Joint statement provides update on potential Rice-Baylor merger

Joint statement provides update on potential Rice-Baylor merger

A joint statement from Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) was sent this week to update their respective communities about the status of discussions about a potential merger between Rice and BCM.
 
The statement said that the discussions are proceeding positively and that TCH is a significant partner.

Below is the statement, which was signed by David Leebron, president of Rice University; Jim Crownover, chair of the Rice Board of Trustees; William Butler, BCM interim president; Robert H. Allen, chair of the BCM Board of Trustees; Mark Wallace, TCH president and CEO; and Max Watson, chair of the TCH Board of Trustees.

To the Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and Texas Children’s Hospital communities:

We are writing to update you on the status of merger discussions between Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University — discussions which could join our institutions into an academic and research powerhouse that could make huge contributions to health and prosperity here and around the world. Texas Children’s Hospital is playing an integral role as these discussions progress. We have before us a unique opportunity for all three institutions, and others, to take a giant step forward in creating a world-class university and academic medical center that will serve our stakeholders, city and state well. We appreciate the enthusiastic expressions of support for these discussions that we have received from our various constituencies.

The advancement of education and research provides the primary impetus for the discussions, and we believe the resulting knowledge and discovery can improve health care and, in the process, create a dynamic engine of biomedical enterprise in the Texas Medical Center. The partnership would create a premier research university with unparalleled ability to translate new discoveries into innovative medical care that protects and restores the health of the patients we would serve, and of people around the world who would benefit from these treatments and technologies.

Many issues remain to be resolved. Positive solutions must be found, for example, for the new BCM hospital now under construction and the relocation and continuing operations of the Baylor Clinic. Texas Children’s Hospital and BCM — already primary partners in pediatric and obstetrical care — are working on identifying solutions. BCM also has important relationships with other institutions in the Texas Medical Center, including The Methodist Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Ben Taub General Hospital. A successful merger would include strengthening those collaborations.

The proximity of these and other institutions in the Texas Medical Center is rich ground for such partnerships.  In this age of bioscience, the results of that collaborative research offer breathtaking possibilities for the prosperity and prominence of Houston and Texas.

BCM, TCH and Rice are committed to this significant and worthy goal and we will continue to update you as the discussions evolve.