HOUSTON? We have a Problem

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Houston’s med center, by and large, services non-locals.

Where does this statement come from? Memorial Hermann, Methodist and St. Luke's hospitals along with Ben Taub, the largest of the county hospitals, are the major hospitals for people inside the Loop. Ben Taub for most of the county. The Med Center has two Level 1 trauma centers, Ben Taub and Memorial Hermann (In my more youthful days, I got on my bicycle one day to ride Downtown and woke up in Hermann Hospital). All those gunshot and car wreck victims are not wealthy potentates flying in from the UAE or South America. They are local.

ETA: Tons of non-locals come to the Medical Center for specialized care, but the big hospitals are still the major centers of generalized care.

[mhays]

I'd love to see stats on that. But yeah, typically a small percentage of patients (even for major work) are from out of the region at any hospital.

Here's one: Anderson's $13.3b in revenue last year was mostly managed care, medicare, medicaid, or indigent care. $313.7m (about 2.4%) was self-pay, international, or other. I suspect the vast majority of non-local patients were in the last category. (Operating revenue was $6.6b...I'm not clear on the difference.)

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by mhays

I'd love to see stats on that. But yeah, typically a small percentage of patients (even for major work) are from out of the region at any hospital.

Here's one: Anderson's $13.3b in revenue last year was mostly managed care, medicare, medicaid, or indigent care. $313.7m (about 2.4%) was self-pay, international, or other. I suspect the vast majority of non-local patients were in the last category. (Operating revenue was $6.6b...I'm not clear on the difference.)

You have to add the "MD" or people won't know what you're talking about. MD Anderson.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by mhays

So no evidence of any kind? Every city has lots of medical institutions. Every city is the best at some categories of treatment. Houston's only claim seems to be that a lot of its institutions are clustered.

I'm asking for something like annual healthcare revenue relative to population. Something, anything. The only stat is that NIH dollars aren't very high, suggesting that research is limited.

You seem to have an ax to grind, and need to get over it and move to a topic you know something about.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by homebucket

From an urbanistic point of view I think the one issue with having a huge cluster of medical centers as excellent and world renowned they may be, is that it leaves a large portion of the rest of the metro area with limited and/or lower quality/acuity medical services. Especially when you consider a metro as sprawly and congested as Houston, without much of a transit system to provide alternative options. I imagine there are a good amount of areas where it'll take awhile to get to reach emergency care, and we know that in these situations time is tissue.

Not true.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

There’s actually an organization that takes measures of this:

https://www.medbelle.com/best-hospital-cities-usa/


Houston ranks 9th in the United States. Their chief demerit is access to that care. Houston’s med center, by and large, services non-locals.

Services, by and large, non-locals? LOL

It services a lot of non-locals, but I can tell you that it absolutely services a great number of locals.

Like so many Houston threads, there are always those (often the same people) who seem to have an agenda. This has been going on ever since SSP existed. They operate based on conjecture without any basis, and thrive on misinformation.

JManc is doing a great job in setting things straight (as are others), but there's no way mhays and a few others are going listen to anyone. Maybe time to move on.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

You seem to have an ax to grind, and need to get over it and move to a topic you know something about.

That's not fair. He is asking in good faith for people to factually support their claims.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Would it not be the case that comparatively few Houstonians are “lucky” to have it “near them” if they cannot afford or otherwise gain access to those amenities?

MD Anderson and Texas Children's will take the uninsured.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by mhays

What makes you say meds are big in Houston? I've looked for stats or some basis for that claim, and asked on this board, but heard nothing. The only supported claim so far is they cluster a lot of it in one place.

The only good stats I've found are peripheral. Houston's NIH research grant totals are always middling at best.

Looks like per capita NIH funding in Houston is in the same range as in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. https://ssti.org/blog/useful-stats-n...etro-2014-2018

[mhays]

For actual NIH stats from 2024 and recent years, use this tool (pick a year, sort by dollars, then sort by state--that'll let you page down and see clear comparisons). Boston and SF are far ahead. Houston is in the peloton.

As for my asking for some basis for the Houston posters' claim, welcome to SSP! We ask people to veryify claims here. So far I've provided actual first-hand evidence, and the people making the claims haven't.

[JManc]

Again, not sure why we are discussing grant funding as if we're basing that on whether or not healthcare/ medicine is a major component of the Houston economy. It is and the 'proof' is the mere existence of the TMC.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by mhays

For actual NIH stats from 2024 and recent years, use this tool (pick a year, sort by dollars, then sort by state--that'll let you page down and see clear comparisons). Boston and SF are far ahead. Houston is in the peloton.

