World-Class Diabetes and Endocrinology Care in Houston
Mandeep Bajaj, MBBS, Chief of Medicine, Baylor Medicine–Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism, Baylor College of Medicine. Raymon Grogan, MD, FACS, Chief of Endocrine Surgery, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine.
Around 12 percent of the population of Texas has been diagnosed with diabetes—about 2.8 million people. In Harris County, that number is even higher, 13 percent, about two points higher than the national average. Given that the American Diabetes Association estimates that around 34 percent of the population in Texas likely has prediabetes, the need for expert diabetes and endocrine care in Houston has never been greater. That’s why Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center has pushed to advance its Diabetes & Endocrinology service line and has now been nationally recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 32 hospital in the country for this specialty.
Unlike some consumer rankings that are based solely on subjective experience, USNWR uses substantive metrics to determine the highest-ranking hospitals out of around 700 facilities evaluated. The Diabetes & Endocrinology program at BSLMC has proven excellent outcomes for patients across the board. This ranking is even more impressive given our high volume of patients and high rate of treating the most challenging cases.
This ranking acknowledges outstanding patient outcomes at BSLMC in endocrinology and diabetes, including patient survival and quality of care. Additional data, such as the ratio of nurses to patients and patient satisfaction, objectively demonstrate that we are among the top hospitals providing endocrinology and diabetes care in the U.S.
Multiple strong teams and programs contribute to our ranking.
Our diabetes program, which includes a team of endocrinologists, diabetes educators and nutritionists, works to provide inpatient diabetes management in collaboration with other service lines, including cardiology, cardiac surgery and our transplant teams.
Our endocrinology surgical team performs procedures that are only done in a handful of centers worldwide. BSLMC is the only hospital in Texas—and one of only five high-volume centers in the U.S.—to offer the transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) that allows for scarless thyroid and parathyroid removal. We also offer radiofrequency ablation for thyroid nodules, as well as minimally invasive endoscopic pituitary surgery.
The thyroid and parathyroid multidisciplinary team at BSLMC is composed of experts who can treat complex cases of benign and malignant thyroid disease, parathyroid conditions and adrenal disorders.
Our pituitary center is the largest and busiest in Texas. We care for all pituitary-related disorders, including tumors of the pituitary and sellar region. Our multidisciplinary team includes endocrinologists and neurosurgeons developing clinical trials that may establish new therapies for neuroendocrine tumors.
The quality of patient care always comes down to the providers. At BSLMC, our providers are also part of Baylor College of Medicine, meaning they are leaders in research and education in their fields.
Many of our BSLMC physicians have received national and international recognition for their contributions to endocrinology and diabetes research, as well as patient care. Several also serve in leadership roles in national voluntary organizations dedicated to the care of patients with diabetes and endocrine disorders. One of us (Dr. Bajaj) is the president-elect of the American Diabetes Association, which also recently awarded him the Outstanding Physician-Clinician in Diabetes Award—more proof that our peers on a national level see our BSLMC team as national leaders.
When referring providers send patients to BSLMC, they can feel confident knowing they will get the best care in the region, along with having access to treatments no one else can offer.
We offer a wide spectrum of procedures and services while working together with our nursing staff to provide compassionate patient care. Because we’re an extremely high-volume program, our physicians have the experience to treat the most complex patients and conditions at every stage of disease. Our multidisciplinary teams work together to care for patients with complex disorders, and we are dedicated to research that moves forward advances in treatment. We will always remain on the leading edge of research because that is part of our DNA as a program affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and founded by highly innovative surgical leaders.
If you’re a patient struggling with diabetes or the loved one of someone with an endocrine disorder, rankings don’t mean much if you don’t feel like you’re getting the care your family needs. At BSLMC, our rankings signify that patients receive high-quality care in a system that prioritizes patient safety and comfort above all else.
We feel confident that when patients choose BSLMC for their diabetes or endocrinology care, they’re choosing a place where they’re going to get the best possible care available in the country.
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