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One former Mercy Emergency Room employee said she still has not been paid for one month of work, so KHOU 11 went to the experts to ask for solutions.

SUGAR LAND, Texas — Employees of Mercy Emergency Room in Sugar Land were surprised to learn last week that the owning physician’s medical license was suspended.

The Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended Dr. Bamidele Adeyemo’s medical license on April 17.

Board documents revealed that Adeyemo “is suffering from an unmanaged health condition that impairs his ability to safely practice medicine. Respondent is currently engaged in the practice of medicine without any oversight or monitoring.” The Board found that if Adeyemo continued to practice as a physician, he “would constitute a continuing threat to the public welfare.”

Christina Martinez, who worked the front desk at Mercy Emergency Room, said she found out about the situation a few days after the license was suspended. She said that was when she put the closed sign on the door.

“I was in disbelief. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that we were working like that, and that he would let us work like that,” Martinez said.

KHOU 11 asked what the Texas Medical Board could be referring to when mentioning Adeyemo’s “unmanaged health condition.”

“I never noticed anything like physically wrong with him,” Martinez said. “But we did notice a little bit, like maybe he was just absent from being here. He would kind of hide and go into his room a little bit.”

Martinez also said that she and other employees did not receive their Friday, April 25, paychecks on time. KHOU 11 called a phone number listed for Adeyemo – and three days after KHOU 11 started asking questions, Martinez said she and other workers got paid on Monday.

However, former marketing employee Brandi Fitzgerald said she still has not been paid. She said she worked at Mercy Emergency Room during the month of March but left because she didn’t receive any payment.

“There were two pay periods that I was not paid for my work here,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said it was an unfortunate situation, given she has known Adeyemo for about five years.

“It’s gut-wrenching somebody that you had so much respect for is capable of doing something like that. We even called each other family there for a long period of time,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald also said she could not get ahold of Adeyemo.

KHOU 11 tried calling Adeyemo’s listed phone number again Monday, both in regard to the license suspension and Fitzgerald’s accusation of not being paid. However, no one picked up the phone and the call was sent to voicemail.

KHOU 11 spoke to Tom Padgett, a Houston wage theft lawyer with the Buenker Law Firm, to get solutions for Fitzgerald – and other employees who may be struggling to receive the payments due to them.

Padgett said the first course of action for an employee to take if they have not been paid is to try and connect with the employer. However, such as in Fitzgerald’s case, employers are sometimes difficult to reach.

“If they’re going to ghost you or stonewall you, then you’ve got to take matters into your own hands,” Padgett said.

Padgett said there are a couple things an employee in Texas can do if they have not been paid the wages owed to them.

“One is to sue them in state court for a breach of contract,” Padgett said. “The other option they have that’s generally a pretty good one, is to go to the Texas Workforce Commission and make a complaint with that organization. They generally handle situations where somebody’s not getting paid, maybe a month, maybe a couple of weeks, or something like that, and if you go through the process with the Texas Workforce Commission, frequently they can get you the money.”

Padgett said the easiest way to file a claim is to go to the Texas Workforce Commission website, and then that will kickstart the process.

“Generally, you’ll be contacted by an investigator who will then take more detail on the complaint, and then they’ll process it. They’ll reach out to the employer, find out if the employer is interested in maybe resolving the matter quickly, and if not, then, they’ll go through a fact-finding process and make a determination, which they can then enforce,” Padgett said.

Another big concern for patients is not having access to their health records or knowing where they may end up if their physician’s office closes permanently.

According to the Texas Medical Board, you should put your medical records request in writing and send it to the physician’s address listed on the physician’s profile on the Texas Medical Board website. But you can also contact the Texas Medical Board if you have issues getting in touch with your physician.

The American Medical Association also has a list of helpful steps you can take.

The list is from Livability, which looked at small to mid-size cities on factors like economy, education, affordability and more.

SUGAR LAND, Texas — Do you live in Sugar Land? If so, you can now boast that you're a resident of the third best city in which to live in the U.S. in 2025. That’s according to Livability, which put the list together.

To come up with the list, Livability looked at a variety of factors but was focusing on small to mid-size cities. Their population range was between 75,000 and 500,000.

So why only cities in that population range?

“To us, that’s the sweet spot in size for getting plugged in, finding your people and feeling at home fast,” according to the authors of the rankings.

They looked at things like affordability. The city must have a median home value of $500,000 or less. They took into account amenities -- things like parks, restaurants, entertainment and culture. And there’s the local economy, including job opportunities and income levels. There were also transportation, healthcare, and education factors.

You can read more about their methodology here.

Sugar Land had a score of 854 out of 1,000, which landed it the No. 3 spot. That's based on Livability’s “LivScore,” which takes all of the factors into account.

