Hospitals and Healthcare in Rio Grande Valley TX:
From Wellness and Specialty Clinics to Top Hospitals and Trauma Care
Whether you are looking for a primary care physician or need acute care, the Rio Grande Valley is home to top-quality healthcare options. Local healthcare initiatives, plus the efforts of higher education, have increased the availability of quality healthcare to the Rio Grande Valley. The area offers more than a dozen full-service hospitals, imaging centers, two mental health hospitals, a children’s hospital, wellness centers, cancer treatment centers, rehabilitation treatment and a Veteran’s Administration clinic. Area hospitals have been recognized in various categories, including Thomson Reuters’ list of the Top Hospitals in the Nation, Health Grades’ Excellence Awards for Outstanding Performance and the American Heart Association’s Triple Crown Award for treatment of heart disease and stroke.
The University of Texas established the area’s first teaching and research facility in the Rio Grande Valley in the late 1990s. The Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) has three divisions – the Medical Education Division in Harlingen and McAllen, the Medical Research Division in Edinburg and the Public Health Division in Brownsville. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) oversees and operates the Medical Education and Medical Research divisions. The Public Health Division is a branch of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s School of Public Health. The Harlingen facility opened in 2007 and houses the educational programs and support for third-year and fourth-year UTHSCSA medical students, as well as the UTHSCSA residency in Internal Medicine, under the sponsorship of Valley Baptist Medical Center.
Under the Texas Department of State Health Services, Rio Grande State Center/South Texas Health Care System (RGSC) is the only public provider south of San Antonio offering healthcare, inpatient mental health services and long-term mental retardation services. The psychiatric hospital is a 55-bed, inpatient facility that is certified by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Accredited by the Joint Commission, RGSC offers treatment to people who require emergency/crisis hospitalization for their mental illness. It also operates a long-term program in a 75-bed residential facility for adults diagnosed with mental retardation. In addition to the two hospitals, the RGSC operates an outpatient healthcare clinic specializing in primary care, women’s health, diabetes and endocrinology, diagnostic and social services.
Doctors Hospital at Renaissance (DHR) opened its doors in 1997 as an outpatient surgical center and has since grown into a complete acute care facility. Considered one of the largest physician-owned facilities in the U.S., the hospital has 506 beds and provides a full range of medical and surgical services. Although the hospital is located in a community that Forbes magazine recently listed as one of the poorest areas in the U.S., DHR is consistently ranked as one of the top medical centers in the country by various standards, measures and organizations. It has been ranked in the top 20 of Thomson Reuters’ list of the Top Hospitals in the Nation for three consecutive years. DHR has five freestanding Imaging Centers located throughout the Rio Grande Valley, along with a Wound Care Center at Renaissance, the Rehab Center at Renaissance, the Women’s Hospital at Renaissance, the Cancer Center at Renaissance, the Renaissance Behavioral Center and the Cancer Center at Renaissance at San Benito. A new Pediatric Medical Tower has been built providing pediatric oncology and pediatric ICU services.
Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen is the primary referral hospital for comprehensive and sub-specialty care in South Texas. Ranked one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation – and the only one south of Houston – for saving lives and reducing complications in heart patients, according to Thomson Healthcare. This 450-bed general hospital and Level III Trauma Center Provides state-of-the-art medical, surgical, obstetric and pediatric care.
The South Texas Health System includes Edinburg Regional Medical Center, McAllen Medical Center, the Rehabilitation Pavilion, McAllen Medical Center Cancer Institute, McAllen Medical Behavioral Health Center, Rehabilitation Institute of McAllen and McAllen Heart Hospital. Edinburg Children’s Hospital is also a member of the South Texas Health System. The 107-bed, freestanding pediatric hospital opened adjacent to Edinburg Regional Medical Center in March 2006. Edinburg Children’s Hospital features a four-story pediatric tower, a dedicated pediatric emergency department and state-of-the-art technology. In addition to the South Texas Health System’s children’s hospital, Driscoll Children’s Hospital, which is based in Corpus Christi, operates specialty centers in Brownsville and McAllen, as well as a quick-care clinic in McAllen.