Harris Health System's Corporate Communications Department is the primary source of contact for the news media, to coordinate the release of important health, medical and operational information to the public.
24/7 Media
Corporate Communications staff members are readily available during normal business hours. However, you may also reach the news on-call representative — 24 hours a day, seven days a week — by leaving a brief voice message at 713-566-6430. Your voice message automatically pages the on-call representative, who will return your call to assist.
Access Rules
Media representatives and personnel from partner institutions must secure approval from Harris Health Corporate Communications before arranging a media interview inside any system facility, including hospitals, clinics or any other property operated or controlled by Harris Health.
A staff member from Corporate Communications (or designee from an affiliated institution) must be with a member of the media to be present and working inside a system facility.
In compliance with the HIPAA privacy law, patients who agree to be interviewed or filmed must complete an Authorization for Release of Information (Spanish form) prior to any recording. If the form is not complete by the time of the interview, the interview cannot take place.
To ensure the confidentiality of our patients and their protected health information, all media reporters, videographers and photographers who enter a Harris Health building without clearance and escort from a member of the system's communications staff (or designee from an affiliated institution) will be restricted from recording on site and escorted outside the facility.
Harris Health reserves the right to deny media entrance to its facilities if media presence will be disruptive to the patient care environment, business operations or if the above requirements are not met.
Proper Attribution
We request that news segments or interviews involving Harris Health staff that take place on system property identify the personnel or the property correctly and completely.
For example:
“Dr. Smith, a Baylor nephrologist practicing at Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital …”
or
“Hospitals, such as Harris Health LBJ, are experiencing a surge of non-emergent patients in their emergency centers …”