April 21, 2015

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A grey sky and clouds didn’t stop Texas Children’s employees and Houston-area residents from making the 3rd annual Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Marathon Foundation Family Fun Run at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus a huge success.

42215FAMILYFUNRUNinside640On April 11, 3,500 people of all abilities, including those needing walkers and wheelchairs, participated in the non-competitive 1K and 3K courses. Following the race, participants enjoyed the Family Fun Zone, presented by H-E-B, which featured more than 40 attractions including food, refreshments, activities and games.

  • Get a first-hand look at the fun by flipping through a photo gallery of the event below.
  • Race day photos from Spring Action Photos are available for order by clicking here. You can search by your bib number or last name to find your photos (if any exist). There are also hundreds of unidentified photos to sort through in the Lost & Found section. You can also browse the entire event, if desired.
  • Take a look at our Facebook photo album from Saturday by clicking here.

Gallery:

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Green is the new black and Texas Children’s is taking note. As the nation celebrates Earth Day, Texas Children’s Green Team is doing its part to decrease the environmental footprint of the organization.

Here a list of events you can join during Earth Day – Wednesday, April 22.

Texas Children’s Green Team, a team of environmentally-minded leaders, employees and staff, has embarked on an effort to help Texas Children’s go green.
The Green Team has been pivotal in helping the organization go green by taking on cost and energy saving initiatives:

  • Installed LED lamps in all of the Pavilion elevators
  • Reduced campus energy use intensity by 23 percent through the implementation of many Energy Conservation Measures
  • Replaced 5,500 50-watt spot lamps with 7-watt LED lamps. Each LED energy use is 43 watts lower than the standard lamp.
  • Reduced chilled water consumption, used for air conditioning, usage by 20 percent, which gives us better temperature control
  • Reduced steam consumption, used for heating, by 25 percent and lowered the heating water temperatures from 180 degree Fahrenheit to 130 degree Fahrenheit greatly reducing the steam consumption.
  • Use daylight harvesting to reduce bridge lighting requirements. When there is enough light from outside the bridge lights are turned off
  • Automatically turn off lighting and HVAC for unoccupied spaces using the building automation system to schedule the on and off times
  • Installed automatic lighting controls in all environmental services closets
  • Renegotiated our electricity contract to reduce cost by $670,000 annually

Over all, Texas Children’s Hospital has saved $10.3 million in energy cost since 2008.

Here are some tips for you to join the Texas Children’s green initiative yourself:

  • Power off – If you have a Texas Children’s computer, be sure to power off at the end of the day to conserve energy. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 75 percent of the computer’s energy use comes from the monitor. Just turning off your monitor any time you won’t be at your computer for an extended period of time can save.
  • Think before you print – Not everything needs to be printed. Consider organizing your files on your computer and cut back on filing papers when appropriate. Use the back of old print outs for note taking to save paper.
  • Eat green – Bringing lunch to work in reusable containers is likely the greenest (and healthiest) way to eat at work. Getting delivery and takeout almost inevitably ends with a miniature mountain of packaging waste. But if you do order delivery, join coworkers in placing a large order (more efficient than many separate ones). Also, bring in a reusable plate, utensils, and napkins.
  • Minimize trash – Consider using reusable cups and mugs throughout the day as you’re filling up on water and coffee instead of plastic bottles or disposable cups.
  • Ride green – Coming soon, you’ll be seeing green as Texas Children’s debuts its new propane-fueled shuttle buses, which significantly lower emissions.

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Nearly 800 guests attending Texas Children’s Hospital’s The Forum Luncheon in The Woodlands on April 14 were treated to the very first look into what will be the only dedicated pediatric hospital serving communities north of Houston when the doors fully open in 2017.

Attendees previewed a virtual, behind-the-scenes tour of the Emergency Center, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), operating rooms, inpatient rooms and the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic through the eyes of three Texas Children’s patient families: Bennett Rhymes, Skylin Parker and Noah and Sammy Folloder. Each of the first-hand accounts highlighted the expert care Texas Children’s provided to them, which will soon be available closer to home for these families and the 380,000 children in the area.

42215WoodlandsForuminside640“Our new hospital is being designed, top to bottom, with children and families in mind,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, president of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. “I am really excited about all that Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands will have to offer when we open our doors.”

Ground was broken on the new community hospital 15 months ago and progress is being made on the structure every day. Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands building project is part of the Promise campaign. The goal of the comprehensive $475 million fundraising effort is to help ensure the future of Texas Children’s as a leader in pediatric and women’s health.

To date, $26 million has been raised for Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. The following donors were recognized at last week’s forum for their significant gifts:

  • Anadarko
  • The Howard Hughes Corporation
  • Woodforest National Bank
  • Dawn and Richard Rawson

“Through the Promise campaign, each of you in this audience will have a unique chance to see the amazing work that has resulted from your philanthropy every time you drive by this new hospital,” Dawn Rawson said at the forum. “Every time you see a child walking through those doors, you will know that you helped make that child’s care possible.”

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Texas Children’s has launched a new website dedicated to innovative epilepsy research conducted at the Cain Foundation Laboratories and other test centers around the world.

The Cain Labs located in the Jan and Dan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s is named after Houston philanthropists Gordon and Mary Cain, who established a foundation to fund pediatric epilepsy research programs at Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine.

42215Cainlabinside640Under the leadership of Dr. John Swann, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Baylor and a former president of the American Epilepsy Society, researchers in the Cain Labs have made remarkable advances in our understanding of the molecular causes that underlie persistent seizures and cognitive and behavioral disabilities in children with intractable epilepsy.

