Rice-Baylor College of Medicine?

For those not up on their Texas Medical Center gossip, some relatively big stuff has been going down at Baylor lately. The Houston Chronicle had an article a few days ago reporting that President Traber will likely be asked by the board of trustees to step down this Wednesday. My understanding of the situation is limited, but I have heard that it stems from the decisions he made shortly after becoming president in 2003.

He wanted Baylor to have its own hospital, and he pushed plans to build it next to the VA hospital just next to the medical center. Baylor had long had good relationships with the hospitals in the med center; it partnered with Texas Childrens hospital, Ben Taab, the VA, and the Methodist hospital very closesly for a long time. However, the new hospital would compete directly with the Methodist hospital, and the plans put so much strain on the relationship that Baylor stopped working with Methodist completely as a result.

The new Baylor hospital has turned out to be more expensive than expected, and the worsening economic crisis has only made things worse. This has resulted with close talks with Rice University about a merger that may get approved in the coming months. A former Baylor president, Dr. Butler, is expected to take over, and it will be interesting to see how he handles the merger possibility.

Personally, I have no clue why Baylor would want to build another hospital in the med center, which already has something like 12 hospitals in one spot. I do understand the desire for autonomy, and most elite medical schools do have their own teaching hospital. However, Bayor is unique in its location in the medical center, and another hospital was simply not something it needed. I hope my tuition doesn't go up...