Methodist Outpatient Center

With my chronic health conditions and a terminal illness, I spend a lot of time at doctor’s offices. This one is by far one of the best to spend time in when you’re doing something you don’t really want to do.
I’m a Lung Center patient, and I go to the new outpatient center at least one every three months. The Lung Center itself just opened in the outpatient center and I was there on the very first day that my doctor was practicing there. It was amazing compared to the other facility and the other facility was really nice.
What makes the difference? Lots of things. First, they think not only of the patient, but also of guests who might be with the patient during a procedure or surgery. The chairs are comfortable. There is desk seating with pull out keyboard trays and room for laptops with surge plugs. And the best part is something so simple: phone recharging stations. I can’t count the number of times we’ve been at the hospital and the phone dies. Here, there are multiple charging stations with different plug sizes and such for just about every phone imaginable. They are rapid chargers too, so you won’t have to wait forever to be able to use the phone.
The view from the 18^th floor is pretty cool. I sat for half an hour one day watching construction on a building with one of the big cranes. It was pretty awesome.
I often schedule a whole day of appointments and testing at one time, so since we have to be there, might as well get it over with in one shot. There are plenty of things to keep you occupied in between appointments.
For example, there is art and sculptures to look at. There are a couple of cute gift shop type places. There is a jewelry store! There are a couple of little cafes with some decent (not five star, but good, solid food – plus fresh salad bar where you pay by the pound). There are soda machines and juice machines.
There is valet parking for free and they do not accept tips. It’s a little disorganized, and sometimes you have to wait a bit to get your car, but it’s better than driving around and around medical downtown looking for a parking garage that has space close by. Plus, I drive a big wheelchair van, so it’s hard fitting it in the garage sometimes. I do highly recommend the valet parking. The guys and gals who work there are super nice.
The seating is comfortable, like I said before, with a variety of different chairs. If you have a bigger booty, there are comfortable chairs for larger people and there are short and tall chairs and there are some places for kids to play as well.
There is a chapel and a meditation room. If you want a minister/​priest or one of the prayer volunteers to come sit with you, you only need to ask. The people who work the desks are almost all universally friendly. I’ve never had anyone treat me even coldly here – they’ve all been super wonderful.
And that trickles down to the doctors too… seriously, they LISTEN to me here. I was in tears one day telling a doctor how much it means to actually feel HEARD. There’s something about the training here, the overall feeling and tone, and it just runs through all the employees.
I’m impressed… I’m so glad I found them!

Great facility! Clean, spacious and ultra modern. As far as doctor’s offices go, it is one of the best I’ve ever seen. And, they have valet parking!

Such a clean and guest-​friendly facility. The rooms are super clean and have everything you need (including for family members). Staff is very friendly and docs are top notch too. Nice café inside that has everything under the sun, from salads to grille sandwiches to pizza. Cheap prices on the food as well! Huge waiting area for family members with plenty of chairs, tables & most importantly when I was there… power outlets for my laptop so I could get some work done and take my mind off my husband’s minor procedure. Great experience!

You will pay dearly for this lovely new center. My doctor sent me there for knee and hand x-​rays and the cost was about $ 1600. I thought I should shop around since I hadn’t met my deductible yet. I was told about Houston Imaging Center on Richmond so I went there. My hand x-​rays were $ 80.00 – YES. This is criminal. This is about 10% of what Methodist Outpatient imaging center was going to charge me. Houston Imaging is a stand alone building with easy parking and is owned by radiologists. I will only use them from now on, insurance or not!

Imagine me, the type A, mother hen personality type that I totally admit to being, watching my beautiful 18 year old daughter being wheeled away into surgery. Yes, it’s an outpatient surgery… but I’m sso ‘old school’ that I still take issue with the total concept of any surgery being outpatient. But as usual, I digress.
The Methodist Bone and Joint Center on the 19^th Floor is tastefully appointed. The inital waiting room is large with plenty of seating areas. Checkin is definitely hi-​tech as everything iss done, including payment at the computer kiosk. The staff is very warm and friendly. Everyone greets you with a smile.
My daughter was taken to a pre-​op room to prepare. Our surgoen, also worthy of many stellar reviews, came in and greeted us, and reviewed his surgical plans. Everyone was kind, gentle and professional.
I sat in the waiting area listening to bits and pieces of convesations. Each family received the best of care.
My highest recommendations and thanks goes to the Methodist Bone and Joint Center.

So my first thought when I was choosing a seating nook was: should I have ordered at the cashier’s or will a waitress be around to take my order? It was 8 AM, so I was thinking that a Bloody Mary would have been a no-​brainer. The waiting area totally reminded me of a pretty posh hotel bar at the Hilton or Omni. You know, hotels make the most of space, so some of the bars may be a bit open, in the middle of the lobby. Totally got that vibe here. Walk around, or «wait for your drinks» in the waiting rooms, and you’ll see what I mean. Posh slipper chairs, end tables, lamps. Lots of neutral, yet trendy colors; lots of right angles. The back support was actually quite wonderful.
This is THE outpatient clinic to be sent for whatever unfortunate test or procedure you may have to endure. Everyone on staff was courteous. The place was spotless, the offices and the waiting rooms. Don’t you hate it when you can definitely tell someone has been sitting in your seat? Makes you want to go look for a towel to drape first. Nothing doing here. Granted, the building is just a year old, but it only looks about a week old.
After an hour and a half long nap on an uncomfortable table, gazillions of pictures being taken, I needed to stretch my back. I had two hours to kill before I went back for the Paparazzi Exclusive — Part Deux, so I went on the quest for a place to seriously stretch my back. We’re talking yoga and on the floor. That’s when I found the meditation room/​chapel. After about fifteen minutes of back stretches, I was golden. (Thank goodness no one disturbed me!) It was so quiet, I decided to catch up on some light reading.
I walked around to check out the other buildings in the Methodist complex (bunch of Jesus freaks!), and other than a Meditation Garden in the building next to Smith and Alkek Tower, the place was pretty worn down. I barely made it into Methodist Hospital before being turned away by the Jesus statues and decided to just pop back to the «hotel.» I sat in the piano bar. No one brought me a Bloody Mary; no one was playing the actual piano. (Hey, at least I didn’t have to tip!)
With still an hour to kill and feeling a bit like an ice cube, I braved the heat and walked across Main to wander on the Rice jogging trail for a full five minutes.
Part Deux went quickly, and when I got up from the table, I was glad to leave the «hotel.» It had been thirteen hours since I’d eaten anything but a green egg, so I was in desperate need of sustenance. I wandered through the cafeteria, and decided to forgo their fried goods. Yes, even the in house made potato chips. And their salads. And their desserts. I know, for someone who hadn’t eaten in forever, I sure was picky.