Best Houston Hospitals

Houston cancer center is back on top in latest US News rankings of best hospitals

After slipping in the rankings of the nation's premier cancer hospitals by the slimmest of margins last year, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is back on top.

In the latest US News & World Report's list of Best Hospitals, released Tuesday, the Houston cancer center is ranked No. 1 for the treatment of adult cancer, with an overall score of 100 out of 100.

Anderson traded places with New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which is No. 2 in the latest rankings with a 94.7 score. The two institutions have regularly exchanged the No. 1 spot since the survey, with Anderson ranked first 11 out of the last 14 years.

“We’re honored by this tremendous national recognition, but the true measure of our success is the number of lives we’ve impacted with our care, research and support,” MD Anderson President Dr. Ronald A. DePinho said in a statement. “......Our culture of exceptional care and genuine caring is second to none.”

While the list, currently in its 26th year, 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 again 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 for the fourth year in a row.

Among other ranked Houston hospitals, TIRR- Memorial Hermann jumped one spot up to the No. 2 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. 17 nationally among heart-care providers (from No. 14 last year) while Houston Methodist fell three spots to No. 21 in cardiology and heart surgery.

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

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in ranked No. 1 in the latest US 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.”