Houston Methodist Hospital


Houston Methodist Hospital is the flagship hospital of Houston Methodist. Located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, Houston Methodist Hospital was established in 1919 during the height of the Spanish influenza epidemic as an outreach ministry of Methodist Episcopal Church. Houston Methodist comprises seven community hospitals, a continuing care hospital as well as several emergency centers and physical therapy clinics throughout greater Houston.
The hospital has consistently ranked as "One of America's Best Hospitals" according to U.S. News and World Report. The hospital has earned worldwide recognition in multiple specialties including cardiovascular surgery, cancer, epilepsy treatment and organ transplantation.
Houston Methodist System changed its official name to Houston Methodist in 2013.

History

Originally located near downtown Houston, after a $1 million donation from Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen, the hospital relocated to the Texas Medical Center and opened a 300-bed facility in 1951.

Dr. Michael DeBakey

Late heart surgeon Michael E. DeBakey, at the time a faculty member and later Chancellor Emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, performed the first removal of a carotid artery blockage ; the first aorto-coronary bypass surgery ; the first use of a ventricular assist device to pump blood and support a diseased heart ; and some of the first U.S. heart transplants at the hospital. Dr. DeBakey also created the first Dacron graft.

Flooding and Storms

1976 Flood

In 1976, unusually heavy rains caused more than $20 million in flood-related damage in the Texas Medical Center, knocking out power at three hospitals. Six feet of water filled Methodist’s basement.

Tropical Storm Allison

On June 8, 2001, Tropical Storm Allison dropped up to 37 inches of rain on parts of Houston, causing the worst flooding in the city's history up until that time, with serious damage to the Texas Medical Center. About 40 feet of water filled Methodist Hospital's basement and entered the neurosensory building. The hospital discharged 400 patients and did not fully reopen until five weeks after the storm. The flooding caused an estimated $360 million in damage.

Expansion

Consisting of the existing Texas Medical Center facility and several newly constructed regional hospitals, Houston Methodist was established in 1996 to extend health services beyond the Texas Medical Center and into communities throughout Houston.

Research

Houston Methodist, the University of Houston, and Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University jointly founded the Institute for Biomedical Imaging Science. The institute will create interdisciplinary programs in biomedical imaging and will develop joint training programs to produce basic and applied scientists.
Also, beginning in 2019 Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in partnership with Houston Methodist Hospital will launch the EnMed program which is an innovative Engineering Medicine program designed to educate a new kind of physician who will create transformational technology for health care.
In 1990, the Texas historian Marilyn McAdams Sibley published The Methodist Hospital in Houston: Serving the World.

Locations

Houston Methodist comprises seven community hospitals, a continuing care hospital, as well as several emergency centers and physical therapy clinics throughout greater Houston, including:
U.S. News & World Report routinely names Houston Methodist Hospital as one of its “Best Hospitals,” most recently in 2018. Houston Methodist is nationally ranked in eight specialties and achieved a perfect score in nine common procedures and conditions.

Innovation

Houston Methodist has a dedicated center for innovation in digital platforms for healthcare delivery

Notable procedures

1968 — The world’s first multi-organ transplant and Dr. Michael E. DeBakey’s first heart transplant.
1985 — Methodist Hospital physicians perform the first heart-lung transplant in Texas
1985 — Dr. Hartwell Whisennand performs the first liver transplant at Methodist Hospital.
1998 — Dr. Michael Reardon performs the first successful auto-transplant for cardiac malignancy at Methodist Hospital.
2007 — Dr. Gerald Lawrie performs the world’s first “American Correction” mitral valve repair using the da Vinci surgical robot at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center.
2015 — Houston Methodist physicians perform the world’s first skull and scalp transplant, plus kidney and pancreas transplants, on one patient.

Accolades

Houston Methodist has five hospitals with distinction for nursing excellence and quality patient care by the Magnet Recognition Program of the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Houston Methodist Hospital was selected for the 2018 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Award for excellence in delivering high-quality health care from Vizient, formerly known as UHC.
Other awards and achievements include:
Houston Methodist is an academic medical center affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College and the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, as well as NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Other affiliations include Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and the University of Houston.