Houston and Austin Hospitals: It's almost that time!

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

I'm midway through my next-to-last semester in NS, and am planning to start applying for residencies and internships. My wife and I are going to be relocating when we're done here (her job contract and my school), and we've narrowed it down to either Austin, Houston, or, if necessary due to the health of my parents, rural East Texas (near Tyler).

I'm very familiar with Tyler, but I'm looking for opinions, thoughts, warnings, accolades, what have you, on the various hospitals in Houston and Austin.

My wife is a long-time RN, with about 20 years or so in the ER as well as current experience as a trauma coordinator and manager. I hope to land a position in either PICU/NICU/or general peds floor.

We're both 40+, and both Houston and Austin have things in their favor.

Houston: We're fanatics over Astros baseball, and it'd rock to be able to get season tickets and go to the game all the time. We like the culture and food in Houston, and we like being near Galveston, since we're frequent cruisers.

Austin: The grandkids are in San Antonio, so we'd be reasonably close to them, but not so close that we'd be toooo convenient. Austin is a clean, nice, pretty city, away from Hurricanes. There are many nice small cities around there that we'd like, including Round Rock, home of the Astros AAA minor league team.

I've heard from the recruiter from Austin's Seton Hospital System already. I have sent emails and webforms to several of the ones in Houston, with no response so far.

So, who can give me some guidance? Peds and the N/Picu for me, hopefully, plus the likelihood of my wife finding a job that doesn't lose her too much salary compared to what she makes now would be great.

Thanks!

[tmd76]

I recently moved from Austin area, I worked in Austin, but commuted from a small town south of there. I worked at Brackenridge Hospital (the Regional trauma center), it is part of the Seton Network. The hospital was GREAT, I would never have left, but moved to be closer to family. I am now in Fort Worth. I like the hospital I am at, but would trade for Brack any day. Brackenridge is a Magnet hospital, the benefits are great, the people are great, and we had some great trauma doctors.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

Thanks for your input. The recruiter from Seton has been great so far. The proximity to my sweet, beautiful granddaughters is weighing heavily in Austin's favor.

How was your commute from the burbs?

[tmd76]

I lived in a small town (Lockhart) about 30-45 minute drive, more than I would want to commute anymore. Traffic wasn't too bad because I left so early in the morning, and then got home so late (I worked 7am-7pm), it was just a long drive. The cost of living in the towns around Austin is much cheaper than living in Austin. Buda is a nice little town with good schools and it would only be about a 20 min drive, depending on which way you go of course. Quite a few people I worked with lived in Leander, and they only took about 15-20 min to get to work, and that is a nice little town. Cost of living is more though.

Some good things about Seton network though: They have profit sharing, you make your own schedule, the benefits are excellent, they have a great internship program for new nurses, they are very nurse friendly, and because they are Magnet the nurses have an enormous amount of say in the policies, procedures, and equipment used.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Boratz,

I'm not going to offer hospital input, but - as a dyed in the wool Houstonian - I feel the need to advise you that going to the occasional Astros game is one thing & facing a daily H-town commute is a whole different THANG.

If you are exploring Houston hospitals, be sure to factor in the "where do I want to live" issue. If you don't live in a location where you can use surface streets (as opposed to the frequently bizarre & jammed freeways) and have multiple alternate routes --- it can be a soul crushing experience. Off shifts are no guarantee of easy traffic. Even our tollways get jammed. Working in Med Center facilities means using remote parking lots - and shuttling to the facility which adds about an hour a day to your commute.

I LOVE Houston!!! But I feel it is my obligation to warn others about our major challenge.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

Yeah, the traffic in Houston is one of the major negatives against the city. I've always lived in (and loved) modest little cities, and when we travel to Houston, I'm always amazed at the traffic. It's definitely something to consider.

I was reading that one of the hospitals was opening/recently opened a Pedi hospital/NICU in The Woodlands. I like it there, as well as in Sugarland, Stafford, Spring, and several other of the 'burbs.

I think that my ultimate decision will hinge on 3 things:

1. The health of my parents.

2. The system that offers me the best opportunity to intern in NICU or PICU, and

3. The ability for both my wife and me to get a good position.

Thanks for your input!

[hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN]

Houston: We're fanatics over Astros baseball, and it'd rock to be able to get season tickets and go to the game all the time. We like the culture and food in Houston, and we like being near Galveston, since we're frequent cruisers.

Avoid all the for-profit hospitals in our area. None of them, in mine and many others' opinions are worth your frustration. They're all HCA or Tenet and they all have issues.

Avoid the new doctor-owned hospitals. While they may be shiny and new, they are on very unstable financial ground at current and nurses have an incredibly diminished voice in the organization.

This means your best bets are the non-profit academic hospitals: Memorial Hermann, St. Luke's, Methodist, MD Anderson, and the county hospitals (Ben Taub, LBJ, UTMB).

You really can't go wrong at any of them. As for Astros, The Methodist Hospital System is the official medical sponsor and they offer employees discount tickets at select games throughout there year. I know of no discounted season-ticket plans for normal employees, however.