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Saturday, May 9, 2015 • Vol. 60 • No. 27
Select Speciality Hospital to close doors
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By Jonathan McElvy jonathan@theleadernews.com
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Select Specialty Hospital, which takes up a majority of the floors at the old Heights Hospital between 19th and 20th Streets, has informed employees that it will close. According to a source who asked not to be identified, the hospital has told staff and doctors that they will no longer accept new patients. A call to Teresa Davis, CEO of the Heights location, was not returned before press time Wednesday morning. Select, which shares the building with St. Joseph Medical Center in the Heights, is a hospital that offers “specialized care for patients with acute or chronic respiratory disorders,” accord-
ing to the company. “[Our] primary focus is to wean medically complex patients from mechanical ventilation and restore independent breathing.” Select is part of a national group of hospitals, with more than 100 facilities in 43 states. In a 2012 interview with The Leader, Davis said the hospital was most proud of its 10-bed ICU. She said doctors at the hospital “would tell you it’s the best in town.” In August 2013, Select Specialty Hospital Houston Heights was named a Hospital of Excellence. According to the Harris County Appraisal District, the hospital is owned by Select Houston Partners LP out of Kirkland, Wash. The building’s market value is $14.9 million.
Photo by Christina Martinez Officials confirmed Select Specialty Hospital in the Heights will be shutting its doors.
When contacted Wednesday morning, Jeff Bielik, administrative director for St. Joseph’s Heights campus, said any potential closing of Select would
A different kind of Mother’s Day For Sale
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Heights Theater to be sold for nearly $2 million
How a Harvard Elementary crossing guard rediscovered his family a continent away
INSIDE.
By Kim Hogstrom For The Leader
By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
Mother’s Day Celebrate Mother’s Day in this week’s issue of The Leader by joining us as we talk to our own readers throughout the area about their special relationships with their mothers and reflect on how their special lady had an impact on their lives.
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Healthy Eating One local personal chef is carving out her own niche in the field. Karuna Diedericks is harnessing the power of healthy cuisine unlong with an unusual pairing connected to Indian medicine. Read more in this month’s edition of Our Health.
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not impact St. Joseph Medical Center. “We have a long-term lease, and we don’t plan on going anywhere,” he said.
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Ahead of the upcoming Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, many people have parents who are a phone call or a car ride away. For one energetic crossing guard at Harvard Elementary, his story is far more complex and his journey to reconnect with his mother and father spanned nearly 30 years across two continents and a civil war. Fetene Yezengaw, an Ethiopian native, has been in the US for a decade. Yezengaw has been working for nearly 10 years as a crossing guard with Harvard Elementary in the Heights and he greets children and adults alike with the same cheerful disposition. “I am so blessed,” Yezengaw says over and over to each person who passes by. Listening to his story and how he reconnected with his family overseas, it’s hard not to believe him. “I left my parents when I was 15 years old,” Yezengaw said. “My parents were poor and by the time I was old enough I started raising and working for myself.” Yezengaw said he left his parents as a teenager after being recruited to fight in the Ethiopian Civil War, and during his time as a child soldier he lost one of his legs by the time he was 17 years old. After the government fell, Yezengaw became a refugee and
On the last day of April, the iconic Heights Theater on 19th Street was listed for sale on HAR.com for $1.9 million. At press time there have been multiple offers, however, no purchase has been made yet on the historic property. “Yes, we’ve seen a flurry of activity around the theater, almost nonstop interest,” Real estate listing agent Star Massing said. “It’s amazing. We have spoken with people interested in it as event space, theater space, several churches, even a restaurant space, although parking may be a problem. We are fortunate that Gus and Sharon are being very particular about who will buy it.” Massing is referring to Gus Koprivas and his wife Sharon who purchased the property in 1988 for less then $50,000, See Theater, P. 9A
Photo by Jonathan Garris Fetene Yezengaw shares a high five with many passersby outside of Harvard Elementary where he has been working as a crossing guard for years. Yezengaw shares his sunny disposition with neighbors young and old and his story is one of adversity and finding love, particularly for his parents.
spent 12 years in neighboring countries like Kenya and Uganda and eventually made his way to Houston. “I had no contact or anything with my parents during that time,” Yezengaw said. It wasn’t until 2011 that Yezengaw was able to see his parents again. His mother in particular was elated, but the reunion was bittersweet. “She is getting older and life was very hard for her,” Yezengaw said. “Even though I am so delighted
and excited to see my mother and father, it’s kind of sad things have gone from bad to worse in some ways.” Still, Yezengaw thanked God for meeting his parents again and, although they did not raise him through his childhood due to their poverty, he believes his prayers were answered. “Even though I had shaky faith, now I have it stronger than before,” Yezengaw said. “Sometimes when you have a life where you’re struggling you start
to have doubts if God is there or if he is really seeing me but I now know he is always watching me.” Yezengaw said he told his mother and father not to cry, and, despite a few tears he admits, his mother respected the wish. His parents were separated and his father went on to remarry and have more children, who were not familiar with Yezengaw “I asked why he didn’t tell them about me, but he See Crossing, P. 9A
$5 million project continues to redefine White Oak Bayou By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com It’s a good time to be a bike enthusiast and bayou lover in Houston. While the new hike and bike bridge – the former MKT Railroad Bridge – between Shepherd Drive and Moy Street has been operational for a while, the official “Bridge Bash” and dedication ceremony was held May 2. Part of Bayou Greenways 2020, which will create a continuous park system along Houston’s major waterways, and put 60 percent of all Houstonians within 1.5 miles of the bayou greenway, the newest trail segment connects the White Oak Bayou trails to the Heights trail. Funding for the bridge and the connecting trails came from the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority and TIRZ 5 (Memorial Heights Reinvestment Zone). Additional contributors to the White Oak Bayou Greenway include the Brown Foundation, Wortham Foundation, See Bayou, P. 3A
Photo by Jonathan Garris A young girl gets her face painted during the Bridge Bash on May 2, which celebrated the completion of the MKT Railroad Bridge between Shepherd Drive and Moy Street.
Traci Watts Realtor
Contributed Photo The iconic Heights Theater may not be on the market long and is currently listed for sale at nearly $2 million.
Woodland Heights residents concerned for TxDOT’s I-45 improvements By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com Residents living in communities like Woodlands Heights and Germantown are concerned about how their communities might change under a proposed Interstate 45 improvement project. The public comment period for the North Houston Highway Improvement project, which would impact residents in the Woodlands Heights and Germantown communities, has been extended to May 31 according to Texas Department of Transportation officials. A public meeting at Jefferson Davis High School April 30 attracted surrounding residents, as TxDOT continues its preliminary engineering phase of the project. According to officials, the project aims to create additional roadway capacity to “manage congestion, enhance
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