Before World War II, Houston was home to many outstanding
individual doctors, but no comprehensive, synergistic system 
existed to focus their collective efforts. Today, the world-renowned 
Texas Medical Center sprawls across more than 740 acres and
receives more than five million patients each year. Its forty-two 
member institutions include one dental school, two medical schools, 
four schools of nursing, and thirteen hospitals.

    The determination of a few hardworking individuals such as dental 
professor Frederick C. Elliott breathed life into the dream of a multi-
specialty, multi-institutional medical complex. His autobiography, 
edited by William Henry Kellar, presents an eyewitness account of the 
founding of the Texas Medical Center. He details the political struggles 
of finding funding and property for the building of the center as well as 
conflicts that arose regarding innovative treatments and procedures for 
inter-institutional cooperation.

    Elliott provides realistic portraits of the medical men, educators, 
and businessmen who worked together—and sometimes quarreled—to
bring the Medical Center into being. Through the time and vision 
Elliott and others put into building the Texas Medical Center, doctors 
found a forum in which to learn from one another and to exchange
ideas and techniques that would change the way the art of medicine 
was taught and practiced. Elliott's story reveals the human side of a 
huge and dynamic institution. 

_________________________________________________________

WILLIAM HENRY KELLAR lives in Houston, Texas, and is the
executive director of the University of Houston's Scholars' Community.
Kellar has written several books, including Kelsey-Seybold Clinic: A
Legacy of Excellence in Health Care. FREDERICK C. ELLIOTT was
one of the nine signers of the original charter establishing the Texas
Medical Center in 1945 and held the position of executive director from
1952–63. A passionate advocate for improved public health, he served
on a variety of health committees, including the Red Cross and the 
Houston Board of Health (of which he was president from 1938–41).


Number Fifteen: Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business 
History


What people are saying about this book

"[Elliott's] insight into this historically significant process is of great
value to all those who want to understand how what is now the
largest medical center in the world came into being. He was more 
than simply an observer, he was a vital participant and leader in 
all that occurred."—Richard E. Wainerdi, President and CEO, 
Texas Medical Center