Thomas Street Health Center
Photos by Dwight Andrews/Office of Communications
The Internal Medicine General Division is shown at the front doors of the historic Thomas Street Health Center. The center, which opened its doors in 1910 as the Hospital of the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad Company, served employees of the railroad and the community.
The hospital was purchased by Southern Pacific and became the Sunset Hospital until the early 1960s when it became a physical therapy clinic for MD Anderson. In the mid-1980s MD Anderson gave the building to Harris Health and it opened as the Thomas Street Health Center in 1986.
“UT Internal Medicine General Division and Infectious Diseases moved in so it wound up being a great teaching hospital,” said Philip Johnson, MD, Jerold B. Katz Family Distinguished Professor in General Internal Medicine, and Carolyn and William T. Deffebach Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine, General Division.
The Thomas Street Health Center, located at 2015 Thomas Street in Houston’s Northside, has been a pillar of the HIV/AIDS community with a rich legacy of providing care to the often marginalized population. The more than 100-year-old building has needed substantial structural upgrades to continue its use as a healthcare facility. Aside from the expense, the building is a historical landmark. The Thomas Street campus includes a 300-year-old oak tree that was alive when General Sam Houston and his army camped at the site days before the Battle of San Jacinto.
As a state historical landmark, the building has limitations and prohibitions to most construction and renovations. In May, Harris Health moved the Thomas Street Health Center to a newly renovated Quentin Mease Clinic located at 3601 North MacGregor Way.
Over the years, Thomas Street has gained national and international attention for its cutting-edge services and expertise in HIV/AIDS care. Harris Health has carried the name of Thomas Street to the new location. New space on the third and fourth floors will be named Thomas Street at Quentin Mease Clinic.