You can visit the Cain Labs website at cainlabs.texaschildrens.org. (The website is best viewed with Chrome, IE8/9 or other modern browsers.)

“This newly designed website showcases our world-class researchers and their latest life-changing discoveries in epilepsy that occur every day inside the Cain labs,” said Texas Children’s Digital Marketing specialist Dr. Raji Natarajan, who designed the website and is a scientific research writer for the Cain Labs and NRI websites.

The epilepsy research website also includes a repository of helpful information about epilepsy treatment programs for patients and their families, including a link to Texas Children’s Level IV Epilepsy Center.

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Texas Children’s values your total well-being. As a result, the Wellness Department offers various onsite wellness services, programs and discounted community offerings. To better inform you about such opportunities, Texas Children’s is launching a Wellness Ambassador Program comprised of employee volunteers who will serve as an extension of the Wellness Department. The responsibilities of a wellness ambassador include:

  • Completing one hour of service work a month for a year. Service work includes forwarding emails, making announcements in your staff meeting, and serving as a point of contact for questions related to onsite wellness offerings from your department.
  • Promoting onsite wellness offerings to your coworkers.
  • Receiving annual training and the opportunity to develop personal and professional skills.
  • Having access to wellness perks and invitations to community wellness events.
  • Being the first to know about upcoming events, programs and challenges through monthly newsletters.

Below you will hear from long-time wellness program supporter, Linda Younger from Medical Staff Services. She will tell you about her personal wellness journey, why she makes it her mission to share wellness information with her co-workers and why you should too.

If you have questions about the Wellness Ambassador, please contact Wellness Coordinator Jenna Sneed. If you are ready to enroll in the program, please click here to fill out the 2015 Wellness Ambassador Enrollment questionnaire. You also can nominate someone, by clicking here. Enrollment and nomination period closes Friday, June 5.

Thank you for helping your coworkers thrive and enjoy Linda Younger’s story!

Q: Why are you passionate about wellness?
A: I am a breast cancer survivor since June 30, 2006. That was the first thing that made me very aware of my mortality. I am also 66 years old now. The older I get the more funerals I attend. I am a very involved person both in and outside of work. I even play in a rock band “Mydolls!” I had a granddaughter on August 3, 2013. That definitely sealed the deal. I’m in it for the long haul now. It’s hard to stay in shape, but I am determined to do my best to keep living the kind of active life I desire.

Q: Tell us a bit more about your personal wellness journey.
A: I came from Louisiana where eating and drinking with family and friends is the culture. It wasn’t uncommon to plan dinner while eating lunch! Being “healthy” was something that wasn’t on my radar screen. Through the programs offered at Texas Children’s and community support, I realized that wellness is my personal journey-from the inside out. By engaging in an active lifestyle and eating food that fuels my body, I’m able to energetically show up for my family and friends.

Q: Why do you think it’s important to help others take care of themselves?
A: Everyone needs a little reminder once in a while. At Texas Children’s, we are fortunate to have so many opportunities either onsite or discounts to community offerings. I take advantage of them all and encourage co-workers to do the same. The Weight Watchers group is a wonderful support network, services through the onsite Employee Medical Clinic are incredibly convenient, and the healthy options and new monthly cooking class at The Fresh Bistro are extraordinary!

Q: How do you motivate coworkers to practice healthy behaviors without being the food police?
A: I invite them to walk with me around the hospital during a break or after work, participate in the different fundraising events like the Komen Race for the Cure and March of Dimes, and occasionally bring healthy snacks to share with them.

Q: Will you sign up to be a Wellness Ambassador?
A: Yes! I hope others do as well. I can see the small change in my little group. Imagine what it would feel like if more people banded together to help support each other.

Watch the newest “I Am Texas Children’s” video featuring employee Justin Ferley in Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus – Pediatric Radiology.

“It’s rewarding to care for radiology patients at West Campus,” Ferley said. “They always leave happier than they come in. Not many hospitals are like that.”

Check out Ferley’s video, and find out how you and your coworkers can be featured in the “I Am Texas Children’s” section on Connect.

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Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser, Jr. spoke at a Texas Surgical Society meeting on April 11 in Galveston. Fraser, who is the son-in-law of Dr. Denton A. Cooley, talked about the hospital’s 60-year history of pediatric heart surgery and the roles played by Cooley and himself.

In 1954, Texas Children’s Hospital opened, and soon thereafter, Cooley initiated a surgical program for children with congenital heart disease. Initial efforts focused on palliative procedures, including the Blalock-Taussig Shunt, followed by early intracardiac repairs using the heart-lung bypass machine.

Texas Children’s was quickly established as a center for the development of surgical techniques for children with all forms of cardiac disease. In 1995, an integrated, dedicated children’s heart center was developed by Fraser, adding additional focus on complex repairs, particularly in newborn babies.

Since the inception of the program in 1954, there have been more than 27,000 cardiac operations performed at Texas Children’s, including successive increases in case volume in each decade. In the present era, more than 20 percent of patients are newborns and 50 percent are infants.

To provide every available therapeutic option, a pediatric cardiac transplant program was initiated in 1984 and to date, more than 325 pediatric heart transplant operations have been performed. In 2001, a lung transplant program was opened and to date, 165 pediatric lung transplants have been performed.

Each decade has seen increasing case volumes and complexity, but with steadily improved mortality rates, now consistently <2 percent and specifically <1 percent in 2014, which is well above the national average of 3 percent.