St. Luke's Announces Woodlands Community Medical Center

St. Luke's Episcopal Health System recently announced that its board of directors has approved the construction of a 263,000-square-foot, 82-bed community medical center in The Woodlands, a 27,000-acre forested community located 27 miles north of downtown Houston. St. Luke's will break ground for The Woodlands Community Medical Center this month.

St. Luke's also announced that it is collaborating with Texas Children's Hospital, which will provide pediatric services at the new campus. The joint project will result in a fully integrated medical campus and, working with local physicians, will provide a full range of health care services to the community, from pediatrics to geriatrics.

St. Luke's purchased the 24-acre site at the southwest corner of Interstate 45 and State Road 242 (College Park Drive) from The Woodlands Land Development Company, L.P., in 1999. The Community Medical Center campus on this site will offer a healing environment that emphasizes high quality care for body, mind and spirit, as well as convenience and a family orientation. This environment will be complemented by state-of-the-art clinical and information technologies.

"We are looking forward to becoming a member of The Woodlands community and are very pleased to be engaging in this collaboration with longtime neighbors from the Texas Medical Center," said Michael Jhin, president and chief executive officer of St. Luke's Episcopal Health System. "With Texas Children's, we share a commitment to work with community-based physicians already practicing in The Woodlands. The overwhelming response we have received from physicians in north Houston and Montgomery County will allow us to jointly provide uninterrupted and enhanced care for the residents."

Mark Wallace, president and chief executive officer of Texas Children's Hospital, expressed his shared excitement about the opportunity to partner with St. Luke's in The Woodlands.

"It represents a new way for St. Luke's and Texas Children's to work together with community-based physicians to meet the pediatric health needs of the families in the area," Wallace said. "Texas Children's is already serving The Woodlands and surrounding areas with several outstanding primary care pediatricians who are members of our Texas Children's Pediatric Associates. We know The Woodlands is a thriving and vibrant area, and Texas Children's Hospital looks forward to expanding our service to the community."

St. Luke's also confirmed the participation of other notable Texas Medical Center organizations in the project, including TIRR Rehabilitation Centers for physical therapy services, the Hospice at the Texas Medical Center, and the Texas Heart Institute. St. Luke's is continuing its discussions with these entities to clarify and define their respective roles.

"All of our services will be offered with the patient and family's unique needs in mind," said Teresa Danna, vice president of Network Development and Ambulatory Services, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System.

In addition to primary and secondary care for adults and children, several areas of specialty care will be offered. Labor and delivery, neonatology and cardiology services are also planned. The Woodlands Community Medical Center will also offer ambulatory-care services and an emergency center staffed with physicians specializing in emergency and pediatric emergency medicine.

"This development is of great importance to everyone in The Woodlands and Montgomery County," said Michael Richmond, president and chief executive officer of The Woodlands Operating Company, L.P. "Health care is an essential service in our growing community. I am pleased that we have been instrumental in helping to attract St. Luke's to The Woodlands and South Montgomery County. This new medical campus will provide families throughout the area with another outstanding facility to serve their health care needs, while allowing them access to the local physicians they've grown to know and rely upon."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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