “We like to see our role as trying to help below steps in the short term to the best of our ability while these bigger systems.”

But one crucial healthcare gap involves who, in terms of hospital staff, actually provides the healthcare services. Braxton said the goal is to retain the present staff, and do so in a creative way.

“At Houston Methodist West, we had particularly the equine support program which really helped when talking about mental health support and emotional support for your staff that are under a tremendous amount of stress, especially from the last couple of years,” Braxton said. “We’ve added that to a very vast array of social and mental health support. Child care support is also very key. You want to make sure that your staff can actually show up to work and if they’re struggling with child care, you have a significant section of your workforce that can’t come in.”

Ashworth said according to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics, almost half a million nurses will leave the workforce this year.

“In the next two years the state of Texas will be about 37,000 to 38,000 nurses short,” Ashworth said, adding that the need for physicians is also great. He said Memorial Hermann Katy is working with Katy ISD to find and train students to earn patient care tech and patient care associate certifications.

“We want to bring them to our campus,” Ashworth said. “We want them to work in our hospital.”

Katy Area Chamber of Commerce, Houston Methodist West, Memorial Hermann Katy, Christ Clinic, MD Anderson Cancer Center