I already saw that tool. I’m afraid I’d have to care a lot more than I actually do to slog through all that. From looking at that tool, though, I can say that Houston has by far the highest funding (two-and-a-half times that of the next highest city, Dallas) in the number 6 state for funding. For whatever that is worth.

[DCReid]

While all metros have med facilities to serve their population, some metros have more prominent med centers that have national and international scope. TMC is one, as is Cleveland's Clinic and Rochester's Mayo Clinic. So if much of the local economy struggled, such as being overly concentrated in an industry, these centers can buttress the metro. That being said, they cannot reverse the fortunes of the metro, as Cleveland is struggling despite its excellent Cleveland Clinic. Another weakness of Houston and Cleveland, is despite their excellent medical centers, both cities are struggling to attract the biotech industries that could go well with the med ecosystems. Boston, SF, San Diego, DC and the Research Triangle of NC have done a much better job attracting the biotech and pharmas to complement their med ecosystems.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by JManc

Again, not sure why we are discussing grant funding as if we're basing that on whether or not healthcare/ medicine is a major component of the Houston economy. It is and the 'proof' is the mere existence of the TMC.

Meds are "major" in every city. But the claims are often that it's MORE major than in other cities. I've never heard the slightest evidence of this.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

"The percentage of uninsured Texans in 2022 dropped to the lowest in a decade

Texas is still the state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents, at nearly 17 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey released Thursday."

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09...are-insurance/

Cool. So only 1 in 4 residents in Harris and Dallas Counties lack health insurance. Plenty to be proud of.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by mhays

Meds are "major" in every city. But the claims are often that it's MORE major than in other cities. I've never heard the slightest evidence of this.

You have but for some reason are being obtuse about it. 100,000 work in the TMC alone. That doesn't count the other hospitals, medical facilities and providers elsewhere around town. And no one compared Houston to other cities, you guys have.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Where does this statement come from? Memorial Hermann, Methodist and St. Luke's hospitals along with Ben Taub, the largest of the county hospitals, are the major hospitals for people inside the Loop. Ben Taub for most of the county. The Med Center has two Level 1 trauma centers, Ben Taub and Memorial Hermann (In my more youthful days, I got on my bicycle one day to ride Downtown and woke up in Hermann Hospital). All those gunshot and car wreck victims are not wealthy potentates flying in from the UAE or South America. They are local.

ETA: Tons of non-locals come to the Medical Center for specialized care, but the big hospitals are still the major centers of generalized care.

Yes. Locals get served there…

I think that goes without saying. My statement was meant as a relative to other metropolitan areas:

Medbelle says it compiled the ranking to highlight regional hospital "ecosystems" rather than specific hospitals. The Houston area has more than 85 hospitals.

Houston's hospital ecosystem scored 94.92 out of 100, yet sits in next-to-last place for access to health care (48.83 out of 100), Medbelle notes. Daniel Kolb, co-founder and managing director of Medbelle, says this means that while Houston enjoys one of the best medical infrastructures in the world, a relatively small percentage of people in the region can take advantage of it.

In 2018, nearly 1 in 5 residents of the Houston area (18.6 percent) lacked health insurance, the U.S. Census Bureau says. That's the highest rate of uninsured residents among the country's 25 most populous metro areas. Affordability and availability continue to exacerbate the health insurance predicament in Houston and around the country.

[IcedCowboyCoffee]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

The US Census now says Dallas is worse. Or, at least, Dallas county is worse than Harris County.

Comparisons between Dallas and Houston using their counties really need to be controlled for Harris's size.

A comparison of this stat using each MSA's combined counties (which I suspect that particular comparison did) would be more reflective than zeroing in on a county that represents 32% of its local population and comparing it with a county that represents 63% of its own.
Either that or comparing Harris against a combined Dallas+Tarrant to get an equivalent land area and population size.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by JManc

You have but for some reason are being obtuse about it. 100,000 work in the TMC alone. That doesn't count the other hospitals, medical facilities and providers elsewhere around town. And no one compared Houston to other cities, you guys have.

For those who are merely stating that Houston is like other cities, I agree.

I also think it's possible that Houston has more healthcare jobs than other cities in proportional terms, but we're awaiting evidence of that.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Cool. So only 1 in 4 residents in Harris and Dallas Counties lack health insurance. Plenty to be proud of.

No, nothing to be proud of. By the way, your response is exactly what I expected. I knew there would be no acknowledgement whatsoever of the grossly exaggerated claim.