The Vision for the Campaign for Our Second Century
Moving from the best hospital in Texas to best in the world
Campaign Pillars
From our founding in 1919, we have risen from humble beginnings to a position of international prominence. A small community hospital became home to the pioneering genius of Dr. Michael DeBakey and powered Houston Methodist's evolution into the premier academic medical institution it is today.
We achieved this by attracting and educating the most brilliant medical talent. We fostered innovation by deploying this talent along with a unique blend of process tenacity, business savvy and a culture of spiritual values. This is how we became best in Texas. This was the story of our first century.
Our second century will be defined by the same formula—only multiplied. Together, we seek to generate $500 million or more in philanthropy. To achieve this, Houston Methodist will engage our community of friends and benefactors—the partners whose leadership and generosity have helped to build our legacy of excellence and positioned us to take this next evolutionary leap forward. This is Leading Medicine to the Power of M.
In order to move even further among the best in the world, we have identified four strategic initiatives that complement and exponentially multiply our ongoing clinical excellence. They are:
Leverage Your Gift
Houston Methodist has faced numerous daunting challenges over the past 100 years. We have succeeded and flourished because we have never strayed from our core values. These advantages have set Houston Methodist apart, and laid a foundation for future success. Our strategy now is to multiply the specific areas of strength that will have the most direct and immediate impact on a transformative future for state-of-the-art patient care.
To achieve this vision, our amazing philanthropic partners are creating ways to build on these strengths and exponentially multiply every investment to the power of M. Through dollar-for-dollar matches, our goal is to leverage philanthropic dollars for projects with the potential to change the lives of patients in the near future. Examples of these matching programs include:
- Centennial Chair Challenge (C3)
- Translational Research Initiative
- Cancer Matching Challenge
- Transplant Matching Challenge
Stories
Read more about our friends and benefactors whose leadership and generosity have helped to build our legacy and take this next step forward
Candy and Tom Knudson
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Candy and Tom Knudson
The pain in Michael Galbreth’s head on December 12, 2016, was nothing short of debilitating. The healthy 60-year old had never experienced a migraine and didn’t get headaches. This “headache” was so severe he couldn’t walk. When the pain returned tenfold a few days later, he barely made it to the emergency room.
An aneurysm caused by a structural deformation in a major vessel nearly killed him. “He was very lucky,” says Dr. Gavin Britz, director of the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute. “He had bled earlier and had a second hemorrhage. The second hemorrhage is normally fatal.”
Dr. Britz canceled a planned overseas trip, and he and his team were able to operate. Mike and his family believe his restored health goes beyond good luck. They call his life-saving surgery a miracle.
“Mike was home for Christmas dinner,” says his mother-in-law Candy Knudson. “It’s a Christmas we will never ever forget.”
Candy and Tom Knudson had spent years in and out of Houston Methodist Hospital, as visitors when their elderly parents and friends needed care, and as patients on occasion. Tom serves on the President’s Leadership Council and the Neurological Institute National Council, and the couple has supported the Neurological Institute for several years.
Now their son-in-law’s life was saved at Houston Methodist Hospital.
“We had been talking about a gift to Houston Methodist, and I knew from serving on the campaign steering committee how important it is to get to 100 endowed chairs for the hospital’s centennial in 2019,” says Tom. “It really all fit together just beautifully.”
The couple’s generous gift established the first Centennial Chair—this one in honor of Dr. Britz, who was appointed as the inaugural holder of the Candy and Tom Knudson Centennial Chair in Neurosurgery in honor of Gavin W. Britz, M.D.
“Houston Methodist has a pioneering spirit, an entrepreneurial spirit and a total can-do willingness to take great risks to do great things,” Tom says. “And you all have created a wonderful culture of service.”
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Houston Methodist Receives Additional $6 Million Occidental Petroleum Donation to Enhance Community Patient Care
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Houston Methodist Receives Additional $6 Million Occidental Petroleum Donation to Enhance Community Patient Care
A Houston Methodist program that provides specialty patient care to uninsured and underserved patients received another multi-million dollar gift from Occidental Petroleum Corporation.
Community health clinics provide essential care for those who are uninsured or living outside of the health care mainstream. The Houston Methodist Community Scholars Program partners with local health clinics to allow residents and fellows to train in a real-world environment under the guidance of accomplished physician mentors. Patients receive coordinated, specialty care that is often unavailable in community clinics.
