Uniting Faith, Medicine and Healthcare: A 57-Year History of ISH

By John Graham

May 1st, 2012

I am pleased to announce we now have in print the story of our 57 year history in the Texas Medical Center – Uniting Faith, Medicine, and Healthcare: A 57-Year Hisotry of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center.  The author, Cathey Nickell, has done an outstanding job of interviewing dozens of people and putting their oral history together with recorded minutes of meetings and other documents to create a most enjoyable read.  

A quote on the back of the book by Denton Cooley, M.D., says it all: “From a career of sixty-plus years, I can say unequivocally that patients with strong faith consistently recover better than those without spiritual strength.  This history of the Institute for Spirituality and Health offers a wealth of knowledge and insight into this fact.”  

Those who are interested in receiving a copy may do so but contacting Jerri Doctor, Office Manager, at 713-797-0611.  You will be glad you did.  As I say in the introduction, “The book you are about to read is a history of one of the most important institutions that contributed to the restoration of the union of medicine and spirituality in American medicine.  Other institutions played a role but the story of the Institute of Religion is particularly noteworthy because it took place in the Texas Medical Center, which today has become the largest medical complex in the world.”  You will also “encounter in this book the names of many prominent men and women of Houston who gave their hearts and money to ensure the success of the Institute for Spirituality and Health, as we are now called.”