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Houston is extremely fortunate to be the home of the Texas Medical Center. Created out of competition to be the best and chartered by the State of Texas in 1945, the TMC now consists of 47 member institutions in an area approximately the size of the city of Chicago.
These 47 institutions (23 public, 24 private) are dedicated to the highest standards of patient care, research, and education. Included are 13 renowned hospitals and two specialty institutions, two medical schools, four nursing schools, and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy, and virtually all health-related careers. TMC institutions created one of the first (and still the largest) air ambulance services, developed an inter-institutional transplant program, and performs more heart surgeries than anywhere else in the world.
In addition to the 72,000 employees, of which 15,400 are physicians, scientists, and researchers, the TMC hosts 33,000 students and manages 11,600 volunteers.
You may have heard of a few of these hospitals.
UT. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Hands down, this is THE place people come for their cancer treatment. I personally know many people saved by this hospital. People who were originally told to plan their funeral immediately and are alive today because of the research and treatment they received at MD Anderson.
U.S. News & World Reports rated TCH the best hospital in every subspecialty surveyed. Houston Business Journal ranked it the number one place to work in Houston. One of our friends was sent to Texas Children’s with a six-week-old daughter diagnosed with heart and lung failure. After many weeks of treatment and hospital care (completely covered by their private health insurance), she not only lived, she is a very active six year old who is not on any medication.
Memorial Hermann with 11 hospitals and many specialty programs and services, has been a Houston institution for over 100 years. One of their hospitals that we hold in high esteem is the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, where the medical team’s expertise and skill saved the life of a 24 week micro-preemie weighing 1 lb 4 oz. born to one of our friends. Today, this baby is a very healthy, spirited two & half year old and you would never know from looking at her that she had been born four months before her due date.
At the Texas Medical Center, 5.1 million people are treated annually from all over the world.
The TMC, with the best hospitals in the world, don’t just treat people with insurance or who can afford to pay. They have invested over $1.2 Billion to ensure they can provide indigent care.
Another person we know went to Ben Taub, Harris County’s public hospital and elite Level 1 Trauma Center, with an aortic aneurysm. Despite not having any insurance at all, his aorta was competely replaced by one of the best surgeons in the TMC and the U.S.
This short blog post cannot even begin to cover the vitally important role of the Texas Medical Center and its place in history with numerous acclaimed physicians including Dr. Denton Cooley and Dr. Michael DeBakey.
We cannot allow the federal government to take over the Texas Medical Center in the pretense of healthcare reform.