Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center (TMC) recently opened the Susan & Fayez Sarofim Pavilion on its campus. The state-of-the-art, 17-story pavilion is the new home of the Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center one of only two adult Level I trauma centers in Houston; Memorial Hermann Life Flight®; the John. S. Dunn Burn Center, the only comprehensive burn center in Houston; and other critical care services in neuroscience and heart and vascular treatment.
“The Sarofim Pavilion enables Memorial Hermann to stay ahead of the fast-growing advances in medicine, keep pace with the extraordinary growth of the Greater Houston Metropolitan Region and, most importantly, meet the health needs of our community for years to come,” said David L. Callender, M.D., President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System.
The new critical care tower has more than 140 patient rooms; 24 operating rooms (ORs) including three custom-designed hybrid ORs; 900 new parking spaces; and a 335-seat café. The pavilion also includes a new 76,000-square foot Emergency Center, a 137 percent increase in size compared to the previous Emergency Center. Each patient floor features 36 to 38 patient rooms that are built and licensed to operate as intensive care unit beds. To accommodate families, each patient floor has dedicated lactation rooms and family lounges overlooking Hermann Park and the Houston Zoo. In total, the new pavilion adds 1.34 million square feet to the campus.
The pavilion also includes six shelled floors to provide for future growth.
“For nearly a century, Memorial Hermann-TMC has diligently served the community and remained a leader in the fields of medical technology, research and innovation,” said Greg Haralson, Senior Vice President and CEO of Memorial Hermann-TMC. “We believe this pavilion serves as a beacon of hope for the city of Houston and the surrounding communities that Memorial Hermann is committed to providing residents with the highest level and most advanced, quality critical care.”
Enhancing trauma and critical care capabilities
Staying ahead of the latest advances in medicine, the Sarofim Pavilion includes one of the few dedicated trauma hybrid operating rooms in the nation. This custom-designed operating room enables physicians to provide multi-disciplinary, patient-centered care in a timely fashion and allows for radiologic services, such as CAT scans and angiograms, to occur simultaneously as traditional open trauma surgical procedures on the entire body.
“This trauma hybrid OR is important for the region because it shows the commitment that the Red Duke Trauma Institute has to treating the leading cause of preventable death in this country,” said Michelle McNutt, M.D., Chief of Trauma at RDTI and associate professor of acute surgery at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “The hybrid OR, combined with the advanced capabilities of Life Flight and our scene-to-OR pathway, allows us to transport patients directly from the scene of injury to the hybrid OR. This will improve trauma care by decreasing time to bleeding control for injured Houstonians from across the region.”
As the new home to Life Flight, the John S. Dunn Heliport is 10,000 square feet larger than the previous helipad and can accommodate the weight of a Black Hawk helicopter.
“The Sarofim Pavilion gives the Life Flight program the ability to centralize our operations on one floor with our Command Center, education program and administrative offices now all in one location,” said Tom Flanagan, Vice President of the Trauma Service Line and System Integration. “This is important because it will provide us with the opportunity to increase team collaboration and propel our program into the future as we continue to build upon the legacy of our founder, Dr. James ‘Red’ Duke.”
In 2018, Susan and Fayez Sarofim made a $25 million gift in support of Memorial Hermann-TMC’s Breaking New Ground renovation and expansion project, which initially kicked off in 2015. In recognition of their overwhelming generosity – which was the largest single contribution Memorial Hermann had ever received – the tower was named after the couple.
“As the Houston community is growing by leaps and bounds, the need for access to quality health care increases exponentially,” said Susan Sarofim. “Memorial Hermann has stepped up to the plate to deliver a new facility with greatly increased patient capacity and state-of-the-art equipment. Fayez and I are so proud to support Memorial Hermann as the health system continues to deliver award-winning, innovative care to the Houston community.”