“Occidental is a wonderful partner, and this generous support allows our physicians and staff to continue to train future physicians, as well as provide quality health care to the underserved in our community,” said Marc Boom, M.D., president and CEO, Houston Methodist. “Thousands of patients across the city have benefited from the Houston Methodist Community Scholars Program since it began.”
Occidental’s $6 million gift expands the existing program to include new services in palliative care, as well as a more in-depth look at health disparities in our communities. The gift adds a palliative care fellowship; establishes the Occidental Petroleum Health Outcomes – Quality of Life Improvement Program; and creates an endowed chair in quality and outcomes research – all focused on improving specialty health care services in a community clinic setting.
“The Houston Methodist Community Scholars program has improved the lives of so many, and we are proud to expand our partnership with Houston Methodist so that even more people in our hometown can benefit,” said Occidental Petroleum President and CEO Vicki Hollub. “Occidental is committed to strengthening our communities, and this program does just that by enhancing patient access to specialty health care and providing a high level of care to those who otherwise might go untreated.”
The Occidental Palliative Care Fellowship will enhance cancer and other services provided at a Houston-area Federally Qualified Health Center. Palliative care is a wide-ranging area, offering treatment for pain, depression, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and any other symptoms that may accompany an illness or treatment.
The Occidental Petroleum Health Outcomes – Quality of Life Improvement Program is a collaborative research effort with Texas A&M University, led by Bita Kash, M.D., director of the Houston Methodist Center for Outcomes Research. The program will research and analyze patient data to examine the Community Scholar Program’s impact on health outcomes, cost of care and quality of life.
An Occidental Petroleum Centennial Chair in Quality and Health Outcomes Research will be held by a senior researcher who will focus on strategies and policy to close the health disparity gap for underserved and uninsured patients. With the addition of a $500,000 matching gift from Rusty and Paula Walter, the total philanthropic impact of Occidental’s commitment is $6.5 million.
Occidental’s gift brings their total contribution to the Houston Methodist Community Scholars Program to $10 million. Houston Methodist’s Community Scholars Program began in 2013 to provide care for neurology patients in Federally Qualified Health Centers and free clinics across the greater Houston area. In 2015, the program expanded to include cardiology, ophthalmology, hematology/oncology, pulmonology, endocrinology and nephrology.
Houston Methodist’s community benefits program has provided operational support for clinical and mental health programs, in-kind lab and other specialty care services to more than two dozen Houston area agencies since 1994.
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Lynda K. and David M. Underwood
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Lynda K. and David M. Underwood
As many as 70 million Americans suffer from digestive disorders. The Lynda K. and David M. Underwood Center for Digestive Disorders at Houston Methodist is making a concerted effort to remedy this problem.
Between 60 and 70 million Americans suffer from digestive disorders. Many of these conditions are highly treatable or curable. Yet, they often go undiagnosed and untreated for one critical reason: People are embarrassed to talk about them, even to a medical professional.
Sometimes telling your doctor about digestive disorders is hard to stomach.
Dr. Eamonn Quigley, David M. Underwood Chair of Medicine in Digestive Disorders and co-director of the Lynda K. and David M. Underwood Center for Digestive Disorders at Houston Methodist, has spent most of his professional life researching “gut health.” He is the immediate past president of the American College of Gastroenterology.
“Colon cancer, which is one of the most common cancers in the United States, is largely preventable through screening and early detection,” Dr. Quigley says. “Yet, despite a lot of publicity, screening is far from complete across the population. There are a lot of other disorders out there, such as irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis, that can be treated very effectively, yet we know from research that there is a very long delay in the diagnosis, because people are reluctant to complain about diarrhea or a change in their bowel habits.”
The main message, Dr. Quigley says, is that with early detection, the outlook for these disorders is much improved, and there are many effective therapies now.
The Underwood center, funded by a generous gift from David and Lynda Underwood, was launched in May 2013. David Underwood is Houston Methodist’s longest-serving board member, vice chair and longtime chair of the finance committee. His leadership and keen financial stewardship helped establish Houston Methodist as a financially secure, leading academic medical center. David, Lynda and their family have faithfully supported Houston Methodist, giving generously of their time, expertise and philanthropy, most recently to create the Underwood center.
