A Great Organization

I had always heard of Ben Taub Hospital growing up in Houston, but I never imagined that this hospital for emergency care would end up saving my life. I never knew about its history or its ownership, but I learned after my visit there. The hospital is run by Harris Health System, which also operates LBJ Hospital, another facility for emergency care. It also operates dozens of other facilities, including community health centers, same-day clinics, multi-specialty clinics, a dental center and mobile health units.

I would like to write about what I remember during my multiple-week stay in the Ben Taub ICU, but I don't remember anything at all. Why? I suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) when I was the victim of a hit-and-run while bicycling on 4/15/22. This was a big day! Not only was it Good Friday, but it was also the first night of Passover and our 32nd anniversary. The story has a very happy ending, which I wrote about in the book I published in October, Happier Than Ever.

Yesterday, Fran and I went to a studio to be interviewed and photographed. Harris Health is hosting an event in late May, and the edited interview will be shared with those attending the dinner. Here is a picture of us being interviewed:

We attended the event last year and really enjoyed it. I am honored to be a part of it this year! I had not realized until then that Harris Health operated both emergency hospitals. I recently began to better understand that the organization runs the other facilities too. When I used to ride my bike along Brays Bayou, I would pass what is now the Quentin Mease Health Center. It transitioned in 2023 from being a community hospital. It offers treatment services for HIV and AIDS (the first free-standing clinic for this in the nation), dialysis and endoscopy services.

One of my favorite things about Ben Taub is that it employs someone who has become a very close friend of mine, Michael Segal. I had never met Michael, but I had heard a lot about his own tragedy. When he was at the University of Texas, he stopped, with his girlfriend, to get gasoline at a convenience store. He walked in to pay, but it was being burglarized. The robbers shot him in the head and put him in a freezer. I wrote about this in my book, and I heard about this because my wife shared the story with our children as a lesson to not get gasoline at night. Michael's challenges were great, but his story turned out very well as he overcame the great odds against surviving. He ended up marrying the girlfriend, graduating from UT (not on time!), and having a daughter and now a granddaughter. I had never met his wife, but she and Michael came to the party that we hosted in October. They both came to brunch at our home on the day before Christmas.

Michael works as a counselor at Ben Taub, helping the families of patients. He also hosts a weekly 30-minute online meeting that is open to both former patients and their family members. I participate almost every week. One young man, a student at Rice University who was the victim of an automobile hitting him while walking, has really impressed me with his recovery and how he is doing. He will be presenting in a video at the May event too.

Ben Taub Hospital saved my life, and I will always be thankful for that. It's a Level I trauma center that was born before me! Between this and all of its operations, Harris Health treats many uninsured people. According to the organization, its patients are 53% Hispanic and 24% Black. Harris Health is also working with Baylor College of Medicine, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and other educational institutions.

I was so glad to have Fran with me yesterday for the interview. In my book, I praised her efforts during my tragedy. The intended audience of my book was the loved ones of people who have medical tragedies. Their role is very important, and they need to understand that they can make a large difference. In the book, I encouraged them to be like Fran (or Sharon, Michael Segal's wife). Fran did a great job of sharing the caretaker's perspective yesterday. The edited version is not yet done, but I hope to get a copy of the video to share here.

Nobody should ever want to go to Ben Taub! But, if one does go there, one can expect tremendous care. Kudos to Harris Health for what it does for Houston!