Innovative brain injury rehabilitation center breaks ground in Southeast Houston

The Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute is expected to be finished in 2023. Image courtesy of Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute

The Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute broke ground July 14 on a 64,000-square-foot research and rehabilitation center at Nassau Bay's Space Park, near NASA's Johnson Space Center.

The Nassau Bay City Council granted a permit last year for the project, which will provide room for up to 40 residential patients and space for outpatient services. About 150 people will work at the facility, which is scheduled to open in early 2023.

Aside from private inpatient rooms, the new center will feature a therapy gym, an outdoor therapy courtyard, and family apartments. The facility's "urban house" design will highlight natural colors and textures in an effort to stimulate patients' senses during the recovery process.

The new facility will 40 resident patients, as well as provide outpatient care. Image courtesy of Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute

Among the 40 or so people who attended the groundbreaking ceremony were representatives of Moody Neuro, Houston-based architecture firm Kirksey Architecture, Galveston-based general contractor JW Kelso Construction, and Dallas-based project manager Pritchard Associates.

The Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute treats people who've suffered brain injuries. The nonprofit operates a rehabilitation center in Galveston and another Lubbock, as well as a long-term care facility in each of the two cities. In fiscal 2019, the organization reported nearly $27.8 million in revenue and more than $15.1 million in expenses.

The facility broke ground this week. Photo courtesy of Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute

Philanthropist Robert Moody Sr., chairman emeritus of Galveston-based Moody National Bank, founded what now is Moody Neuro in 1982 after his son Russell sustained serious injuries in a car crash that caused a traumatic brain injury.

"By helping our patients minimize their disability while facilitating their recovery, we provide each individual with the ability to re-enter the community feeling healthier, more confident, and with tools to enjoy an improved quality of life," says Dr. Ana Durand, medical director of Moody Neuro Galveston.

The Brain Injury Association of America says more than 144,000 Texans sustain a traumatic brain injury each year, with more than 5,700 of them become permanently disabled. Roughly 381,000 Texans are living with a disability connected to traumatic brain injury.

The 64,000-square-foot campus is unlike any other. Photo courtesy of Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute

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Baylor College of Medicine's Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower is set to open in 2026. Rendering courtesy of BCM

Baylor College of Medicine has collected $100 million toward its $150 million fundraising goal for the college’s planned Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower.

The $100 million in gifts include:

  • A total of $30 million from The Cullen Foundation, The Cullen Trust for Health Care, and The Cullen Trust for Higher Education.
  • $12 million from the DeBakey Medical Foundation
  • $10 million from the Huffington Foundation
  • More than $45 million from members of Baylor’s Board of Trustees and other community donors, including the M.D. Anderson Foundation, the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation, and The Elkins Foundation.

“The Cullen Trust for Health Care is very honored to support this building along with The Cullen Foundation and The Cullen Trust for Higher Education,” Cullen Geiselman Muse, chair of The Cullen Trust for Health Care, says in a news release. “We cannot wait to see what new beginnings will come from inside the Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower.”

The Baylor campus is next to Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park, a 37-acre project. Rendering courtesy of BCM

The Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower is set to open in 2026. The 503,000-square-foot tower is the first phase of Baylor’s planned Health Sciences Park, an 800,000-square-foot project that will feature medical education and research adjacent to patient care at Baylor Medicine and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center on the McNair Campus.

The Baylor campus is next to Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park, a 37-acre project that will support healthcare, life sciences, and business ventures. Baylor is the anchor tenant in the first building being constructed at Helix Park.

“To really change the future of health, we need a space that facilitates the future,” says Dr. Paul Klotman, president, CEO, and executive dean of Baylor. “We need to have a great building to recruit great talent. Having a place where our clinical programs are located, where our data scientists are, next to a biotech development center, and having our medical students all integrated into that environment will allow them to be ready in the future for where healthcare is going.”

In the 1940s, Lillie and Roy Cullen and the M.D. Anderson Foundation were instrumental in establishing the Texas Medical Center, which is now the world’s largest medical complex.

“Baylor is the place it is today because of philanthropy,” Klotman says. “The Cullen family, the M.D. Anderson Foundation, and the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation have been some of Baylor’s most devoted champions, which has enabled Baylor to mold generations of exceptional health sciences professionals. It is fitting that history is repeating itself with support for this state-of-the-art education building.”

The Cullen Foundation donated $30 million to the project. Rendering courtesy of BCM

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