Happy November, Cypress! 🌲
The clocks fell back this weekend, which handed us an extra hour. If yours went to the couch instead of the to-do list, we're not judging.
With the holidays about to eat the calendar, this is the month to get ahead of it. We rounded up a free expo that covers a lot in one morning, a few numbers worth a look before the travel season starts, and two local doctors: one for the sniffles you keep blaming on the weather, and one for the annual physical you keep rescheduling.
🌲 Meet a local specialist
In partnership with CLS Health
Dr. Amber Hardeman, MD: allergy and immunology in Cypress
Dr. Amber Hardeman is an allergy and immunology physician at CLS Health on Barker Cypress Road. Allergy and immunology is the specialty focused on the immune system, including how the body reacts to things like pollen, mold, foods, and medications.
If your "it's probably just allergies" has been hanging around since fall, or you have a reaction you'd like a specialist to look at, a visit is a way to get answers instead of guessing.
Phone: 346-288-8228
Email: [email protected]
Where: 9645 Barker Cypress Rd., Ste 100, Cypress, TX 77433
Sponsored content from CLS Health. General information only, not medical advice. Talk with your own provider about your health.
🌲 Happening this month
One free morning, a lot of checkboxes: the CFISD Health Expo
The CFISD Health Expo is back at the Berry Center, 8877 Barker Cypress Road, on Saturday, November 14, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. General admission is free. The Cy-Fair Houston Chamber and Cy-Fair ISD host it, with Memorial Hermann Cypress as underwriter, and organizers are expecting about 3,500 people.
Blood drive and flu shots (Walgreens is the official flu shot provider, with additional routine vaccines)
Fire Fest family activities and fire demonstrations with the Cy-Fair Fire Department
An interactive Life Flight experience
Health and wellness vendor booths
CFISD student performances and children's activities
Admission is free, but check costs and insurance requirements for individual services, like vaccines, before you go. Want to give blood at the expo? Book a slot ahead of time.
Give blood, get a holiday night out
Starting November 1, eligible blood donors at participating Gulf Coast Blood donor centers and mobile drives get a free Moody Gardens Holiday Evening Pass while supplies last. Gulf Coast Blood says it needs about 1,000 donations a day for more than 170 hospitals and health care facilities across the region, including those serving Cypress.
The Cypress donor center is at 15050 Fairfield Village Square Drive, Suite 105, open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 832-334-4880 or book online, and review donor eligibility before you go.
Free flu shots are still available through the county
Harris County Public Health offers free flu shots at its clinics and mobile health events. Walk in at a mobile event that lists flu vaccination, or call 832-927-7350 to schedule a clinic appointment. Check the event listing first, since services vary by stop. The county recommends a seasonal flu vaccine for everyone 6 months and older.
November is also...
American Diabetes Month and Lung Cancer Awareness Month, with the Great American Smokeout landing on Thursday, November 19. The American Cancer Society uses the day to encourage people who smoke to quit for a day, as a first step toward quitting for good. If you're thinking about it, the holidays are a busy time to start, so there's no perfect moment, just a day on the calendar.
🌲 Houston Methodist Cypress
The hospital on 290 is a national top performer, and it's growing
Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital, which opened in March 2025 at 24500 Northwest Freeway, ranked No. 3 among 238 Complex Care Medical Centers nationwide in the 2026 Vizient Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership rankings. The annual scorecard looks at safety, mortality, effectiveness, efficiency, patient centeredness, and variation of care.
On the growth side, the hospital announced October 20 that its new inpatient dialysis center is open and eight more ICU beds are now in service. Both are part of a $100 million expansion, with more medical-surgical capacity and possibly eight more ICU beds still to come. No completion date has been given.
Doctor spotlight: Dr. Dipo Kusemiju, family medicine in Towne Lake
Since it's American Diabetes Month, here's a primary care option close to home. Dr. Dipo Kusemiju is a board-certified family medicine physician with Houston Methodist Primary Care Group's Towne Lake practice, 9915 Barker Cypress Road, Building 5, Suite 200. His listed clinical interests include annual physicals, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight management, and anxiety and depression.
His profile shows he's accepting new patients and offers video visits. You can call 281-737-1555 or book online.
🌲 Respiratory watch
The less fun part: flu is climbing, right on schedule.
In the Texas Department of State Health Services report for October 18–24 (published October 30), statewide flu test positivity reached 11.84%, up from 9.43% the week before. Last month's report cited 3.65% for late September, so it has more than tripled in about a month. Statewide, flu-like illness activity moved up from "minimal" to "low."
Flu positivity: 11.84% ▲ (from 9.43%)
Visits for flu-like illness: 3.02% ▲ (from 2.43%), still under the state baseline of 4.65%
RSV positivity: 2.75%
Rhinovirus/enterovirus: 32.73%, the most common virus participating labs found (rhinovirus is the usual cause of the common cold)
Nearly all flu cases that were subtyped this season are influenza A (H1N1), and the state has reported no flu-associated pediatric deaths so far this season. These are statewide lab numbers, not Cypress infection rates. They show which way things are heading, not what's going around your kid's classroom. For county-level trends, Harris County keeps a respiratory virus dashboard.
🌲 Your health calendar
When | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
By appointment | Allergy and immunology visits with Dr. Hardeman | CLS Health, 9645 Barker Cypress Rd., Ste 100 |
Nov. 1 and after | Free Moody Gardens Holiday Evening Pass for eligible blood donors (while supplies last) | Gulf Coast Blood, 15050 Fairfield Village Square Dr., Suite 105 |
Ongoing | Free flu shots (call 832-927-7350) | Harris County Public Health clinics and mobile events |
Sat., Nov. 14, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | CFISD Health Expo (free admission) | Berry Center, 8877 Barker Cypress Rd. |
Thu., Nov. 19 | Great American Smokeout | Anywhere you are |
All November | American Diabetes Month and Lung Cancer Awareness Month | Check with your own provider |
By appointment | Primary care visits with Dr. Kusemiju (video visits available) | Houston Methodist Primary Care Group, 9915 Barker Cypress Rd., Bldg 5, Ste 200 |
Know about a local health fair, screening, or blood drive we missed? Send us the organizer's link on Facebook or Instagram (@cypressdigest) and we'll take a look.
And if this helped, share it with the neighbor who's also been putting off that appointment... we're not judging.
Cheers! - Ashlyn 🌲💚
This report is general information, not medical advice. Event details were checked November 1, 2026, and can change, so confirm with the organizer before you go.
