North Cypress Medical Center was founded by local physicians who wanted to create a sophisticated, upscale, patient-friendly healthcare environment for the Houston community.

Tom Schultz, Director of Asset Management for Medical Properties Trust, describes the facility's founder, chairman and CEO, Dr. Robert Behar, as "a true visionary" who has executed every step of his vision with the help of a good operator - Surgical Development Partners - and a strong vice chairman, Dr. Jimmy Lee.  "Together they organized a tremendous physician syndication, and the doctors have lived up to their expectations," Schultz said.

Opened in January 2007, North Cypress looks more like a five-star hotel than a healthcare facility, with fountains and valet parking at virtually every door.  That's all by design, all driven by Dr. Behar's vision of making patients as comfortable as possible from the moment they enter the beautifully landscaped grounds.

It's a vision he turned into reality thanks to Medical Properties Trust's investment of $64 million in 2005.

Almost as soon as it was completed, North Cypress began expanding. The hospital's fourth floor - originally scheduled for build-out in year four - was finished in only six months, followed immediately with plans for adding fifth and sixth floors, as well as a second professional office building and a parking deck. Why so fast?

"To meet the demands of our rapidly growing community," answered Dr. Behar.

In its first 15 months of operation, North Cypress scored high marks in patient satisfaction surveys, with 97 percent saying they were satisfied or very satisfied with the care they received - 12 percentage points ahead of the competition.

"What we do for a living is take care of patients. Every single thing is focused on that. We also take care of the people who work here," Dr. Behar added, noting the work force has grown from 200 to more than 1,200.  "When you include families, we provide full benefits to more than 3,000 people."