Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Expansion Enhances Services

COVER STORY | By Nancy V Mills, APR | Photography by Mary Favre –

Capping off a two-year, $93 million expansion project, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital has opened a new 155,000-square-foot patient tower to meet the growing health care needs of Fort Bend County residents. The project also included expansions and renovations to the original hospital tower and construction of Medical Plaza 2 that houses the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute and additional physician offices.

“This expansion allows us to add new services and provide even more comprehensive health care to the residents of Fort Bend County,” said Greg Haralson, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land. “Patients can now stay close to home for increasingly complex health care issues and receive the high-quality care we’ve always delivered.”

New Tower Adds 60 Patient Beds

The new six-story patient tower, on the east side of the campus adjacent to the Grand Parkway, has 60 new beds to bring the total bed count to 149. This new East Tower houses an expanded intensive care unit (ICU) with 14 beds and a new 16-bed adult intermediate care unit (IMU) for patients who require close supervision.

“As the Fort Bend County community grows, we are more equipped to meet our residents’ critical care needs,” said Seleria Fletcher, RN, BSN, MSN, director of critical care. “In addition to our highly trained staff in the expanded ICU and the new IMU, we have added state-of-the-art equipment, including new diagnostic monitoring systems, to enhance patient care.”

One floor below the 3rd floor ICU/IMU is a cardiac/pulmonary care unit. This floor also contains a one-stop, self-contained endoscopy suite for gastrointestinal procedures.

“We’re seeing more esophageal and colon cancers being diagnosed in the area,” said Haralson. “This endoscopy suite will serve as the foundation for a digestive disease center, bringing patients and affiliated subspecialty physicians together in one place for diagnosis and treatment.”

On the fourth floor of the East Tower is a new medical unit, which was relocated from the West Tower. This opened up much-needed space in the West Tower for labor and delivery rooms, an expanded nursery, neonatal ICU, more beds for pediatric patients and additional space for future expansion projects.

“We want to make every pregnancy and childbirth experience special for the women we serve,” said Haralson. “With this new space, our very experienced staff can better meet the needs of women and young children.”

Committed to Children

Haralson is particularly proud of the hospital’s focus on pediatric care. “We have a growing group of affiliated physicians joining us who have pediatric subspecialty training in gastroenterology, neurology, orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose and throat), pulmonology, urology and sleep medicine,” said Haralson. “This means children can receive advanced care close to home.”

In addition, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land is Fort Bend County’s only Emergency Center designed and staffed to care specifically for children. Affiliated emergency medicine physicians, pediatricians, nurses, anesthesiologists, radiologists and other highly skilled pediatric specialists understand the unique needs of children.

“Our staff is more sensitive to children’s needs,” said Jared Caruso, MD, FAAP, who oversees the affiliated pediatricians. “Children experience a high level of anxiety, especially when it comes to testing. When a pediatrician is involved in providing care, he or she understands it’s equally important to know what tests to order and when not to order them.”

Colorful wall murals, child-sized medical equipment, stickers, coloring books and bubbles put children at ease, as does a certified Child Life Specialist. With comprehensive training in human development and psychology, this specialist helps children understand procedures with pretend medical equipment and other age-appropriate play. This type of environment and targeted care reduces anxiety and promotes healing.

Enhanced Heart Attack Care

Early in the expansion, the Emergency Center, located in the West Tower, increased to 26 beds. Late in the expansion, four more surgical suites were added, bringing the total to 12.

“The expansion gives patients faster access to hospital beds, whether they’re coming into or out of the Emergency Center or surgery,” said Chief of Staff Thomas Rivers, MD.

The expanded Emergency Center further enhances the hospital’s outstanding heart attack care for patients arriving with chest pain. For many years, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land has been a nationally accredited Chest Pain Center for its superior diagnosis and treatment of these patients.

Affiliated physicians are available 24/7 to perform balloon angioplasty in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab. This vital procedure opens blocked arteries and restores blood flow to the heart. Other areas remaining in the West Tower include outpatient imaging and laboratory services, as well as rehabilitation and recovery for patients who undergo elective orthopedic surgery.

A Place of Comfort and Healing

Everything about the expansion creates an inviting and healing environment. It begins with the main entrance that provides more space for drop-off and pickup of patients and visitors.

In the lobby, a beautiful healing garden is visible from the glass walkway connecting the West and East Towers. It offers visitors a soothing water feature and flowering plants, as well as various indoor and outdoor seating options.

Continuing through the glass walkway into the new East Tower is the Grand Parkway Café, featuring large photos of well-known Sugar Land and Richmond landmarks. Adjacent to the café is expanded conference room space and a new pre-admission testing department.

Continuous Focus on Quality and Safety

Since opening in 2006, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land has sought to deliver exceptional and accessible health care to the community. Joining this expansion that has more than doubled the size of the Sugar Land campus are the new Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center in Sienna Plantation – with 24-hour emergency care plus primary care – and Memorial Hermann Urgent Care at Telfair.

Throughout this impressive period of growth, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land has kept its laser-sharp focus on providing safe, high-quality care to Fort Bend County residents.

“Our core value is safety,” said Haralson. “We live by that. We want to achieve 100 percent all the time in all our quality metrics. We’re amazingly close to achieving that goal.”

Chantal Nguyen-Tran, MD, an affiliated obstetrician/gynecologist, appreciates this relentless focus, saying, “Memorial Hermann Sugar Land excels in maintaining safety and quality in all aspects of patient care.”

The Quality Texas Foundation recognized Memorial Hermann Sugar Land’s commitment to excellence by awarding it the Texas Award for Performance Excellence. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land is one of just three organizations in the state to receive this prestigious award that recognizes strong dedication to quality and high performance.

While awards validate Memorial Hermann Sugar Land’s unending quest for quality, that determination is evident in the daily actions of the hospital’s more than 650 employee partners. From superior care delivered in the hospital to compassionate community outreach, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land’s staff exudes caring and commitment to excellence in all they do. Outreach activities include everything from performing complimentary school physicals, mammograms and health screenings and hosting educational seminars, to collecting donations for flood victims.

“We want to continue to be the health care provider of choice for Fort Bend County and advance the health of those we serve,” said Haralson. “It’s our goal to always be forward-thinking and look for innovative ways to meet the unexpressed wishes and needs of our community.”