The
Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and
translational research. Located in
Houston, the center contains 54 medicine-related institutions, including 21 hospitals and eight specialty institutions, eight academic and research institutions, four
medical schools, six
nursing schools, and schools of
dentistry,
public health,
pharmacy, and other health-related practices. All 54 institutions are
not-for-profit. Among the affiliated medical schools are the
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,
Baylor College of Medicine,
Texas A&M College of Medicine, and University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. The center exceeds one thousand acres (or 1.562 square mile) in size. Some member institutions are located outside of the city of
Houston. The Center is where one of the first and largest
air ambulance services was created and where one of the first successful inter-institutional transplant programs was developed. More heart surgeries are performed in Texas Medical Center than anywhere else in the world.