“The Woodlands overall has had such tremendous growth in terms of families moving in and industry, and so as Memorial Hermann GoHealth Urgent Care, we really pride ourselves on being where patients live their lives,”  Memorial Hermann-GoHealth Urgent Care medical director Dr. Betsy Koickel said. “This is where communities are choosing to live their lives, raise their families, and go to work, so we want to provide an access to care where that community is.”

On YourConroeNews: New development to bring retail, business center to FM 1488 in Magnolia area

The new family location will be able to care for infants as young as one week old as well as children and adults, treating non-life threatening conditions and providing X-ray services and COVID testing, among other services.

As a more affordable option than emergency centers and more convenient alternative to primary cares, urgent cares can bridge the gap between the two, Koickel said.

“We sort of play as a catch-all for in between a primary care and emergency room,” Koickel said. “We’re open after hours from most primary cares and we’re open on the weekends and holidays. So we serve as a safe place to get care that you don’t necessarily need to go to the emergency room for.”

The health system’s new urgent care facility will be open seven days a week in The Woodlands Crossing Shopping Center on 10868 Kuykendahl Road.

Providers will be available to care for patients age 6 months and older from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Pediatric specialists will also be onsite to care for patients from one week old to 18 years old from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sunday. 

The new center is one of many new and planned facilities in the Greater Houston area with GoHealth, which operates urgent cares in 14 states. Memorial Hermann and GoHealth recently opened urgent care facilities in The Heights, Tanglewood, Royal Oaks, Kingwood and Willis, with two new facilities planned in River Oaks and Magnolia Place.

The Memorial Hermann Medical Group also moved its primary care facility in The Woodlands to a new location in Shenandoah. The primary care and endocrinology center opened its doors at 1890 Research Forest Drive Wednesday.

Located on 3.6 acres, the 20,000-square-foot, build-to-suit clinic provides in-person and virtual office visits for primary care, endocrinology, and sports medicine and lab services. The primary care is leased by Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, which is located less than a mile away.

On YourConroeNews: New ice cream and waffle shops coming to two area locations

The new primary care is tucked within a few miles of The Woodlands’ biggest health care centers, including the Memorial Hermann hospital, CHI St. Luke’s Health The Woodlands Hospital, Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands and MD Anderson The Woodlands.

“The capabilities of our health care has reached a point where our residents no longer have to drive to the (Texas) Medical Center in Houston for virtually any reason, and that was all part of the plan,” Howard Hughes’ Houston Region president Jim Carman said.

With the new facility, the primary care will be able to serve twice as many patients, Memorial Hermann vice president of physician practice operations Rachelle Guerra said at the groundbreaking ceremony in 2022.

“Memorial Hermann Primary Care Clinic will complement the extensive medical offerings in The Woodlands area and meet the growing needs of our residents, tenants and customers for world-class health care,” Carman said at the ceremony.  

The clinic will be open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Friday.

claire.partain@houstonchronicle.com