Texas covers more than 268,000 square miles and 254 counties, so finding a hospital can mean a ten-minute drive in Houston or a two-hour drive in the Panhandle. This page explains how hospital care is organised across Texas, who licenses each type of facility, and how to match your situation to the right place. Our listings run from large academic campuses in the Texas Medical Center to small behavioral and rehabilitation hospitals in cities such as Abilene and Texarkana. Read the notes below before you call or drive.

How Texas Licenses and Oversees Its Hospitals

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) licenses general and special hospitals under Chapter 241 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, known as the Texas Hospital Licensing Law. Private psychiatric hospitals are licensed under Chapter 577. Freestanding emergency medical care facilities fall under Chapter 254, and standalone surgery centers are regulated as ambulatory surgical centers under Chapter 243. A hospital and a surgery center down the road can therefore answer to different rules.

A state license is the baseline. Most Texas hospitals also hold Medicare certification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, often through accreditation by The Joint Commission. Federal EMTALA rules require every hospital with an emergency department to screen and stabilize anyone who arrives with an emergency condition. Insurance and ability to pay do not change that duty.

Texas does not require a certificate of need to open a hospital. That helps explain why Houston, Dallas and San Antonio have so many competing systems and specialty hospitals. Trauma care is organised separately. The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) designates trauma facilities from Level I to Level IV, and the state is divided into 22 trauma service areas, each coordinated by a Regional Advisory Council. The state also designates stroke, neonatal and maternal levels of care.

Houston to El Paso: How Hospital Access Differs Across Texas

Houston anchors the state's hospital map. Our database lists 97 hospitals in the city and 134 across Harris County. Many of the largest campuses cluster in the Texas Medical Center, including CHI St. Luke's Health Baylor College of Medicine Medical Center at 6720 Bertner Avenue. Bay Area Surgicare Center in Webster serves the Clear Lake side of the county. Kindred Hospital Sugar Land in Fort Bend County and Cornerstone Hospital Conroe in Montgomery County cover the suburbs to the southwest and north.

North Texas is the second large cluster. In Dallas County, Baylor Medical Center at Uptown sits at 2727 Lemmon Avenue East, and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Irving is on North MacArthur Boulevard. Tarrant County includes Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation at Fort Worth on Harris Parkway and Baylor Orthopedic and Spine Hospital at Arlington on Highlander Boulevard. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Plano is on Alliance Boulevard, and Denton lists Mayhill Hospital.

South-central Texas follows the same pattern. Baptist Medical Center at 111 Dallas Street is one of the San Antonio listings in Bexar County. In Austin, St. David's Surgical Hospital, a campus of North Austin Medical Center, is on West Louis Henna Boulevard.

The border and the coast work differently. El Paso is a long day's drive from the next large Texas metro, so El Paso Children's Hospital on Alameda Avenue and the city's other hospitals serve a wide area, including parts of southern New Mexico. In the Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg Regional Medical Center in Hidalgo County is a major option. CHRISTUS Spohn Health System on Santa Fe Street in Corpus Christi covers the Coastal Bend.

West, Northwest and East Texas depend on regional hubs. Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene, San Angelo, Wichita Falls, Tyler and Waco each anchor a large rural area. Small-town critical access hospitals, which federal rules limit to 25 inpatient beds, handle emergencies and stabilize patients. Those patients are then moved by ground or air ambulance to a hub for cardiac surgery, neonatal intensive care or complex cancer care. Expect longer travel for specialists, and call ahead before driving a long distance.

Kinds of Hospitals in the Texas Listings and What Each One Does

The name of a facility usually tells you what to expect. These are the main types you will find in our Texas listings.

Match the facility to the need. A surgical hospital will not replace an emergency department, and a long-term acute care hospital will not take a walk-in patient. When in doubt, call the admissions or patient-access line and describe the situation in one or two sentences.

Before You Visit a Texas Hospital: Calls, Papers and Timing

Call the number in the listing and confirm the department, hours and visitor rules. Baptist Medical Center in San Antonio lists 210-297-1020, and East Texas Medical Center in Tyler lists 903-596-3844. Bring a photo ID, your insurance card, a current medication list and any advance directive. Ask for a cost estimate before scheduled procedures, since federal rules require hospitals to publish their prices online.

For a heart attack, stroke or serious injury, call 911 instead of driving. Crews take you to the nearest suitable designated facility, which saves time. Concerns about safety or quality of care can go to HHSC. In a mental health crisis, call or text 988.

Hospitals across Texas provide a full range of medical services from emergency and trauma care to specialized treatment programs, with public and nonprofit facilities playing a particularly important role in serving uninsured and rural populations throughout the state.

Hospitals locations are available in 282 cities across Texas. They are spread across 185 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, which serve as major medical centers with academic teaching hospitals, trauma centers, and specialized treatment facilities for the surrounding region.