According to Livability, Sugar Land offers, “a blend of Southern charm and big-city convenience. From top-rated schools to a delicious dining scene, Sugar Land offers the ideal balance of comfort and conveniences.”

Livability noted the low cost of living and affluence in Sugar Land, with a business-friendly environment and medical care. You can read more about what Livability liked about Sugar Land here.

While Sugar Land was No. 3, it wasn’t the top Texas city on the list.

Here are the top 10, according to Livability.

While the above rankings are for the “LivScore,” their report was interactive, so you can sort by the different factors. When you do that, Sugar Land comes in at No. 4 in economy, No. 4 in education, No. 2 in health and No. 2 in cost of living/housing.

Carlos Santana has called off another concert after collapsing during a Tuesday soundcheck in San Antonio. Manager Michael Vrionis confirmed the cancellation of tonight's show at Smart Financial Center in Sugar Land, Texas, but told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Santana planned to resume his 2025 tour.

Local fire officials said the 77-year-old was hospitalized with "a non-life-threatening condition" before a scheduled Santana concert at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio. Vrionis later announced that Santana had been suffering from dehydration.

"It is with profound disappointment that I have to inform you all that tonight's show in San Antonio has been postponed," Vrionis said in an official statement on Tuesday. "Mr. Santana was at the venue preparing for tonight's show when he experienced an event that was determined to be dehydration. Out of an abundance of caution and the health of Mr. Santana, the decision to postpone the show was the most prudent course of action. He is doing well and is looking forward to coming back to San Antonio soon as well as continuing his U.S. Tour."

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Santana is "feeling much better" after a short stay in a San Antonio hospital, according to the Mercury News. His next scheduled stop is Friday at Lucas Oil Live at WinStar in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

They're touring behind a new retrospective album titled Sentient, which arrived in March with older material and three previously unreleased songs. Collaborators included Smokey Robinson, the late Miles Davis, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, and Michael Jackson. Santana's most recent album of all new songs dates back to 2021's Blessings and Miracles.

This isn't the first time Santana has suffered a scary bout of dehydration. A July 2022 concert in Detroit was abruptly cut short after he collapsed. Santana postponed several shows before returning to the road. Santana also delayed the start of a new residency in Las Vegas after suffering a fall at home.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center broke ground March 31 in Sugar Land on what will be the hospital system's largest Houston-area facility outside of the Texas Medical Center.

In a nutshell

The five-story facility will span 470,000 square feet and offer a range of cancer services to the southwest Houston community. Located near the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on 17547 Southwest Freeway, the facility is anticipated to open in 2029, according to a March 31 news release from the hospital system.

The University of Texas owns about 40 acres around the Smart Financial Centre, according to the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District.

The details

The new location will replace MD Anderson's leased space at 1327 Lake Pointe Parkway, on the campus of St. Luke’s Health-Sugar Land Hospital. Officials with the hospital system chose Sugar Land to accommodate the area's fast-growing population—which is expected to increase over 30% by 2030, per the release.

“By expanding our reach in Sugar Land, we can better meet the needs of patients in Southwest Houston, making it easier for them to access the treatment and support they deserve, right in their own community," MD Anderson President Peter WT Pisters said in a statement.

Diving in deeper

Per the release, the facility will broaden the services available at MD Anderson's current Sugar Land location to include:

The new location will also include space for multidisciplinary clinics, which will provide comprehensive cancer care for adult patients with cancer diagnoses and low-to-medium acuity needs, according to the release.

"This not only will help make our care more convenient for local patients, especially those undergoing frequent treatments like chemotherapy or radiation, but it also will help increase access to care outside of our Texas Medical Center campus, potentially decreasing wait times for both local and regional patients," Rosanna Morris, MD Anderson's senior vice president and chief operating officer, said in the release.

What else?

MD Anderson has six locations outside of Texas Medical Center, including the leased space in Sugar Land, League City, The Woodlands, West Houston, Northwest Houston and near the medical center on Fannin Street.

Meanwhile, the hospital system is also set to open a nearby facility along Hwy. 6 in Missouri City in spring 2026, Community Impact reported.

Features Reporter

Asia joined Community Impact in February 2022. As a features reporter, she covers the South Houston area, including the Heights-River Oaks-Montrose, Bellaire-Meyerland-West University, Katy-Fulshear, Sugar Land-Missouri City, the Bay Area, and Pearland-Friendswood editions. She studied journalism and creative writing at Missouri State University. Before relocating to Texas, Asia was a reporter for the Seattle Medium, one of the city's eldest African American publications. When she's not writing, she's likely trying a new restaurant, practicing self-care or traveling.

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