Ben Taub Hospital is a

public hospital A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this typ ...

located in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

within the

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrate ...

. Having opened in May 1963, the hospital is owned and operated by the

Harris Health System The Harris Health System, previously the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD), is a governmental entity with taxing authority that owns and operates three hospitals and numerous clinics throughout Harris County, Texas, United States, includin ...

and is staffed by the faculty, residents, and students from

Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate Sc ...

. Ben Taub is a

Level I trauma center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emergenc ...

, one of three in

Southeast Texas Southeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the U.S. state of Texas, bordering Southwest Louisiana and its greater Acadiana region to the east. Being a part of East Texas, the region is geographically centered on the Greater Houston ...

, the others being nearby

Memorial Hermann Hospital A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

and

University of Texas Medical Branch The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a public academic health science center in Galveston, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the oldest medical school in Texas, and has about 11,000 employees. In Febr ...

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

Kenneth Mattox Kenneth Mattox (born c. 1938) MD, FACS is an American surgeon and author. Education Mattox graduated from Wayland Baptist University in 1960. He then matriculated to Baylor College of Medicine, graduating in 1964. Career He is Professor and ...

, a trauma surgeon named Best Doctor in America five times, is the head of the trauma department. With 409 licensed beds, it is one of the busiest trauma centers in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, caring for over 106,000 emergency patients during its last fiscal year (March 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011). Ben Taub is also the only hospital in Houston with a psychiatric

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

open 24 hours a day. The hospital is named after

Ben Taub Ben Taub (1889–1982) was a philanthropist and medical benefactor in Houston, Texas. Taub ran numerous businesses and served on the boards of directors for several Texas organizations. He helped in the expansion and development of Houston entitie ...

(1889–1982), a real estate developer and businessman whose extensive behind-the-scenes philanthropic efforts helped transform Houston. As of 1998 the hospital district designated much of the county, including central, southern, and western portions, to Ben Taub.

History

The original Ben Taub hospital opened in May 1963 and was closedWollam, Allison.
Harris County launches $38M Ben Taub renovation
" ''

Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

''. Friday January 27, 2012. Retrieved on February 9, 2012. when the current Ben Taub opened on January 12, 1990. The hospital district intended to renovate the old Ben Taub and have two new additional hospitals opened, but the hospital district encountered financial difficulties in the 1990s. In 2012, the district announced that it will begin renovating the old Ben Taub for $38 million. Circa 2004 about of space was added to the emergency room area.

Births

Vanessa Guillén Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...

(murder victim)

Notes

References

Harris County Hospital District Fact Sheet, revised 6/30/2010.

External links

Ben Taub Hospital
via Harris County Hospital District
DeBakey Department of Surgery Summary Statement on Ben Taub Hospital
{{coord, 29, 42, 39, N, 95, 23, 37, W, type:landmark_scale:10000_region:US, display=title Hospital buildings completed in 1963 Hospitals in Houston Institutions in the Texas Medical Center Teaching hospitals in Texas Trauma centers Public hospitals in the United States