Residents of Texas should know their nearest emergency room location before a medical crisis occurs, and should check their insurance network to understand which hospitals in the state are covered under their plan.

Hospitals by Counties

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Residents of Texas who face large hospital bills should ask about financial assistance programs before the bill goes to collections. Most hospitals are required to notify patients about charity care options, and applications can often be submitted months after a visit.

Browse Hospitals by county across Texas to find the nearest location.

Paying for Hospital Care in Texas: Districts, Assistance and Coverage

Hospital bills in Texas follow a mix of federal and state rules. Federal price transparency rules require hospitals to post their standard charges online. Nonprofit hospitals must also keep a written financial assistance policy under IRS rules. Ask for that policy at registration or at the billing office, ideally before a scheduled procedure rather than after the first statement arrives.

Texas also relies on local tax-supported hospital districts. Harris Health System in Harris County, Parkland Health in Dallas County, University Health in Bexar County and JPS Health Network in Tarrant County are public systems built to serve low-income residents. In border counties such as El Paso County and Hidalgo County, ask a hospital financial counselor which county or district program applies to your address. Eligibility often depends on where you live, so bring proof of residence, recent pay stubs or a tax return, and a photo ID.

Coverage questions often start with Medicaid. You can apply through YourTexasBenefits.com, by phone through 2-1-1, or at a local HHSC benefits office. Children and pregnant women qualify at higher income levels than most adults, and CHIP covers many children in families that earn too much for Medicaid. Adults without children or a disability generally do not qualify, because Texas has not expanded Medicaid. Marketplace plans through HealthCare.gov are the usual option for them.

Timing matters for scheduled care. Call two or three hospitals before an elective procedure. Ask about the facility fee, the surgeon's fee and anesthesia, and whether each is in your network. Rural patients should also ask about transfer costs, since ambulance transport between hospitals can be billed separately.

Texas Hospital Questions, Answered

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission licenses general and special hospitals under Chapter 241 of the Health and Safety Code. It also inspects them and investigates complaints. You can ask HHSC Health Care Regulation about a facility's license status and inspection history. For a second view, check whether the hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission or participates in Medicare, since both involve outside surveys. Ask the hospital which trauma, stroke or neonatal designations it holds. Those designations affect which patients ambulances bring there, and a facility should be able to state its level plainly.

Urgent care clinics treat minor problems such as sprains, mild infections and small cuts, and their prices are usually much lower. Freestanding emergency facilities are licensed under Chapter 254 and are staffed for true emergencies. They bill emergency-level rates, and some are out of network with your plan. Texas requires these facilities to give notices about their status and billing, so read the signs and ask at the front desk. For chest pain, stroke symptoms, severe bleeding or trouble breathing, call 911 rather than driving yourself. Paramedics can take you to a hospital with the right designation.

Start with the hospital's financial counselor and ask for the written financial assistance policy. Nonprofit hospitals must have one under federal tax rules. In larger counties, the public hospital districts described above run their own assistance programs. Counties outside a hospital district operate a County Indigent Health Care Program under Chapter 61 of the Health and Safety Code. Also check Medicaid and CHIP at YourTexasBenefits.com, or dial 2-1-1 for referrals. Texas has not expanded Medicaid to all low-income adults, so eligibility depends on your category, such as child, pregnant woman, parent or person with a disability.

Since 2020, Texas law has protected patients with state-regulated health plans from surprise out-of-network bills for emergency care. It also covers certain out-of-network providers who treat you at an in-network hospital. The federal No Surprises Act added similar protections in 2022, including for many employer plans that state law does not reach. For those services you should owe only your in-network cost-sharing. If a bill looks wrong, request an itemized statement and compare it with your insurer's explanation of benefits. Complaints about state-regulated plans go to the Texas Department of Insurance.

For voluntary admission, call the hospital's intake line. A clinician usually does an assessment first to decide the right level of care. Listed examples include Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Fannin Behavioral Center in Beaumont, Abilene Behavioral Health, Mayhill Hospital in Denton and River Crest Hospital in San Angelo. In a crisis, call or text 988. Chapter 573 of the Health and Safety Code allows emergency detention when a person is an immediate danger to self or others, and it is arranged through law enforcement or a judge's order. Your local mental health authority can also help arrange services.

Contact the hospital's health information management or medical records office, or use its patient portal. Most hospitals ask for a signed authorization and a photo ID. Under HIPAA, the hospital must respond within 30 days and may charge only a reasonable, cost-based fee. You can ask for an electronic copy or for records to be sent directly to another doctor. Request records early if you are being transferred to a rehabilitation hospital such as the one in Texarkana or Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation at Fort Worth, so therapists have your full history from the first day.