Texas Center for Infectious Disease

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TCID History

The State Tuberculosis Hospital opened in 1953 to care for patients from Central and South Texas. In 1955, 550 additional beds were added to the original 408 beds. 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. But the needs for tuberculosis hospital care in the US diminished with the introduction of more effective antibiotic therapy that could be managed on an outpatient basis, so most of the TB sanatoria closed during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The hospital was re-designated as the San Antonio State Chest Hospital, and in February 1972, 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. At the same time, many of the original 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 Department of Adult and Disability Services).

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 1996, the Womens Health Laboratory, located in Building 533 on the TCID campus, was separately designated within another DSHS organizational unit.

However, the aging facilities could no longer sustain accreditation, and conditional accreditation was determined until the facilities housing patients are replaced. So decisions were required to determine the Center’s future. 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. Planning for the replacement 75-bed facility, the largest new construction in the last fifty years for the purpose of inpatient care and treatment for TB patients, is progressing under the direction of the Texas Building and Procurement Commission. The TCID program remains fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The hospital is also a Medicare-certified Specialty Long Term Care Hospital.

Last Updated May 10, 2005