In Houston, tech and health are cures for the oil 'curse'

In the southern part of town, the Texas Medical

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Center covers two square miles (more than five square kilometers), with glass towers stacked between multiple medical schools, a children's hospital and a trauma center.

About 10 million patients a year seek specialist treatment at the center, where 110,000 people work, making it Houston's biggest employer.

And TMC's rapid expansion has helped to make the health sector the biggest job creator in the state as well, employing more than 11 percent of workers in Texas, compared to only 8.6 percent in energy.

Patrick Jankowski, vice president of the Greater Houston Partnership, told AFP the city had "no choice" but to bank on other industries.

"To provide jobs for people here, we had to grow healthcare, life sciences, tech," he said, noting that just 30 years ago, eight in 10 jobs in the city depended on the hydrocarbon industry.

https://phys.org/news/2019-05-houston-tech-health-oil-curse.html