About Us

Created in 2007, the Memorial Hermann Community Benefit Corporation is a non-profit organization has assigned with the goal of finding innovative ways to ensure that all residents of the greater Houston area have access to the care they need.

Memorial Hermann has a tradition of caring for people in the greater Houston area that goes back more than a century. Through nine general acute care hospitals, a children’s hospital, and a research and rehabilitation hospital, we maintain 25 percent of the greater Houston market share—a market in which one out of three persons is uninsured.  Memorial Hermann addresses several critical access challenges of the community, operating one of only two Houston level I trauma centers, providing the Life Flight air ambulance program, and maintaining the city’s only burn treatment center.  Through these services and a variety of specialty programs and outpatient centers, Memorial Hermann annually contributes in excess of $330 million in the form of uncompensated care and community benefit programs.

Memorial Hermann differs from most hospital systems in that all of our hospitals service one region:  the Houston consolidated metropolitan region.  While this provides for significant opportunities in which to impact a community, it also means that economic and environmental conditions that affect one institution may very well impact the entire organization. 

Our city is facing a true healthcare crisis. To address this challenge, Memorial Hermann is expanding our outreach efforts and funding new ways to increase and strengthen the city’s primary care infrastructure, specialty care infrastructure, and the education and outreach to support the effectiveness of each.

To fund the Community Benefit Corporation, Memorial Hermann has committed $5 million dollars per year for the next three years. At the core of the healthcare issue are the escalating numbers of uninsured in Houston -- 31 percent of Houston children and adults are without health insurance. Surprisingly, the bulk of the uninsured are working citizens. In fact, 72 percent of the uninsured in Harris County have a family member working full-time but often their jobs do not provide health benefits or they cannot afford the coverage offered. Historically, Memorial Hermann has been a thought leader and active participant in addressing barriers to healthcare access.

Our programs are already saving lives and money, providing vital healthcare to the uninsured and helping them learn how to navigate the healthcare system more efficiently and judiciously. 

Values

• We collaborate with others to improve the community's infrastructure for the uninsured.
• We focus on children.
• We embrace innovative approaches.
• We are advocates at the local, state and national levels to achieve 100% access to basic care.
• We support educational efforts focused on prevention and appropriate use of our community's healthcare resources.
• We measure the outcomes of each effort and only sustain and expand those with demonstrable outcomes.
• We are committed to engaging our employees, volunteers and medical staffs in our efforts.