The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research. Located in Greater Houston, the center contains 54 medicine-related institutions, including 21 hospitals and eight specialty institutions, eight academic and research institutions, four medical schools, six nursing schools, and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy, and other health-related practices. All 54 institutions are not-for-profit. Among the affiliated medical schools are the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine, and University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. The center exceeds one thousand acres (or 1.562 square mile) in size. Some member institutions are located outside of the city of Houston. The Center is where one of the first and largest air ambulance services was created and where one of the first successful inter-institutional transplant programs was developed. More heart surgeries are performed in Texas Medical Center than anywhere else in the world.
The Texas Medical Center receives an average of 3,300 patient visits a day and over seven million annual patient visits, including over 18,000 international patients. In 2011, the center employed over 106,000 people, including 20,000 physicians, scientists, researchers and other advanced degree professionals in the life sciences.
Adjacent to the Center are Rice University, Hermann Park, NRG Park, and the Museum District.
History
Founding and early years
The Texas Medical Center was established in 1945 in part with funds endowed to the M.D. Anderson Foundation by businessman Monroe Dunaway Anderson, who began the foundation two years prior to his death in 1939 to help keep his business partnership, Anderson, Clayton & Co, from dissolving due to estate taxes in the event of his death. Anderson funded the foundation with $300,000, and left an additional $19 million in his estate, making the M.D. Anderson Foundation the largest charitable fund ever created in Texas. The fund's first gift was a check of $1,000 to the Junior League Eye Fund for eyeglasses. In 1941, the Texas State Legislature granted funds to the University of Texas for the purpose of starting a cancer research hospital. On the conditions that the hospital be established in Houston and be named after its founder, the M.D. Anderson Foundation matched the state's gift to the university by supplying funds and land.
President Roosevelt approved the purchase of 118 acres (0.48Â km2) from the Hermann Estate in 1944 for the construction of a 1,000-bed naval hospital in Houston. The hospital, later renamed the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, opened in 1946 and became a teaching facility for the Baylor College of Medicine. Also in 1946, several projects were approved for inclusion in the Texas Medical Center including: Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center (whose campus was pre-existing in the district, having been built in the 1920s), Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, Houston Methodist Hospital, The Shriners Crippled Children's' Hospital (now known as Shriners Hospitals for Children), and the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library. The M.D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research of the University of Texas began construction in 1953. Texas Children's Hospital admitted its first patient in 1954.
During the late 1950s, the Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research opened. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston added the Gimbel Research Wing. Texas Woman's University Nursing Program began instruction.
In 1962, the Texas Heart Institute was chartered and became affiliated with Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center (known then as St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital) and Texas Children's Hospital. Ben Taub General Hospital of the Harris Health System (known then as Harris County Hospital District) opened in 1963.
The TMC Library provides access to thousands of current digital books and journals and it's McGovern Center for Historical Collections and Research Center houses rare medical books dating back to the 1500s and historical manuscripts such as the McGovern Collection on the History of Medicine, the Menninger Collection of Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis and the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission which recorded the after-effect of the bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Recent history and developments
In 1993, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center began a $248.6-million expansion project which constructed an inpatient pavilion with 512 beds, two research buildings, an outpatient clinic building, a faculty office building and a patient-family hotel. From 2005 to present, the George and Cynthia Mitchell Basic Sciences Research Building, the Ambulatory Clinical Building, the Cancer Prevention Center and a new research building on the South Campus opened. The Proton Therapy Center, the largest facility in the United States where proton therapy is used to treat cancer, opened in July 2006.
The Memorial Hermann Healthcare System constructed the six-floor, 165,000-square-foot (15,300Â m2) Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute. Also recently completed is the 30-story Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza, which is now the largest medical office building in the Texas Medical Center. At night, it is recognizable by its unique rainbow lantern. The new construction is part of the system's city-wide "Century Project" initiative.
Baylor College of Medicine opened The Baylor Clinic on June 29, 2005.
Texas Children's Hospital announced the largest investment and program expansion ever by a single pediatric organization. The $1.5 billion four-year initiative is targeted for completion in 2010 and focuses on research and accessibility. Major projects include the development of the neurological research institute ($215,000,000), the formation of a maternity center ($575,000,000), and the expansion of existing research facilities ($120,000,000). Texas Children's is embarking on the development of one of the largest pediatric hospitals in a suburban setting ($220,000,000). The remainder of the expenditures is earmarked for new equipment and information systems.
