Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
File
Title
Texas Medical Center “The Power of a Dream” VHS
Date(s)
- 1998 April 6 (Creation)
Extent
one VHS videotape (5:45 minutes)
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Texas Medical Center is a comprehensive medical community located south of downtown Houston. It comprises 54 institutions, including four medical and seven nursing schools, 21 hospitals, three level-I trauma centers [8], eight specialty institutions, and academic and research institutions for many other health-related disciplines[9]. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is among the top-ranked cancer hospitals in the country[10]. As of 2017, it is one of the largest medical centers in the world[7].
The Texas Medical Center was proposed by Horace Wilkins, Col. William Bates, and John H. Freeman, the trustees of the M.D. Anderson Foundation. Established by cotton magnate Monroe Dunaway Anderson in 1936[1], the Foundation supported a variety of small causes until Anderson’s death in 1939, at which point the trustees, with the encouragement of Ernst Bertner, M.D., and Frederick Elliott, D.D.S., decided the funds should be used to build a medical center on par with Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic[2]. When, in 1941, the state legislature approved an act to create a cancer hospital[3], the Anderson Foundation trustees secured Houston as the location for the M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital, which would become first component of the medical center. The Texas Medical Center would be located on a site adjacent to Hermann Hospital, which had opened south of downtown in 1925.
The Texas Medical Center was officially incorporated in 1946 and Bertner was appointed president, replaced at the Cancer Hospital by R. Lee Clark, M.D. The Cancer Hospital was quickly joined by the Dental College, by then affiliated with the University of Texas[16], and Baylor University College of Medicine, which moved from Waco. The Anderson Foundation made grants to Methodist Hospital, Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, a new building for Hermann Hospital, and for a library[15].
The Texas Medical Center grew quickly and has provided a home for innovators such as heart surgeons Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley; William Spencer and his work on rehabilitation of paralysis patients; trauma surgeon and medevac pioneer James “Red” Duke; and Nobel Prize-winning pharmacology researcher Ferid Murad[17].
SOURCES:
[1-5] TMC History 1971
[6] Handbook of Texas Online, Ernst W. Bertner.
[7] Facts and Figures, About Houston, City of Houston, 2017 July 24, www.houstontx.gov/abouthouston/houstonfacts.html
[8] Texas Trauma Facilities, Texas Health and Human Services, Texas Department of Health and Human Services, 2017 July 24, https://www.dshs.texas.gov/emstraumasystems/etrahosp.shtm.
[9] “Texas Medical Center: Houston is where the world comes for treatment”, About Houston, Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2017 July 24, https://www.visithoustontexas.com/about-houston/texas-medical-center/
[10] Institutional profile, Facts and History, 2017 July 24, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, https://www.mdanderson.org/about-md-anderson/facts-history/institutional-profile.html.
[12] Handbook of Texas Online
[13] New York Times, 1994 May 05, online.
[11] Mary Schiflett obituary, Houston Chronicle online, January 19, 2007.
[14] Bryant Boutwell, Ph.D, Bout Time blog, 2014 January 31
[15] TMC History 1971, p178
[16] Handbook of Texas Online, University of Texas Dental Branch
[17] TMC News, 2014 August 19
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This VHS tape contains a program about the Texas Medical Center called "The Power of a Dream." The credits read: “Texas Medical Center. An Organization of Non-Profit Healthcare Providers. Special thanks for the use of photographs and aerial footage: Houston Academy of Medicine Texas Medical Center Library and other Texas Medical Center Institutions; Houston Industries, Inc.; NASA/Johnson Space Center. Produced by Hill and Knowlton, Inc. Through the facilities of UT Television, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.” The video runs 5:45.
(0:02) Introduction stressing “The Power of a Dream” behind the Texas Medical Center. The video begins with a few historical images of the TMC before cutting to contemporary ones. Patient care, training, and research are highlighted.
(0:56) The program tells of the conception of the Texas Medical Center in the 1940s. The narrator briefly tells the story of Monroe D. Anderson’s dedication of his fortune.
(1:14) The TMC is declared a “monument to those dreams.” A graphical map of the TMC appears on the screen. The speaker notes the TMC has more than 40 member institutions, all of which are not-for-profit, and dedicated to patient care, research, education, and community wellbeing.
(1:40) As the camera pans across the TMC, the speaker touts the 675-acre campus. The program highlights the neighborhoods, shopping, and museums nearby. The program also stresses the way TMC members work independently and together.
(2:36) Responsible for planning and cooperation, the TMC Corporation is identified as the “tie that binds.” The narrator lists off types of TMC institutions: thirteen hospitals, two specialty care facilities, two medical schools, four schools of nursing, a school of public health, a school of pharmacy, a dental school, and others. He also highlights the air ambulance service, heart surgeries and organ transplant, space science, bio-engineering, and bio-technology. The program touts $350 annually in funded research activities.
(3:50) Honing in on patient care, the video shows images of children, nurses, doctors, and caregivers.
(4:13) The video highlights the TMC’s role in dissemination of knowledge and creation of health video programming.
(4:40) The video outlines the economic impact and size of the TMC, noting more than 100,000 people pass through daily.
(5:09) The video concludes, “The Texas Medical Center. Never doubt the power of a dream.”
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Digital copy made available by the Texas Medical Center Library
Physical access
Moving Image
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Creative Commons License 4.0, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs. Images are to be used for educational purposes only, and are not to be reproduced without permission from The TMC Library, McGovern Historical Center, 1133 John Freeman Blvd, Houston, TX, 77030, mcgovern@library.tmc.edu, 713-799-7899
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
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Generated finding aid
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Notes element
Specialized notes
- Processing information: Digitization supported by South Central Academic Medical Libraries Consortium (SCAMeL) Speedy Startup funds, 2022.
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
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Sources used
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library (Subject)
- Houston Industries Incorporated (Subject)
- Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (Subject)
- UT-TV (Television station : Houston, Tex.) (Subject)
- University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Subject)
- Texas Medical Center (Subject)
- Anderson, Monroe D. (Monroe Dunaway), 1873-1939 (Subject)