U.S. News ranks Houston hospital No. 1 in Texas for 14th year in a row

Topping the Charts

Houston Methodist is once again the top hospital in Texas. Photo via Houston Methodist

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2025 rankings of the best hospitals in Texas, and they prove that Houston is in good hands.

The esteemed Houston Methodist Hospital was rated the No. 1 best hospital in Texas for the 14th consecutive year, and the No. 1 hospital in the metro area. Eleven more Houston-area hospitals earned spots among the statewide top 35.

U.S. News annually evaluates 581 Texas hospitals to determine which meet the publication's rigorous standards and offer the best care for patients. Hospitals are also ranked among 15 specialties, including cancer, cardiology, heart and vascular surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, psychiatry, rehabilitation, diabetes and endocrinology, and more.

Houston Methodist also appeared on U.S. News' prestigious list of Honor Roll hospitals, consisting of 20 medical centers that are deemed the "best of the best" hospitals in the nation. No other Texas hospitals made the list, further proving that Houston Methodist takes exceptional care of its patients.

"This is a tremendous achievement for our physicians and employees who dedicate themselves every day to our patients," said Marc Boom, M.D., president and CEO of Houston Methodist, in a press release. "We take pride in these national recognitions but more importantly, these accolades reflect our unparalleled commitment to keeping our patients at the center of everything we do."

Houston Methodist earned several top-20 rankings across 11 of the 15 total specialties nationwide. It also earned national recognition for having the 7th best gastroenterology/GI surgery program, the 8th best pulmonology and lung surgery programs, and the 10th best diabetes and endocrinology programs in the country.

Elsewhere in Houston, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ranked as the No. 1 best cancer hospital in the nation for the 11th year in a row.

"We are honored to again be ranked as the nation’s top hospital for cancer care – a recognition that reaffirms our commitment to our shared mission to end cancer," said MD Anderson president Peter WT Pisters, M.D., in a release. "We are grateful to every one of our teammates, trainees, students, donors, volunteers, advocates and patients, whose unwavering dedication make it possible for MD Anderson to deliver outstanding patient care."

Other top-performing Houston-area hospitals that ranked among the best in Texas include:

No. 4 – Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center
No. 5 – Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital
No. 6 – Memorial Hermann Hospital
No. 8 – Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital
No. 9 – Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital
No. 12 – Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital
No. 13 – Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center (tied with Baylor Scott and White All Saints Medical Center - Fort Worth)
No. 21 – Houston Methdodist Baytown Hospital (tied with Methodist Hospital - Stone Oak in San Antonio and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth)
No. 25 – HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake in Webster (tied with St. Luke's Health - The Woodlands Hospital, Baylor Scott and White Medical Center - Round Rock-Lakeway, and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano)
No. 29 – University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (tied with Medical City Plano)

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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The merger that would have created the largest hospital system in Texas has been called off. Photo via memorialhermann.org

Major Texas hospital merger between Memorial Hermann and Baylor Scott & White called off

Discharged

Two Texas hospitals that were headed for union have called off their engagement plans, according to a joint statement. Dallas-based Baylor Scott and White and Houston-based Memorial Hermann announced in October that they were on track to combine forces following a letter of intent to merge and create a combined system.

The merger would have created a system with over 68 hospital campuses, 1,100 care delivery sites, almost 14,000 physicians, and serve almost 10 million patients each year, according to the October release. The more formalized agreement was expected this year.

"After months of thoughtful exploration, we have decided to discontinue talks of a merger between our two systems," the February 5 release states. "Ultimately, we have concluded that as strong, successful organizations, we are capable of achieving our visions for the future without merging at this time."

Jim Hinton, current CEO of Baylor Scott and White, was announced to be the system's CEO. Chuck Stokes, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann, was said to serve in the proposed office of the CEO, along with Baylor Scott and White president, Pete McCanna.

"We have a tremendous amount of respect for each other and remain committed to strengthening our communities, advancing the health of Texans and transforming the delivery of care," the release continues. "We will continue to seek opportunities for collaboration as two forward-thinking, mission-driven organizations."

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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Rice lands $15M U.S. Army award to launch next-gen wireless research center

defense funding

The U.S. Army Research Office has awarded Rice University $15 million to establish a new center for next-generation sensing and communications.

The five-year research center—dubbed the Center for Large Aperture Secure Sensing, Imaging and Communications (CLASSIC)—will unite researchers from universities and national laboratories to develop advanced antenna technologies for future wireless systems. Edward Knightly, the Sheafor-Lindsay Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice, will lead the center that “combines expertise in wireless networking, antennas, radar, artificial intelligence, circuits and physics to address growing demands on wireless systems,” according to Rice.

“The challenges we’re tackling require advances that span physics, hardware, communications and computing," Knightly said in a news release. “By combining those strengths in a single center, we can accelerate the development and demonstration of technologies that would not be possible through individual efforts alone.”

Joining Knightly will be Ashutosh Sabharwal of Rice, Sensen Li of the University of Texas at Austin, Hou-Tong Chen of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Danijela Cabric of UCLA, Josep M. Jornet and Tommaso Melodia of Northeastern University, Daniel M. Mittleman of Brown University, and Willie Padilla of Duke University.

