January 4, 2017

1517clearlake640Congratulations Texas Children’s Health Center Clear Lake for celebrating 10 years of expanded dedicated service to our patients and their families in the southeast Houston area. The Clear Lake Health Center began in a small 2,000-square-foot location in 2001 and offered five services. In 2006, the Health Center expanded to a new location with 11,250 square feet. The extra space allowed for additional services to be added, including diagnostics and therapy. In 2015, an additional 3,000 square feet was added allowing us to see even more patients and families.

Staffed by Texas Children’s therapists, physicians, surgeons, advanced practice providers, and specialized clinical staff, the center provides specialty care and treatment including:

  • Speech Therapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Cardiology
  • Diabetes and Endocrine
  • Neurology
  • Gastroenterology
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Otolaryngology
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Pulmonary
  • Rheumatology
  • Urology
  • Audiology
  • Ultrasound
  • EEG
  • Cardiac Echosonography
  • EKG/Holter monitors
  • X-Ray

Located at 940 Clear Lake City Blvd., Suite 200 in Webster, the Health Center is one of four Health Centers in the greater Houston area. Those centers are strategically located in Clear Lake, Cy-Fair, Kingwood and Sugar Land. Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus Outpatient Services and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands Outpatient Facility also offers outpatient specialty services.

For more information about Texas Children’s Health Center Clear Lake click here.

1517elsa640On December 21, Texas Children’s employees and staff got a chance to relax and de-stress by stopping by The Auxiliary Bridge to pet Elsa, Texas Children’s fun-loving pet therapy dog.

While Elsa spends a lot of quality time providing therapy to patients during their hospital stay, she is also making a positive impact on employees and staff, and everyone else she comes in contact with.

“Elsa is kind, gentle and full of love,” said Texas Children’s Chaplain Johnna Faber. “I had been dealing with some difficult issues for parents and patients that day, and being with Elsa took all of the tension and stress away from my thoughts for a few moments.”

Petting a kind animal has been known to relieve stress and help people feel more relaxed and optimistic, which was palpable from the many smiles and laughter Elsa brought to employees. Besides petting Elsa, staff also got a chance to take a selfie with the hospital’s beloved therapy dog.

Texas Children’s Health and Wellness team organized this event which was part of the 21 Days of Happiness Challenge that focuses on incorporating positive behaviors to increase happiness and life satisfaction.

1517muscal175Pediatric Rheumatologist Dr. Eyal Muscal recently served as a co-director for the inaugural International Pediatric Autoimmune Encephalitis Treatment Consensus Meeting.

Held in November at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., this meeting brought together pediatric experts from around North America to work on achieving a number of goals for children with this rare immune condition.

Goals included the standardization of diagnosis, as well as the development of treatment roadmaps, among other topics. Along with meeting co-directors from Duke and DC children’s hospitals Muscal will spearhead the development of consensus treatment plans for autoimmune encephalitides.

Muscal is a pediatric rheumatologist with a Master’s of Science Degree in clinical research whose activities include patient care, fellowship education and clinical research. His research interests include neurologic manifestation of systemic autoimmune disorders (primarily SLE, APS, vasculitis, and autoimmune encephalitis). His interest in immuno-neurology has led to a secondary appointment in the child neurology division at Baylor College of Medicine.

Muscal has received grant funding and research awards for pilot research studies. He is also the pediatric rheumatology program director and recent co-lead of a national pediatric rheumatology mentoring project. Muscal is involved in Texas Children’s Pediatrics Fellows’ College.

122716toby350pgTexas Children’s patients were recently treated to a friendly visit from a guest therapy dog named Toby. During his stay, the 160-pound white and brown fur ball let patients pet, pat and hug his thick neck. His presence garnered smiles and a lot of wows.

The St. Bernard’s owners, Stanley D. Stearns, Jr. and Judith Stearns, stopped by Texas Children’s Hospital on December 14 to share Toby with the children and to deliver the first installment of a half-a- million-dollar donation to the Cancer Center.

The Stearns family made the donation in support of the hospital’s Osteosarcoma Research Program. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive bone cancer that often times is deadly in children and adults. Texas Children’s is performing cutting edge research on osteosarcoma and has made significant inroads into better understanding the biology of this devastating disease.

“We are thrilled that Mr. and Mrs. Stearns have decided to work with us and donate to this critically important cause,” said Dr. David Poplack, director of Texas Children’s Cancer Center. “This will greatly help in our quest to perform cutting edge research for this disease.”

Toby and the Stearns live in Houston, Texas and Gig Harbor, Washington and began their interest in osteosarcoma when their last St. Bernard, Gabriel, passed away from canine osteosarcoma. To learn more about Toby and what services he provides, visit his Facebook page.

1517urgentcare640Texas Children’s Hospital is proud to announce the opening of its seventh Texas Children’s Urgent Care clinic. Located at 28070 Highway 290, Suite 100, Texas Children’s Urgent Care Fairfield offers high-quality, efficient and affordable pediatric care at a convenient northwest Houston location.

“We are very excited to open our seventh location,” said Kay Tittle, president of Texas Children’s Pediatrics. “Our Urgent Care sites provide an immense resource for the communities we serve and I am looking forward to expanding the services we offer children and families in the Cypress area.”

Texas Children’s Urgent Care Fairfield is open Monday through Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. The clinic is staffed by board certified pediatricians and advanced practice providers who have privileges at Texas Children’s Hospital. Clinic staff diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments, illnesses and conditions, including: asthma, strep throat, fever, minor burns, influenza, ear infections, allergic reactions and more. Procedures provided include: antibiotic injections, breathing treatments, fracture care and splinting, IV (intravenous) fluids, lab services, laceration repair and X-rays onsite.

Oftentimes, families turn to an emergency center after hours, on weekends or perhaps even during the day, when a significant event occurs with their child. Though the emergency center is the right place for some incidents or ailments, the majority of the time minor illnesses can and should be treated at a pediatric urgent care facility.

Texas Children’s Urgent Care accepts major insurance plans and has self-pay rates, which are less than emergency center charges, and there are no hospital fees. A complete list of insurance plans is available on our website. Texas Children’s Urgent Care specializes in after-hours care, but does not replace the need for children to have a general pediatrician. Routine physical exams and vaccinations are services that should be obtained from a general pediatrician, and these services are not available at Texas Children’s Urgent Care.

Texas Children’s Urgent Care has six additional convenient locations:

  • Cinco Ranch located at 9727 Spring Green Blvd., Suite 900 Katy, TX 77494
  • Memorial located at 12850 Memorial Drive, Suite 210 Houston, TX 77024
  • The Woodlands located at 4775 W. Panther Creek Drive, Suite C300 The Woodlands, TX 77381
  • Main Campus located at 6621 Fannin, Suite 2240 Houston, TX 77030 (11 a.m. to 11 p.m.)
  • Pearland located at 2701 Pearland Parkway, Suite 190, Pearland, TX 77581
  • The Vintage located at 10420 Louetta Road, Suite 104, Houston, TX 77070