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Here's a look at seven recent updates at health care facilities in the Conroe area, including new buildings, programs and grants awarded by area hospital systems. This information is not comprehensive and was shared by officials from each respective hospital.

HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe
The hospital is renovating its cardiac catheterization laboratory, a specialized hospital department where doctors perform minimally invasive tests and procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases. In addition, HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe has a new chief medical officer in Dr. Renee Hebbeler-Clark and a new chief financial officer in AJ Milanak, and the hospital was recertified as a comprehensive stroke center by DNV.

• 504 Medical Center Blvd., Conroe

• 1500 Grand Lake Drive, Conroe

Nothing Bundt Cakes opened its North Woodlands location on Hwy. 242 on June 14, a store associate said.

What you need to know: The store sells a variety of bundt cakes with flavors such as lemon, red velvet, chocolate chocolate chip, confetti and more. Its latest limited time flavor is peach cobbler cake, which is a peach cobbler bundt cake with cream cheese frosting.

• Opened June 14
• 10463 Hwy. 242, Ste. 221, Conroe

On June 27, a series of public meetings will be held regarding the Montgomery County Mobility Plan, according to its website.

The gist: Montgomery County and the Houston-Galveston Area Council are developing the countywide transportation plan, which is estimated to take around 18 months, per its website. The final plan will include a workbook for each precinct that will include recommendations and funding insights.

Get involved: There will be six pop-up events June 27 for residents to attend—three in the morning and three in the afternoon.

• 10-11:30 a.m.
  • C.K. Ray Recreation Center, 1203 Candy Cane Lane, Conroe
  • Kevin Brady Library and Community Center, 2250 Buckthorne Place, The Woodlands
  • AV Bull Sallas Park, 21675 McCleskey Road, New Caney
• 2-3:30 p.m.
  • Charles B. Stewart Library, 202 Bessie Price Owen Drive, Montgomery
  • The Woodlands Mall, 1201 Lake Woodlands Drive, Ste. 700, The Woodlands
  • RB Tullis Library, 21569 Hwy. 59, New Caney

Based on results from the Spring 2026 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, Conroe ISD outperformed statewide testing for the second year in a row, according to the June 10 results, while test scores within the district itself are lower in comparison to last year.

What’s changed: CISD was able to outperform the state in all categories for this year's STAAR tests, including end-of-course, or EOC, exams.

• The highest passage rate for CISD was in the Biology EOC at 95% compared to the state’s 93%.
• The lowest passage rate for CISD was in seventh-grade math at 51%, compared to the state’s 48%.

Texas education officials gave preliminary approval June 23 to the state’s first mandatory reading list, which includes nearly 200 literary works that public school students would begin reading as soon as 2030.

The overview: The proposed list incorporates about a dozen stories from the Bible, including the tale of David and Goliath in second grade and direct biblical excerpts beginning in fourth grade. In total, students would be required to read more than two dozen texts in early elementary grades and about 10 literary works per year from sixth grade through high school.

What's happening: Members of the Republican-led State Board of Education voted 9-5 to cut several titles from the reading list June 23, following nearly eight hours of public testimony a day earlier.

More than half of those who testified June 22 asked the board to shorten the list, include more diverse authors and remove religious references. Others praised the SBOE for creating a list that they said would teach students about “American exceptionalism” and prioritize classical literature.