Vital to the center’s effectiveness is the patient-focused care, which is done in an environment that fosters education, training and research. Through the Underwood center’s relationship with the Houston Methodist Research Institute, patients can become involved in trials of new therapies and diagnostics. The Underwood center exemplifies Houston Methodist’s core mission of education, research and patient care.
“Lynda and I saw a need in our community to provide enhanced care and research in this area, so we’re grateful to have the opportunity to provide such a service in Houston,” says Mr. Underwood, who also serves as chairman of the board of directors for the Texas Medical Center.
“PATIENT CARE IS DONE IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT FOSTERS EDUCATION, TRAINING AND RESEARCH. THROUGH LINKAGE WITH THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, PATIENTS CAN BECOME INVOLVED IN TRIALS OF NEW THERAPIES AND DIAGNOSTICS.
The Fondren Foundation Program for Inflammatory Bowel Disease was established in December 2013 through a generous gift from The Fondren Foundation. This support enabled the creation of the program that is focused on fully integrated patient care, education and translational research in IBD. “We are pleased to continue our long tradition of supporting the important work of Houston Methodist,” says Robert E. Fondren of The Fondren Foundation. “The Underwood Center for Digestive Diseases and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center will provide much needed research and support for those afflicted with Crohn’s, colitis and other digestive disorders. The Fondren Foundation is proud to be a part of this important effort to find a cure for these diseases.”
The Underwood center’s integration of specialists -– including gastroenterologists, gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary surgeons, body imaging radiologists and molecular pathologists -– is crucial to effective management of disorders of the digestive system. The center was founded by Dr. Barbara Bass, John F. and Carolyn Bookout Distinguished Endowed Chair of Surgery, and Dr. Richard Robbins, Charles and Anne Duncan Distinguished Endowed Chair in Medicine at Houston Methodist. They in turn recruited Dr. Quigley.
“This integrated approach not only ensures access to the best current care, but also to therapies being developed and introduced to the clinic from our scientist and research partners,” Dr. Bass says. “Our hope is that it will be a one-stop treatment center for digestive disease and serve as a beacon for pioneering research and exemplary education for gastroenterology professionals.” Adds Dr. Robbins, “We are very grateful to David and Lynda Underwood for allowing us to realize this vision.”
Dr. Quigley says that medical science is making rapid advances in the study of “microbiota,” the microorganisms that inhabit the human digestive system. “This is the hottest area in biological science at the moment,” he says. “We already know of several instances where disturbances in the microbiota led to disease stage, and where restoring the microbiota can alleviate that disease stage.”
STUDYING “GUT FLORA” OR “MICROBIOTA” IS THE HOTTEST AREA IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE AT THE MOMENT, ACCORDING TO DR. QUIGLEY. HE SAYS, “RESTORING THE MICROBIOTA CAN ALLEVIATE DISEASE.”
The classic example is what happens when we take antibiotics, says Dr. Quigley, and we’re learning more and more about changes in the microbiota that may well play a role in the causation or the continuation of diseases such as colitis, Crohn’s disease, fatty liver and other liver diseases. “It’s not very far away when we will be able to give specific therapies to modulate microbiota, to restore it to ‘normal’ and hopefully alleviate the condition,” he says.
Dr. Quigley works with biomarkers to improve diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome. “Right now, the only way we can diagnose irritable bowel syndrome is by excluding other conditions that might cause the same symptoms,” Dr. Quigley says.
“There has been a concerted effort to identify physical changes, which might better identify patients with irritable bowel syndrome without several negative tests.”
One of the most controversial areas in the treatment of digestive disorders has been the subtle relationship between psychological and biological conditions. The Underwood center is pursuing an integrative approach to treatment, working in tandem with dietitians from the Houston Methodist Wellness Center as well as evaluating psychological factors. For decades, doctors assumed that disorders originated in the patient’s mental state and then manifested physically. “I want to say very firmly that is not the case. There’s been a major shift away from that idea,” Dr. Quigley explains. He believes that Houston Methodist’s ability to provide comprehensive care makes the Underwood center unique.
“The center’s state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic facilities and personnel set Houston Methodist apart,” he says. “Gastroenterology and digestive surgery collaborate hand-in-hand with imaging, pathology, allied diagnostics and other disciplines. We have the ability to pull together a whole range of diagnostic and therapeutic options and to have those handled by people who really are experts in the field.”
For more information about the services available at the Underwood center, or to schedule an appointment, call 713.441.9770 or visit houstonmethodist.org/underwood-center .
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