UTHealth Houston celebrated alongside its hospital partner as Harris Health System broke ground for a new $1.6 billion hospital on the Lyndon B. Johnson campus in Northeast Harris County, aimed at enhancing health care in one of the county’s most vulnerable communities.
The groundbreaking event, held Thursday, May 9, marked the commencement of construction on a new 12-story, Level I trauma-capable facility on the current campus of Harris Health LBJ Hospital. The hospital will feature 390 private patient rooms, with the potential to expand to 450.
“Since 1990, the beginning of UTHealth Houston’s affiliation with Harris Health, literally thousands of our physicians, residents, and fellows have provided excellent health care to our shared patients in Northeast Houston,” said Kevin Dillon, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer at UTHealth Houston. “Harris Health and UTHealth Houston share a commitment not only to improve patient outcomes but also to address the social determinants of health. We join the entire Houston community in our enthusiastic support for this upcoming expansion of the LBJ campus, and we look forward to providing more new services in the coming years.”
Operated by Harris Health System, the facility will become the third adult Level I trauma hospital in Harris County — and the first outside of the Texas Medical Center.
“To say that today is a pivotal moment in the history of Harris Health System, and in reality for the entire Harris County, is a dramatic understatement,” said Esmaeil Porsa, MD, MBA, MPH, president and chief executive officer of Harris Health System. “Today is the start of promises that were made by Harris Health System — to our community, to our patients, to our employees and medical staff.” Porsa completed his internship and residency training in internal medicine at what is now called McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and received a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.
“You all are a beacon of light to the community, to those who are most in need and have nowhere else to go,” said Tien Ko, MD., professor of surgery at UTHealth Houston and chief of staff for the hospital.
Harris Health System was founded in 1966 as a safety net hospital system to provide care to residents who would otherwise lack access. “Whether they have gallbladder disease fractures or strokes patients just come to us because we are it. We are it in this whole area,” Ko added.
The project is funded by a $2.5 billion bond referendum approved by voters in November 2023. Additionally plans include raising $100 million through philanthropic support and $300 million from operational savings as part of a broader $2.9 billion strategic capital improvement plan.
Beyond constructing this new facility bond funds will ensure continued service for those most in need by adding new community-based clinics in high-need areas improving existing facilities such as Ben Taub Hospital.
The American College of Surgeons recommends one high-level trauma center per million people making this proposed center crucial given that two adult Level I trauma centers currently serve almost 4.8 million residents. With rapid growth projections estimating over six million residents including more than 1.5 million uninsured by 2050 this addition becomes increasingly vital.
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