Best Houston Hospitals

Best Hospitals: Houston institution slips (just barely) in latest U.S. News rankings

By the slimmest of margins, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has slipped to No. 2 among the nation's premier cancer hospitals in the latest U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Hospitals, released Tuesday.

Anderson, which has been on top of the list for the past seven years and 10 out of the last 12, trailed New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center by one-tenth of a point in the 2014-15 rankings. Anderson has a 99.9 score, just below Sloan Kettering's 100.

In a statement, M.D. Anderson President Dr. Ron DePinho put a positive spin on the rankings, noting the two cancer cancers have often traded the top spots over the years. "I'm very proud of our perennial national ranking as one of the top two cancer centers for the past 25 years," he said.

While the list is criticized by some medical experts, who question the methodology and the idea of pitting hospitals against one another like a sports competition, the results are widely touted by those institutions who come out well. Houston Methodist took out a lavish four-page ad that covered the front section of Tuesday's Houston Chronicle to tout its ranking as the best hospital in the state and the Houston area.

Among other ranked Houston hospitals, TIRR- Memorial Hermann remains in the No. 3 position on the list of the nation's best rehabilitation hospitals while The Menninger Clinic remains ranks No. 5 nationally among psychiatric hospitals. The Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital dropped to No. 14 among heart-care providers (from No. 10 last year) while the Houston Methodist Debakey Heart & Vascular Center fell four spots to No. 18 in cardiology and heart surgery.

A full list of the best hospitals in the Houston area, including the 16 institutions deemed tops in the region, is on the U.S. News website.

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center slipped to No. 2 on the U.S. News & World Report rankings of cancer hospitals.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”