01/07/2026
For 60 years, Harris Health has been dedicated to improving lives through compassionate care. Throughout our anniversary year, we’ll feature a weekly moment from our history that reflects our ongoing mission to serve patients and our community.
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Several leaders credit author Jan de Hartog with a major role in the creation of Harris Health 60 years ago. Most call him a catalyst to changing the fabric of healthcare in Houston.
It was 1962 when de Hartog and his wife moved to Houston and began volunteering at Jefferson Davis Hospital. His work, entitled, The Hospital, was published in 1964 creating a huge sensation in the community about needed reform to the city-county public healthcare system. His accounts of poorly staffed and overcrowded conditions at the hospital put a public eye on indigent healthcare. Elected officials pushed for legislation to authorize the creation of a hospital district to better fund the care of indigent residents in Harris County.
After de Hartog’s book, a third referendum finally got approval from voters in Nov. 20, 1965. The Harris County Hospital District (now known as Harris Health) was finally a reality and on Jan. 1, 1966, it embarked on a new mission to provide high-quality healthcare to the community’s underserved residents.
