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Everything is Bigger in Texas … Including the Medical Industry
7 Dec, 2022
When you think of Texas you might picture cowboys, oil fields, longhorn steers, BBQ joints, honkytonks, and high school football, but you might not conjure up images of lab coats and stethoscopes.
Yet, Texas is home to the world’s largest medical complex, along with one of the world’s most respected cancer care and treatment centers, and the healthcare industry accounted for more than $50+ billion in the North Texas economy, alone.
“While some may not know that Texas is a major player in global healthcare, the state is increasingly recognized as a vital player in the industry,” says the Texas Capital Living & Travel Guide. “When names like MD Anderson Cancer Center or Baylor College of Medicine are mentioned, people know exactly what they are talking about; and very often they do not realize that these organizations were born here.”
Houston is Home to World’s Largest Medical Center
NASA, Johnson Space Center, and moon exploration made Houston a household word around the globe, but today the city is better known as the home to the largest medical center in the world.
In true Texas tradition, the Texas Medical Center (TMC) is massive, sprawling over 2 square miles and home to 61 different institutions, including 21 different hospitals with many of them ranked among the best in the U.S. and around the world.
The statistics of the TMC are mind-boggling:
- A baby is delivered every 20 minutes with 26,280 births per year
- A surgery is started every 3 minutes with 180,000+ annual surgeries
- 13,600+ total heart surgeries each year
- 10 million+ patients each year
- 750,000 annual ER visits
- 9,200 total patient beds
- 106,000+ employees, working in the 8th largest business district in the U.S.
TMC is home to both the world’s largest children’s hospital (Texas Children’s) and the world’s largest cancer hospital (MD Anderson).
“TMC has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of healthcare. Today, TMC is on a mission to further accelerate the pace of healing by harnessing our collective expertise in innovation, research, development, production, and patient care within a single, centralized medical ecosystem,” says TMC.
4 of the 10 Biggest Children’s Hospitals in the U.S. are in Texas
On that list included:
- No. 1 Texas Children’s Hospital (973 beds): Located on the Texas Medical Center campus in Houston, this teaching hospital comprises multiple pediatric facilities within the campus, including the Wallace Tower, which houses outpatient facilities; and the West and the Legacy towers, which accommodate inpatient services facilities. All three towers are connected via a sky bridge. Texas Children’s Hospital is nationally ranked in 10 pediatric specialties including:
o Cardiology and heart surgery
o Pulmonology
o Neurology and neurosurgery
o Neonatology
o Nephrology
o Oncology
o Gastroenterology and gastrointestinal (GI) surgery
o Diabetes and endocrinology
o Urology
o Orthopedics
- No. 3 Children’s Hospital of San Antonio (652 beds): Located in downtown San Antonio, this multi-specialty pediatric hospital is run by Christus Health, a Catholic non-profit health system based in Texas. The hospital handled 45,000 emergency visits in 2021 along with more than 4,500 surgeries. It provides comprehensive maternal and fetal care while also specializing in:
o Pediatric genetics
o Pulmonology
o Endocrinology
o Pulmonology
o Nephrology
o Neurosurgery
o Rehabilitation
- No. 8 Children’s Medical Center Dallas (490 beds): This center is the main hospital campus of Children’s Health, a leading pediatric health system based in North Texas. Affiliated with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, this children’s teaching hospital houses the only pediatric Level 1 trauma center in North Texas, along with a 47-bed, Level IV neonatal ICU. The hospital handles more than 74,000 emergency room visits and performs more than 13,000 surgeries per year. This hospital ranks national in 10 pediatric specialties including:
o Neonatology
o Oncology
o Cardiology and heart surgery
o Diabetes and endocrinology
o Gastroenterology and GI surgery
o Neurology and neurosurgery
o Nephrology
o Urology
o Orthopedics
o Pulmonology and lung surgery
- No. 10 Cook Children’s Medical Center (443 beds): This Fort Worth facility is the flagship campus of the Cook Children’s Health Care System, a non-profit with more than 60 primary, specialty, and urgent care locations throughout Texas. Cook Children’s is nationally ranked in 6 pediatric specialties, including:
o Cancer care
o Cardiology and heart surgery
o Diabetes and endocrinology
o Neurology and neurosurgery
o Orthopedics
o Pulmonology and lung surgery
MD Anderson Cancer Center: Respected Around the World
Texas is home to one of the world’s most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education, and prevention: the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
MD Anderson provides cancer care at several locations throughout the Greater Houston area and collaborates with health systems nationwide through MD Anderson Cancer Network.
MD Anderson was created in 1941 as part of The University of Texas System. The institution is one of the nation’s original three comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Act of 1971 and is one of 51 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers today.
U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals" rankings have named MD Anderson the nation's top hospital for cancer care. The institution has been named one of the nation's top two hospitals for cancer care every year since the survey began in 1990.
Other MD Anderson Cancer Center facts:
- Employs more than 22,000 employees, including 1,825 faculty
- Cared for 174,126 patients in 2021
- Provided uninsured or underinsured Texans more than $314 in uncompensated care in 2021
- In 2021, invested more than $1 billion in research
Baylor College of Medicine: Science, Scholarship, and Innovation
The Texas Medical Center in Houston is also home to the Baylor College of Medicine, a global leader in biomedical education, innovative research, and cure discovery.
The primary private adult teaching hospital is Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in the TMC. Baylor physicians and trainees also care for patients at:
- Ben Taub Hospital
- Children’s Hospital of San Antonio
- Memorial Hermann – The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research
- The Menninger Clinic
- Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center
- Texas Children’s Hospital
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
In late 2020, Baylor College of Medicine announced a new affiliation with another Texas healthcare standout, Baylor Scott & White Health. The result will be the development of a new regional medical school campus in Temple, Texas.
