The Hospital Study of the City of Houston and Harris County, Texas conducted under the auspices of The Texas Medical Center, Inc. by James A. Hamilton and Associates, Hospital Consultants, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1946-1947

The presentation of this digital resource is a collaborative effort on the parts of the Texas Medical Center and the John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center. Richard E. Wainerdi , Ph.D, President of Texas Medical Center, generously permitted the original document owned by the Texas Medical Center to be digitized and be presented as part of the Texas Medical History Collection.

Excerpts from FOREWORD, by E.W. Bertner, M.D.

The Texas Medical Center is a project that still will be growing twenty, forty, or perhaps fifty years in the future.

The desire to contribute to the health and well-being of the citizens of Texas and the Southwest, which led to the organization and establishment of the Texas Medical Center cannot be fulfilled without the very best in professional advice in many fields, such as engineering, architecture, education, and of course, in data on the hospitalization needs.

Excerpts from SCOPE OF SURVEY

Houston has entered a period of rapid increase in population and great economic development. As a community, it now requires and will continue to require an even greater increase in its hospital and helath facilities to keep pace with its contemplated economic development.

The modern hospital, as a medical center, has become the keystone of the health service of the future. A hospital study was undertaken, primarily:

• 1. To define the needed hospital facilities of the area served;
• 2. To outline an integrated program to meet these needs;
• 3. To define the facilities which should be constructed on the site of the Texas Medical Center; and
• 4. To prepare general recommendations which would furnish a guide to the community, that waste and unnecessary duplication might be avoided.

This survey has been conducted under the auspices of The Board of Trustees of the Texas Medical Center, Inc. and with full cooperation and excellent support from all universities, hospitals, health units, numerous community agencies and several public spirited groups of Houston interested in the health and welfare of Texas.

Table of Contents

Hospital Study (The complete PDF is 426 pages, without Appendices A & B. This is about 1.09 GB. To facilitate downloading, it is best to use the Index to open relevant sections.)

Front Matter (9 pages)

Title Page

TMC Board of Trustees and Study Staff

Index pages i - ix (link to searchable Index)

Foreword E.W. Bertner, M.D., President Texas Medical Center

Preface James A. Hamilton, Hospital Consultant

Scope of Survey 2 pages

Abstract (67 pages)

Section I - The Survey Area (96 pages)

Section II - The Community Program (104 pages)

Section III - The Texas Medical Center (45 pages)

Section IV - Special Studies (112 pages)

Appendix A (17 pages)

Appendix B (122 pages)

This document is in PDF format and is separated into the same sections as the original.

The PDF for the complete Hospital Study is over 550 pages long and the sections vary in length from about 20 - 120 pages. Therefore some sections of the Table of Contents on this page will take a significantly long time to load, even with high speed connections. It is suggested the user look at the division of the sections as shown on the Index page. Please be aware that some of those divisions and sub-divisions also are long and may take a considerable amount of time to load.

The original document was typed on non-archival paper. The paper is aged and browned; the type is faded; and the impressions of the original type-blocks were often not distinct. Some parts of this PDF may be difficult to read. Please contact the Historical Research Center hrc@library.tmc.edu for clarification of any illegible sections.