Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital breaks ground on expansion focused on women’s health
Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital has begun a $60 million expansion project that will significantly enhance its women’s health services.
“Fort Bend continues to be one of the fastest-growing counties in the U.S., and that growth is driving demand for women’s health services, especially labor and delivery,” said Chris Siebenaler, CEO of Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. “In addition, we are seeing an increasing number of patients coming to Sugar Land for health care from communities outside of Fort Bend, including Waller, Austin, Brazoria, Wharton, Victoria and beyond. This expansion will not only increase our overall capacity for women’s services, but it also enables us to create a connected, collaborative center of excellence that benefits both patients and physicians.”
Construction of the new building began in February 2018. Renovation of the existing Sweetwater Pavilion will be handled in stages to minimize impact on patient care.
The first floor of the new building will house a relocated, expanded Breast Care Center, complete with state-of-the-art imaging technologies and a calm, comfortable, welcoming interior. The new Breast Care Center is expected to open in the second quarter of 2019.
The second and third floors of the new building will connect to the current Sweetwater Pavilion featuring the Childbirth Center, which should be completed by second quarter of 2020, with some sections opening earlier.
The expanded Childbirth Center will offer:
- 18 birthing rooms and 4 triage rooms (up from 12 birthing rooms and 3 triage rooms today)
- 36 postpartum rooms (up from 26 today)
- Three operating rooms (up from two today)
- A 7-bed Level III neonatal intensive care unit—the first Level III in Fort Bend County
- A 12-bed continuum care nursery (up from nine beds today)
- An 18-bed well-baby nursery (up from 16 today)
“We are increasing the capacity of our Childbirth Center by 30 percent and updating our amenities and offerings at the same time,” said Siebenaler. “The expansion of our neonatal intensive care unit will also enable us to care for premature newborns at an even earlier stage than before. This is a critical need for our community and we will be the only hospital with a Level III NICU in Fort Bend so babies can remain close to home and their families while receiving a higher level of care.”
To handle the increased capacity and enhance patient convenience, Houston Methodist Sugar Land has also completed a parking garage on the Sweetwater Boulevard side of the hospital campus that connects to Sweetwater Pavilion via a second-floor skybridge. The new garage includes 800 parking spaces. Construction of the garage was completed in March of this year.
“This expansion of our physical space and our service offerings is yet another example of our commitment to meeting the health care needs of the community and delivering the best possible care close to home,” said Siebenaler. “We are excited to see this plan begin to take shape.”
To learn more about Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, please visit houstonmethodist.org/sugarland or visit our Facebook page at fb.com/methodistsugarland for the latest news, events and information.