In 2010, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, including the John Sealy Hospital, became the 49th member of the Texas Medical Center and the first member-institution located outside of the City of Houston.
Texas Medical Centerâ€"West Campus which will serve residents of greater west Houston and adjacent areas opened in January, 2011. Representing an initial investment of more than half a billion dollars and almost 1.2 million square feet of healthcare development, the first two facilities to open in the new campus are Texas Children’s Hospital and The Hosuton Methodist West Hospital. Texas Children’s West Campus is among the nation’s largest suburban pediatric hospitals.
In 2012, Texas Medical Center added Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston, which treats pediatric trauma burns, as its 50th member institution.
Texas Medical Center institutions
Employment base
11% of the Texas Medical Center employees live in specific areas in northern Brazoria County and southwestern Harris County. 42% of TMC employees live in specific areas in Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris counties. Pearland, Texas a suburb in northern Brazoria County contains the most TMC workers.
Cityscape
In a 2006 update to its 50 year master plan, the Texas Medical Center group states "TMC Faces Issues Similar to Large Cities" and compared its urban cityscape to that of the Chicago Loop in Chicago and Lower Manhattan in New York City.
Infrastructure
The Texas Medical Center system is headquartered at the John P. McGovern Campus.
The area is served by Metro bus service and the "Red Line" of the METRORail light rail system. Three METRORail stations are located near the center: (TMC Transit Center, Dryden/TMC Station, and Memorial Hermann Hospital/Houston Zoo Station).
The United States Postal Service Medical Center Station is located at 7205 Almeda Road.
Emergency services
The Houston Fire Department Station 33 Medical Center, a part of Fire District 21, is near the Texas Medical Center at 7100 Fannin at South Braeswood. The original Firehouse 33 was one of the last stations to be housed in an original volunteer fire station. The original Station 33 was the city hall/fire station of Braeswood. The City of Houston annexed the area in 1950. The current Fire Station 33 opened one block from the original station in August 2004. The city relinquished its ownership of the original fire station.
The Texas Medical Center is within the Houston Police Department's South Central Patrol Division.
Transportation
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, provides public bus service to Uptown. Bus routes that serve the Uptown area include:
Texas Medical Center Orchestra (formerly Doctors Orchestra of Houston)
Established in November 2000, Texas Medical Center Orchestra is one of very few orchestras in the United States and the world with its origin in the health professions. Members of the orchestra include physicians, dentists, nurses, medical students, biomedical scientists, social workers and other allied health professionals.
The mission of the orchestra is to provide health care professionals with a high-quality outlet for creative expression through the world of symphonic music; perform regularly at affordable concerts that are open to the public and in an accessible venue; attract a diverse audience by commitments to select popular programming reflecting Houston’s diversity; and bring public attention to, and provide programmatic support for, medically related and/or educational charities.
Organizations which have received contributions are: The University of Texas Medical School for heart research; The Ben Taub BOOKS programs; The H.O.M.E.S Clinic; Making a Mark Art Program at Texas Children’s Hospital; HISD’s DeBakey High School for Health Professions; Eye Care for Kids Foundation; The Greater Houston Chapter of the American Red Cross; The National Space Biomedical Research Institute; San Jose Clinic; Haddassah; and The Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation.
In an effort to increase appreciation for classical music in young audiences, Texas Medical Center Orchestra has worked hard to develop an increasingly close relationship with the charter school, KIPP SHARP. During the past three seasons, by coordinating efforts with KIPP SHARP teachers and administrators, TMCO has integrated its musical programming into the school's curriculum. Works that the orchestra performs are taught and discussed in history, art and music classes. The students are invited to display artwork and essays in the Wortham lobby at TMCO concerts,and they, together with their families, are encouraged to at attend. Perhaps, most importantly, TMCO has actually included KIPP choirs and orchestras in concert performances. For instance, KIPP SHARP 3rd and 4th graders have sung onstage in TMCO concerts at Wortham Theater and came to New York City to participate in TMCO’s Carnegie Hall debut on May 24, 2013.
In 2011, TMCO also began to work with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Lone Star Chapter in an annual co-sponsorship of a bicycle ride, "Gran Fondo: Texas TMCO" that precedes the MS150 and benefits both organizations. This collaborative program has greatly benefited both charities. |
Gallery
See also
- Medical centers in the United States
References
External links
- Texas Medical Center Homepage
- Texas Medical Center Maps and Driving Directions
- Texas Medical Center from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Texas Medical Center News Homepage
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