Texas Medical Center, Inc.

TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER, INC. 255 Texas Medical Center, Inc. and Teamsters, General Drivers, Warehousemen and Helpers Local Union No. 968 affiliated with International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Petitioner. Case 23-RC-3733 June 1, 1972 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING AND PENELLO Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held on February 22, 1972, before Hearing Officer John P. Cearley. Pursuant to the National Labor Relations Board's Rules and Regula- tions and Statements of Procedure, Series, 8, as amended, the Regional Director for Region 23 transferred the case to the Board for decision. Thereafter the Employer filed a brief with the Board. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: The Union seeks to represent all cashiers, parking lot 'attendants, maintenance men and busdrivers employed in the Employer's traffic division at the Texas Medical Center, Inc., excluding all other employees, inside and outside salesmen, office and clerical employees, guards, watchmen and supervi- sors as defined in the Act. The Employer urges that the petition should be dismissed on the grounds that the Board does not have, or in the alternative should not assert, jurisdiction. The Employer, Texas Medical Center, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation founded for the purpose of bringing together a number of medical facilities at one location to provide a comprehensive medical center for the Houston, Texas, area. To achieve this purpose, Texas Medical Center, Inc., donated land to various nonprofit hospitals to encourage their loca- tion within the Center. In addition to providing direction and planning for the medical center, Texas Medical Center, Inc., also carries out various support functions for the hospitals located there. For exam- ple, Texas Medical Center, Inc., provides ground maintenance, parking and traffic control, a child care center for the hospitals' employees, a common research computer center, and a central library. Representatives of the various hospitals sit on councils or boards which determine policy regarding these support functions. The specific activity of the Employer involved in this case is the traffic division. This division controls and maintains parking lots within the confines of the Medical Center. Previously, the individual hospitals maintained their own parking lots. When it became apparent that a cooperative effort among the hospitals in regard to traffic and parking would be more efficient, the hospitals by agreement vested this authority in Texas Medical Center, Inc. Member hospitals have representatives on the committee which determines traffic and parking policy. Parking fees collected are directed to pay the expenses of operating the traffic division, and any excess funds are eliminated by a downward revision of the parking fees. After careful consideration of all the relevant circumstances, and noting particularly that Texas Medical Center, Inc., was created to form a medical center composed of public and nonprofit hospitals and to serve as a central administration for the center established by it, we find that it is an integral part of these exempt nonprofit and public hospitals and shares their statutory exemption.' We therefore find that Texas Medical Center, Inc., is not an employer within the meaning of Section 2(2) of the Act. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition. ORDER It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. ' United Hospital Services, Inc, 172 NLRB No 188, Inter-County Blood Banks, 165 NLRB 252 197 NLRB No. 41