Industry partners include Booz Allen Hamilton, Intel, Keysight, Lockheed Martin, MITRE, Northrop Grumman, Qualcomm and Raytheon.

CLASSIC researchers will investigate how large-scale antenna arrays (ELSAAs) can expand the capabilities of wireless systems where technology is limited.

ELSAAs use thousands of coordinated antenna elements to direct radio waves. Researchers aim to develop ways to use the technology to help maintain steady communication when signals are blocked or disrupted and to detect and generate detailed images of concealed objects.

Along with ELSAAs, the center will work to develop sensing techniques for threat detection, study wireless jamming and build resilient high-speed wireless networks. Researchers will ultimately validate the technology in labs and via drone-based field trials.

CLASSIC will also work on developing an AI-driven modeling framework that will simulate complex electromagnetic environments in real time.

“This award demonstrates Rice’s leadership in tackling complex national research challenges through collaboration across disciplines and institutions,” David Sholl, executive vice president for research at Rice, added in the release.

UH scores $18M NIH grant for chronic disease research

research funding

The University of Houston has received a coveted $18.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to launch a program to address the root causes of chronic disease.

Only 22 institutions nationwide receive this NIH award, and the 5-year process aligns with the newly established UH Health’s mission to expand healthcare innovations in Texas and beyond. The initiative will be housed in the UH Population Health department.

"This generous funding allows us to directly confront the root causes of chronic illness that place a heavy burden on so many families," Dr. Jonathan McCullers, vice president for health affairs at UH, said in a news release. "With the recent launch of UH Health, we have an unprecedented opportunity to translate scientific discovery into healthier outcomes for our communities by bringing together experts from across the university to improve health where it matters most.”

Through the program, UH researchers from different areas of expertise will work together to address the challenges of chronic illness by looking at biological, social and behavioral factors.

According to the university, chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, strokes and others are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in the U.S. They account for 90 percent of the nation’s $5.3 trillion in annual healthcare spending.

Bettina Beech, chief of population health and translational science at UH, serves as principal investigator for the program.

“Chronic disease management largely happens during the 8,700 hours each year that people are not visiting their healthcare provider,” Beech added in the news release. “While healthcare is indispensable, it only accounts for 20 percent of how health is created — genetics accounts for another 10 percent, and the other 70 percent is determined by behavior, social conditions and environment.”

With the funds from the grant, UH will also be able to expand research infrastructure, add to community partnerships, support complementary research, and invest in early-career investigators, according to the news release. UH also aims to develop solutions that could help ease the economic burden of chronic disease.

Report: Where Texas ranks among best and worst states to live in 2026

Texas Talk

After earning its worst-ever ranking last year, Texas has improved slightly on an evaluation of the best states to live, but it's still at the bottom of the pack.

Each year, WalletHub's analysts compare all 50 states using 51 livability metrics to measure their affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life, and safety. Factors that were weighed include the cost of living, homeownership rates, population and income growth rates, wealth gaps, public school system quality, road quality, crime rates, and many others.

The Lone Star State landed at No. 36 in 2026, making it the 15th worth state to live right now. That's on par with its 2024 ranking, and it's a two-spot improvement over its 2025 performance.

While Texas residents can brag about living in a state with the No. 1 highest number of restaurants per capita and the 7th best quality of life in the country, that's about it. Texas earned middling-to-poor scores among the four remaining livability rankings: safety (No. 33), affordability (No. 35), economy (No. 37), and education and health (No. 40).

Here's how Texas fared in other nationwide rankings in the study:

No. 27 – Income Growth
No. 30 – Housing Costs
No. 39 – Percentage of Population in Poverty
No. 42 – Percentage of Adults in Fair or Poor Health
No. 46 – Homeownership Rate
No. 49 – Percentage of Population Aged 25 and Older with a High School Diploma or Higher
No. 48 – Average Weekly Work Hours
No. 50 – Percentage of Insured Population

Texas has a lot of work to do to improve its livability for all of its residents, but especially for women, according to several other 2026 WalletHub studies. Texas is the fourth-worst state for women, the ninth-worst state for working mothers, and the seventh-worst place to have a baby based on limited access to maternal and pediatric healthcare.

At the very bottom of the report is New Mexico, ranking 50th overall, with Louisiana (No. 49), Mississippi (No. 48), Alaska (No. 47), and Arkansas (No. 46) rounding out the bottom five.

After holding on as the No. 1 best state to live for a few years in a row, Massachusetts now ranks No. 4 and was overtaken by Idaho (No. 1), New Jersey (No. 2), and Wisconsin (No. 3). New Hampshire rounds out the top five best states to live.

WalletHub's top 10 best states to live in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Idaho
No. 2 – New Jersey
No. 3 – Wisconsin
No. 4 – Massachusetts
No. 5 – New Hampshire
No. 6 – Wyoming
No. 7 – Utah
No. 8 – Minnesota
No. 9 – Pennsylvania
No. 10 – Florida

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