St. Luke’s Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for
New Patient Care Tower II

Anticipating the healthcare needs of the growing local population, St. Luke’s expands with additional beds & state-of-the-art advances

The Woodlands, TX –  Marking their expansion, St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital recently hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the official opening of the new Patient Care Tower II on the hospital campus at 17200 St. Luke’s Way.

St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital recently hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the official opening of the new Patient Care Tower II. Pictured from left are: U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands; David J. Fine, President and CEO of St. Luke's Episcopal Health System; The Right Reverend Don A. Wimberley, The Reverend Randall W. Trego, and Debbie F. Sukin, CEO of St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital.

Adding 59 beds, the 4-floor new tower will add 82,000 square feet for additional medical, surgical and intensive care medical services.  The expansion brings St. Luke’s capacity to a total of 144 beds with over 266,000 square feet. 

Two of the patient rooms in the new tower innovatively offer guest suites with hotel-level amenities to accommodate extra visitors while maintaining patient privacy.  Furthermore, the new tower has the ability to add two more floors on the top to ultimately bring the hospital to a total capacity of 250 beds.

“Our new tower is the culmination of hard work and five years of unprecedented growth,” said Debbie F. Sukin, CEO of St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital.  “We are continuously anticipating the future needs of our community and planning accordingly to stay one step ahead.  We know what we need today, and we have the foresight to plan for the future to respond to the demands of our growing population.  This new tower continues the legacy of delivering superior patient care as a state-of-the-art facility and underscores our commitment to quality health care.”

The new tower is completely wireless and features telemetry capability for every bed, which allows health care providers to monitor record and evaluate heart activity of patients.

Among the community leaders, elected officials and representatives of St. Luke’s were U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands; David J. Fine - President and CEO – St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System, Michael H. Richmond – Chair of St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital Board, The Reverend Randall W. Trego, and The Right Reverend Don A. Wimberley.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands added, “As our population continues to grow and age, quality healthcare is more important than ever before.  St. Luke’s expansion here represents progress and growth in our area.  Their investment in our county’s healthcare needs is not only evident by the bricks and mortar, it is demonstrated by the professionals that provide care within it.  St. Luke’s leadership is remarkable.”

The new tower was designed by HGA – Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, who designed the original hospital tower, and was constructed by W. S. Bellows Construction Corporation.

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St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System Corporation (www.stlukestexas.com) is composed of St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital; St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, a charity devoted to assessing and enhancing community health, especially among the underserved; KS Management Services, LLC, overseeing 18 area clinic locations; St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System Foundation; St. Luke’s Episcopal Properties Corporation; SLEHS Holdings, Inc.; and, St. Luke’s Community Development Corporation. St. Luke’s Sugar Land Hospital is under construction, scheduled to open in 2008, and St. Luke’s Clear Lake Hospital is scheduled to open in 2010. Plans are underway for St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital in The Woodlands. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is home to the Texas Heart^® Institute, which was founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD, and is consistently ranked among the top 10 cardiology and heart surgery centers in the nation by U.S.News & World Report. Affiliated with several nursing schools and two medical schools, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital was the first hospital in Texas named a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, and twice has been honored with the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ by HealthGrades, a leading independent company that measures healthcare quality in hospitals. The Health System has been recognized by FORTUNE as among the “100 Best Companies to Work For” and by the Houston Business Journal as a top employer in Houston.