The Texas Medical Center
“The Texas Medical Center is Houston’s gift to the world.”
– Former First Lady Barbara Bush
On October 20, 1945, the Texas Medical Center started as a dream to create a medical center, where people from all walks of life could access the best health care anywhere - whether they were rich, poor, famous, nameless, young, or old.
Considered the largest medical center in the world, the member institutions are dedicated to the highest standards of patient care, research, and education. Either not-for-profit or government, these institutions include 21 renowned hospitals with seven acute care, six pediatric care, and eight specialty care facilities; three public health organizations; two universities; three medical schools; six nursing programs; two pharmacy schools; a dental school; eight academic and research institutions; and 13 support organizations.
The largest employer in Houston, the Texas Medical Center is home to the largest concentration of medical professional and experts anywhere; one of the first, and still the largest, air ambulance service; a very successful inter-institutional transplant program; three Level 1 trauma centers; and more heart surgeries than anywhere else in the world. According to the commercial real estate services firm, Cushman & Wakefield, the Texas Medical Center will soon be the eighth largest business district in the United States, right after Philadelphia and Seattle.
Texas Medical Center member institutions have been recognized in national surveys such as U.S. News & World Report, The Joint Commission, AARP, Fortune Magazine, and Consumer Choice as being among the best in all specialties in adult and pediatric care. Member institutions are actively taking this high quality of care to even more people by locating clinics, offices, and other facilities in neighborhoods throughout Houston and the surrounding communities, and even in other parts of Texas and the world.
Texas Medical Center Corporation
The Texas Medical Center Corporation was formed and exists today exclusively for benevolent, charitable, and educational purposes to form the foundation and continuing support for a "City of Medicine." Since its inception in 1945, the Texas Medical Center Corporation has sought to attract not-for-profit or government, academically oriented institutions dedicated to medical care, health care, education, innovation, and research.
The Texas Medical Center Corporation acts as a “municipal government,” enforcing covenants and restrictions, and coordinating activities among member institutions. It serves as a moderator of campus-wide issues and concerns through 21 advisory councils comprised of representatives from member institutions; oversees emergency preparedness planning; and is responsible for land management, real estate, and master planning for long-term growth and development.
While the Texas Medical Center Corporation is a not-for-profit entity, it does operate one of the largest parking systems in the country with 27,500 parking spaces. This valuable, reliable service assists more than 160,000 patients, employees, students, and visitors access health care, go to work to provide health care, attend a world-class medical school, or visit a sick family member in Texas Medical Center each day.
Revenue from parking pays for infrastructure development and repair including 18 miles of public and private streets and roadways, security services, employee and visitor transportation, facility maintenance, mobility improvements, emergency preparedness, way-finding signage, campus master planning, grounds upkeep, bond covenants, City of Houston drainage fees, and much more.
As a critical investment in the future of this “small” city, the Texas Medical Center Corporation stepped up to reduce the medical center’s vulnerabilities dreadfully demonstrated by Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 and Hurricane Ike in 2008. In the last few years, it has spent more than $40 million in underground infrastructure to protect against future catastrophes.