Medical Center Moves

Texas Medical Center giants join forces to create new state-of-the-art hospital

Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) will join forces to create a state-of-the-art medical facility in the Texas Medical Center, which could open as early as next year.

The new hospital will be located in an existing structure on Baylor's McNair campus, where it will be operated jointly by both institutions.

The announcement comes nearly eight months after the Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives beat out the Memorial-Hermann Health System and the Methodist Hospital System to acquire St. Luke's Episcopal Health System for $2 billion.

The initial phase of the project — a 250-bed inpatient facility — is slated to open in spring 2015, while a second phase adding 400 acute-care beds will be complete in 2018.

The initial phase of the project — a 250-bed inpatient facility — is slated to open in spring 2015, while a second phase adding 400 acute-care beds will be complete in 2018. Wayne Keathley, former president of the BCM Medical Center, will serve as president of both the current and forthcoming hospitals.

Baylor had started construction of the building on a 35-acre tract adjacent to the DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 2007, with plans to operate its own hospital after an acrimonious split with the Methodist Hospital System a few years earlier. Baylor also had entered into a partnership with St. Luke's after its breakup with Methodist, but the three-year contract was not renewed in 2006.

Baylor's plans for the new facility foundered, however, and the interior of the hospital was left unfinished, except for an outpatient clinic.

Baylor College of Medicine CEO Dr. Paul Klotman says the school's partnership with CHI is unique in the world of academic medicine.

"Medical schools usually receive support through academic affiliation agreements with their hospital affiliates," he explains in a Tuesday statement. "This is completely different in that we are part owners. We will be in this together, with joint governance, sharing the rewards and the risks. It is a novel approach to create an alignment that brings in the most cost-effective, high quality care."

The joint-venture also includes a partnership the Texas Heart Institute, which will work with BCM and CHI to create a new cardiovascular program at the new hospital concentrating on regenerative medicine and the development of next-generation medical technology.

The new hospital, which will be called Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, McNair Campus, could eventually replace the current 850-bed St. Luke's Hospital in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, Catholic Health CEO Kevin Lofton said at a Tuesday morning press conference, but no firm plans have been decided. The former St. Luke's is now officially known as Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, TMC.

Baylor College of Medicine and Catholic Health Initiatives are joining forces on a new hospital in the Texas Medical Center.

Baylor St. Luke's MeMcNair Campus with Texas Medical Center January 2014

Courtesy rendering

Baylor College of Medicine and Catholic Health Initiatives are joining forces on a new hospital in the Texas Medical Center.

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in this economy?

This is the salary you need to live comfortably in Houston in 2026

money, salary, income to live comfortably, SmartAsset

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Single Houstonians need to make a little more than $82,000 to live comfortably in the city, the report found.

A 2026 report analyzing how much it costs to live "in sustainable comfort" in the biggest U.S. cities has found Houston residents have the 11th lowest salary requirement to live a comfortable life in 2026.

SmartAsset's annual report found single adult residents in Houston need to make $89,981 a year to qualify as "financially stable." Compared to last year, single Houstonians needed to make $83 more to live comfortably in the city.

Families with two working parents and two children need to make a household income of $204,672 to have a financially stable life in Houston, the report found. That's almost $2,000 less than what families needed to make last year.

To determine the rankings, SmartAsset's analysts examined 100 of the largest U.S. cities and used the latest cost of living data – such as the costs for housing, food, transportation, and income taxes where applicable – from the MIT Living Wage Calculator for childless individuals and for two working adults with two children.

For the purpose of the study, the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy was used to determine "comfortable lifestyle" costs for both individuals and families: 50 percent of income to cover needs and living expenses, 30 percent for "wants," and 20 percent for savings or paying down debt.

Here's breakdown of a Houston resident's comfortable lifestyle based on SmartAsset's findings:

$44,991 dedicated to needs and living expenses
$26,994 dedicated to wants
$17,996 dedicated to savings or debt repayment

This is SmartAsset's interpretation of a comfortable lifestyle for families of four:

$102,336 dedicated to needs and living expenses
$61,402 dedicated to wants
$40,934 dedicated to savings or debt repayment

SmartAsset said single individuals and families should compare the fluctuating local cost of living and their long-term goals to fully "understand the context" of their respective household incomes. But it's worth pointing out that a financially stable life in Houston isn't quite attainable for many residents: The city had a median household income of $64,361 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Comfortable salaries in other Texas cities
Elsewhere in Texas, the report found that families in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs Frisco and McKinney "are closest to a comfortable salary."

"In Frisco, [Texas], the median household earns $145,444 – substantially higher than the national median of $83,730," the report's author wrote. "This figure also accounts for 63.1 percent of the $230,464 income a family of four in Frisco needs to live comfortably. In McKinney, TX, the $124,177 median household income accounts for 53.9 percent of the $230,464 needed."

Both cities also tied with Plano for the 29th highest salary needed nationally to live comfortably in 2026. Single adults living in these cities need to make $109,242 a year to live a financially stable life this year.

On the opposite end, San Antonio has the lowest salaries needed to live comfortably in the U.S. Single adults only need to make $83,242 a year, and $192,608 for families of four.

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