The largest medical complex in the world, the Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a 2.1-square mile district in Houston, Texas comprising 54 medical institutions. Home to 21 hospitals, eight specialty institutions, eight academic and research institutions, four medical schools, three nursing schools, three public health organizations, two pharmacy schools, and a dental school, the TMC is noted for its significant treatment capacity, high level of research activity, and uncommonly high concentration of clinical facilities. Centrally located in a triangular area adjacent to the Rice University campus, the TMC is a world leader in health and life sciences and is overseen by the Texas Medical Center Corporation, a nonprofit umbrella organization.
Established in 1945, the TMC began when the MD Anderson Foundation and the Texas State Legislature co-funded the construction of a University of Texas cancer research hospital. The resulting facility, known today as the MD Anderson Cancer Center, is now the largest cancer hospital in the world. In 1946, federal funding supported the construction of a naval hospital, the Michael E. DeBakey Veteran Affairs Medical Center, which later became a teaching facility for Baylor College of Medicine. By the 1950’s the TMC had become home to Memorial Hermann Hospital, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Houston Methodist Hospital, Shriners Hospital for Children, and the Texas Medical Center Library—all of which remain in operation today. TMC also serves as hub to a network of medical schools, including the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas A&M College of Medicine, and Baylor College of Medicine, whose affiliated Texas Children’s Hospital is now the largest children’s hospital in the world. [1]
TMC’s member institutions work together to produce a staggering collective impact in Houston and beyond. The TMC employs over 106,000 people, performs over 180,000 surgeries annually, and logs 10 million patient encounters per year. In addition to robust treatment capabilities, the collaborative nature of the TMC gives rise to fruitful research partnerships in the biomedical sciences. The Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC), founded in 1990, is a collective of basic and translational scientists, researchers, clinicians, and students who collaborate on joint training and research programs, including the UTHealth Cancer Genomics Center (CGC), a nonprofit core, established in 2019 and funded by a CPRIT grant (RP180734). Through this project and others, the Gulf Coast Consortia unites area investigators from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, University of Houston, Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute to engage in groundbreaking biomedical research.[2]
[1] https://www.tmc.edu/about-tmc/
[2] https://www.gulfcoastconsortia.org/
Last updated: July 2021.