Del Oro Hospital Days

By Amin H. Karim MD

In the 1990s, there was a small 100 bed hospital called Medical Center Del Oro Hospital situated on Greenbriar Drive, behind where the Women’s Hospital of Texas is now. it was founded in 1970s by a group of 20 or so physicians and surgeons in the Texas Medical Center who were all affiliated as Non-Baylor Non UT physicians with the major hospitals like Hermann, Methodist and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. They wanted a hospital of their own free of politics as existed in the medical center hospitals with full time faculty and private physicians. (Seems they were ahead of their time). 
The hospital thrived and even added open heart surgery program when a fellow graduating from Dr. Michael E. DeBakey program at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Pedro Rubio went into practice and started a open heart surgery program at Del Oro. A couple of cardiologists like Dr. Mehdi Al Bassam and Matheethra Jacob later joined and did interventions in the cath lab with Dr. Rubio providing surgical backup which was mandatory in the early days of plain baloon angioplasty, some ending up with intimal dissections and needing urgent coronary bypass. Dr. DeBakey, as expected, did not like Pedro starting his own program at a neighboring hospital and potentially competing with him. But this is a free country, thank God, and there is little he could do about it. If Pedro was his resident he could have been solidly expelled from the program on the spot! Regardless, Pedro would often tell his encounters with Dr. DeBakey including one where Dr. DeBakey challenged him to car race on Fannin Street and they both did; Pedro, being smart, let the Professor win lest he was fired from the program! I did refer patients to Dr. Rubio and we got along quite well. Since I was one of the early trained fellows in Interventional Cardiology, would assist other cardiologists and teach them a thing or two of balloon angioplasty. 
I would refer some patients to Dr. Rubio but would refer the higher risk patients to Dr. Gerald Lawrie or late Dr. Jimmy Howell at the Methodist Hospital. Patients who came to me from India or Pakistan would prefer St. Luke’s Hospital, one due to Dr. Denton Cooley’s fame and second St. Luke’s offered a “package deal” for coronary bypass whereas Methodist would charge more (often much more). Hermann has it’s own international program too.

Del Oro was sold by the physician owner to HCA Hospital in the early 1980s. HCA was later acquired in the early 1990s by Columbia Hospital System. Later Columbia went bankrupt due to Federal action against them. (will write about that later). It was re-acquired by HCA. In mid 1990s it was shut down and demolished, the land being taken over by the Women’s Hospital of Texas for their expansion.
 
The photo above was at one of the Holiday parties in the 1990s with late Mr. Denzil Hamblin on the left and Pedro Rubio in the middle. Denzil was very experienced cath lab director and passed away in the early 2000s. Dr. Rubio met with a freak accident at home when he stumbled over the large box TV which a repairman had left inside his house near the front door. He broke his elbow joint and even underwent replacement but unfortunately could not longer operate. He had also pioneered laparoscopic cholecystectomy and wrote a book on it. He was honored by Royalty in Europe which he proudly displayed in his office and on his letter heads. He passed away a decade ago. 

May both rest in Peace. 

Nursing staff of the Del Oro Medical Center Hospital in 1994. Denzil, Joann and Lulu have passed away. May they rest in Peace. Joann was one of the most pleasant and kind nurse and liked by all.