About TCID
The Texas Center for Infectious Disease (TCID) is a public health facility of the Texas Department of State Health Services for the treatment of Tuberculosis. TCID's Outpatient Clinic also serves as one of the state's Hansen's Disease clinics. TCID is organized to provide patient care, scientific investigation, and therapeutic and educational services in support of public health needs.
TCID is the only specialty TB hospital in the United States and the regional leader in the treatment of tuberculosis and Hanse's disease. Additionally, TCID hosts one of the four centers of excellence granted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Heartland National Tuberculosis Center.
Vision
Texas Center for Infectious Disease – the premier state and national destination for the treatment of tuberculosis and Hansen’s disease
Mission
The Texas Center for Infectious Disease will medically, behaviorally, and socially treat tuberculosis and Hansen’s disease patients and advance the nation’s prevention and treatment of infectious diseases through person-centered care, collaboration, research, and education.
TCID Core Values
Compassion
- Understand and empathize with the suffering of others
- Empower others to fulfill their maximum potential
Growth
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Cultivate an environment for individuals to flourish
Leadership
- Model Trust
- Practice accountability
Equality
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Promote mutual respect and opportunity
Our Story
The State Tuberculosis Hospital opened in 1953 with 408 beds to care for patients from around Central and South Texas. In 1955, 550 additional beds were added and by 1959, the 958-bed State TB Hospital was the largest among the 21 TB sanatoria in Texas and one of the largest TB sanatoria in the US.
The need for tuberculosis hospital care in the US diminished with the introduction of more effective antibiotic therapy that could be managed on an outpatient basis, prompting most TB sanatoria to close during the 1960s and 1970s. In February 1972, the State Tuberculosis Hospital was re-designated as the San Antonio State Chest Hospital, and its mission was changed to include treatment for chronic respiratory disease, utilizing 150 inpatient beds and extensive outpatient services.
In 1978, treatment of other medical and surgical disorders referred from Health Department affiliates was undertaken. Additionally, during this timeframe, many of the state TB hospital buildings were transferred to the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to be used for the San Antonio State School (now organized in the State Hospitals Section, Department of State Health Services) and referred to as the San Antonio State Supported Living Center.
In 1994, the Legislature approved a name change designating the facility the Texas Center for Infectious Disease and clearly included TCID in the organizational structure of the Texas Department of Health (now organized in the State Hospitals Section, Department of State Health Services).
In 1998, the Legislature authorized the Texas Department of Health to plan and construct new patient care facilities and to contract with the University of Texas System for medical management and transfer of a research laboratory to UTHSCSA. The 75-bed replacement facility, the largest new construction of its kind in over 50 years, started in 2009 and was completed in late 2010.
In April of 2011, TCID patients were transferred to the new, state-of-the-art hospital. TCID is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and is also a Medicare-certified Specialty Long Term Care Hospital.
Our Hospital
The Texas Center for Infectious Disease (TCID) hospital was designed to provide patients with the care and treatment needed to help curb the resurgence of TB in the U.S. and reduce the drug resistance of strains developing worldwide.
Florida and Texas operate special-purpose hospitals. Both hospitals are located on larger campuses in which other facilities and programs are located. Other inpatient units with special quality and safety controls and programs for TB inpatients operate as either separately organized units located within larger medical centers or patient units within the organization of large medical centers. These specially designated centers are listed below:
- Shattuck Center (MA)
- Harlem Hospital (NYC)
- A unit within the Chicago Health and Hospital System (IL)
- A unit within the University of Utah Medical Center
- A unit in the Colorado Medical Center in affiliation with the National Jewish Health (Denver, CO)
- A unit in a City of Los Angeles Health and Hospital System medical center (CA)
- A unit within the University of California-San Francisco affiliated with the Frances Curry Center
State or local prison systems operate other units within hospitals or units of hospitals contracted or affiliated for inpatient care and treatment of incarcerated inmates. The state of Texas operates such a unit in Galveston.
This one-of-a-kind facility is the first free-standing infectious disease hospital built in the U.S. in more than 50 years. The 60,000-square-foot, 75-bed hospital replaces aging facilities on the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) campus in San Antonio. The hospital also will house the Heartland National TB Center, a TB regional training and medical consultation center funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Building 501
A patient’s stay with TCID ranges from six months to two years, during which the level of isolation required varies. All patient rooms have been designed as airborne infection isolation rooms. The heating and air conditioning ventilation (HVAC) system allows air pressure in each room to be changed from “negative” to “neutral” when a patient is no longer contagious. This allows patients to remain in the same room throughout their stay while maximizing energy efficiency. Patient rooms also were designed to be more home-like than a typical hospital room to accommodate long stays.
To address TCID’s special care and treatment needs, specialized engineering and architectural design solutions were implemented to achieve the following goals:
- Support patient treatment and medical care
- Ensure the safety and security of patients and staff
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Maximize energy and operational cost efficiencies
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Incorporate sustainable finishes and mechanical systems that are easy to maintain
Complex infection and isolation protocols for both staff and patients were established and controlled while achieving a cost-effective, efficient, patient-centered environment that truly enhances the quality of their long-term care.
Construction began on TCID in February 2009 and was completed within budget and on schedule. A ceremonial ribbon-cutting took place on September 22, 2010.
A Comprehensive System
TCID boasts a virtual-interdisciplinary hospital concept with a patient-centered, culturally responsive, multi-disciplinary model. We manage hard-to-treat TB cases with long-term hospitalization that are compounded with alcohol/substance abuse, diabetes, homelessness, HIV, psychiatric illness, and resistant forms of TB. Additionally, TCID provides dental, optical, and hearing care to address co-morbidities through networking systems of over 100 contracts and approximately 25 shared programs.
In addition to our network systems, TCID also includes:
- Specialized TB Doctors - Physicians specialized and board-certified in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine.
- 24/7 Patient Care Nurses - Qualified and dedicated nursing and respiratory professionals that serve and support multiple health regions in the State of Texas for patients with Tuberculosis in the inpatient setting and Hansen’s Disease in the outpatient setting.
- Behavioral Health Team - The mission of the Behavioral Health Department is to promote a philosophy of physical, emotional, and mental well-being as we work within a cohesive interdisciplinary team to improve treatment outcomes and ameliorate suffering.
- Nutrition Services - Comprehensive nutrition services to patients with specialized care in a variety of areas including TB treatment nutrition support, diabetes nutrition management, and malnutrition recovery.