Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas began in 1903 as Good Samaritan Hospital, a two-story brick house converted into a private hospital. A year later, after being purchased by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the hospital became Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium. Fifty-five years later, that institution became Baylor University Medical Center. BUMC comprises five connecting patient hospitals and a cancer center; Baylor is the second largest nonprofit private hospital in the United States. The center, licensed for 1,509 beds, treated 408,581 patients in fiscal 1992. As a major referral center, it offers specialized treatment centers for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, digestive diseases, alcohol and drug abuse, psoriasis, asthma, hair loss, breast disease, eating disorders, neonatology, pediatrics, infectious diseases, and weight management.

Baylor University Medical Center is the hub of the Baylor Health Care System, a nonprofit network founded in 1981. The system comprises five North Texas hospitals: Baylor University Medical Center, Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, and Baylor Medical centers at Ennis, Garland, Grapevine, and Waxahachie.