Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center is a hospital located at 6411 Fannin, Houston, TX 77030. It is the flagship hospital of the Memorial Hermann Health System mega-chain of hospitals.
Memorial Hermann Health System has 16 hospitals, eight cancer centers, three heart and vascular Institute, and 27 sports medicine and rehabilitation centers, and numerous other outpatient and rehabilitation centers.
Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center has 1,082 licensed hospital beds, including 278 for children, 68 for women, 147 in its Heart & Vascular Institute, and 589 for adults. It offers comprehensive health care services, including Life Flight, the only hospital-based air ambulance service in the Houston area. The hospital hosts four institutes, including the Heart & Vascular Institute, the Mischer Neuroscience Institute, the Texas Trauma Institute, and the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute. It is the only hospital in Houston with Burn Center Verification by the American Burn Association, and also has a Level 1 Trauma Center.
Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital is a second hospital that is located inside the Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center campus. Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital has a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Academic hospital risks versus benefits
When it comes to major so-called academic or teaching hospitals, like Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, there are some risks and benefits to be weighed.
These two Memorial Hermann hospitals have an affiliation with the McGovern Medical School, which is part of The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston (UTHealth). This means that some of the medical care at the hospitals is provided by highly-trained expert medical school professors who serve as attending physicians
What some people do not realize is that it also means that most of the medical care at the hospitals may frequently be provided by doctors who have not finished their training. These new doctors are called residents and fellows.
To be clear, medical residents and fellows must learn their occupation, just like everyone else. When it comes to patient safety, though, the real question is whether the fully-trained, experienced medical school professors and attending physicians are providing adequate supervision. In my experience, this is not always the case.
One of the other issues that often surprises my clients is that any UTHealth physician, whether a professor, resident, or fellow providing health care at Memorial Hermann is covered by the Texas Tort Claims Act. This law drastically limits the amount that can be recovered in a lawsuit against UTHealth physicians, and prevents many types of medical malpractice claims against them altogether.
This is one reason why is important to consult with an experienced Houston medical malpractice attorney immediately if a patient is seriously injured at a Memorial Hermann hospital.
Quality of care concerns
As a Houston, Texas medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled countless cases and lawsuits involving health care provided at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. As part of my ongoing research in handling medical negligence cases, I monitor quality of care concerns that are documented by government agencies involving Memorial Hermann and other hospitals.
On December 5, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a surveyor to conduct an on-site inspection and interview of Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center hospital. The surveyor issued one violation to the hospital related to mishandling a patient’s rights for the grievance review time frame.
As a former hospital administrator, I understand the importance of grievances, which are patient or family member complaints related to quality of care. The Medicare/Medicaid surveyor found that the hospital failed to ensure compliance with its own grievance policy for patients with a documented grievance.
When hospital leaders respect and utilize the grievance process properly, it creates a top-to-bottom atmosphere that emphasizes quality patient care. Unfortunately, when hospital administrators place little importance on handling grievances, healthcare providers take notice.
We are here to help
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured as a result of health care provided at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center hospital or Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, call the experienced medical malpractice lawyers at Painter Law Firm, in Houston, Texas, at 281-580-8800, for a free consultation about your potential case.
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Robert Painter is an attorney at Painter Law Firm PLLC, in Houston Texas. A former hospital administrator, he files medical negligence and wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of patients and their families, against doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, and hospitals. In 2017, H Texas magazine named him one of Houston’s top lawyers.
