HTX-PLF: Impact 9/23/2025

Friendswood Hospital, Friendswood’s first ‘micro-hospital’, has officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 22.

What you need to know: The hospital has a 24/7 emergency room, pediatric emergency care, sports injury emergency care, full-service radiology and lab services, according to the hospital’s website. 

The backstory: Though Friendswood has existing smaller-scale medical facilities, including urgent care and emergency rooms, there were formerly no hospitals in the city, according to previous reporting.

Quote of note: “We are so blessed in Friendswood that we can have a hospital here that we can call our own hospital,” said Mayor Mike Foreman, who also attended the event.

📍 3201 FM 528, Friendswood

Gyro Republic is in its soft opening phase in Pearland, an employee with the business said.

What they offer: Diners can customize rice bowls, salads, pita sandwiches, loaded fries or "gyritos"—gyro burritos—with proteins such as chicken or falafel, as well as vegetable toppings and sauces, according to the restaurant's website.

What else: The location is slated to host a grand opening on Oct. 4, the employee said.

📍 10501 Pearland Parkway, Ste. D, Pearland

Salad and Go has closed all of its Houston locations and will continue to operate stores in the Dallas area, according to an email from a officials with the salad chain.

Quote of note: “We're deeply grateful for our team's contributions and commitment to serving our guests. They've played an impactful role in building Salad and Go, and we're working to provide support to those affected by the closures as we move through this transition,” Salad and Go CEO Mike Tattersfield said.

The details: According to the website, Salad and Go is a drive-thru fast food chain offering affordable salads and wraps. Per the email release, the closures will allow Salad and Go to focus on strengthening the brand while improving quality.

More than 145 flood mitigation projects in high-flood-risk areas across Harris County will advance with secured local, state and federal funding partnerships after the unanimous approval from Harris County Commissioners as part of a restructured proposal built upon the work completed from the 2018 flood bond. 

Explained: At the Sept. 18 court meeting, Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Christina Petersen addressed commissioners on the updates and debuted the new 2018 flood bond dashboard—a public website where users can find flood project schedules, funding sources, completion dates, prioritization scores, locations and lifecycles for all projects that will be updated quarterly, according to Petersen.

What residents should know: Rising costs, inflation and pandemic construction issues were factors that flood district officials said have challenged how they’re moving forward with certain projects and closing others. The following number of 2018 bond-related IDs or packages have been decided in the following categories, according to HCFCD:

• Active: 75 
• Paused: 26 await future funding
• Closed: 15 determined not feasible