February 7, 2017

Since leaders opened the doors at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus more than five years ago, they have held regular town hall-style meetings to keep their employees informed of the hospital’s progress, challenges and goals as well as to gain feedback from employees and answer their questions.

“Town halls are an opportunity to both provide information and solicit feedback,” said West Campus President Matt Schaefer. “It’s important that we take time to both ‘talk to’ and ‘talk with’ the team of talented folks across our campus.”

View photos below from the first of a series of town hall events and watch the video below to get a glimpse of West Campus’ accomplishments in 2016 and their goals and aspirations for this year.

Walking into a conference room with a standing-room-only crowd, Schaefer kicked off the first town hall meeting at West Campus on February 1 with a congratulatory statement and a thank you for making 2016 “a wildly successful year.”

“2016 was a fantastic year any way you look at it – we grew our capabilities, served more patients than ever, had stronger than ever patient satisfaction and continued high employee engagement results, and grew our team all at the same time,” he said. “But, we recognize there were various challenges each of you overcame to meet our goals and we thank you for that.”

Director of Support Services Amy Cress, director of Outpatient and Clinic Support Services Jennifer DiPrisco and director of Patient Care Services Jennifer Sanders took the stage next and shared plans for continued growth in 2017 and that there always will be challenges to overcome but that because of West Campus’ phenomenal staff anything is possible.

“The fuel to our success is you,” Cress said. “With your help, we, like in years past, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.”

Cress and the other leaders went on to outline West Campus’ 2017 goals, which include:

  •  Opening the Bellaire Health Center in April
  •  Expanding clinic space on the third and fourth floors of the campus’ Medical Office Building
  •  Opening a new 22-bed critical care unit in October
  •  Starting the planning process for construction of an on-site Texas Children’s Urgent Care next to the hospital’s Emergency Center
  •  Additional town hall meetings are scheduled this week at the Sugar Land, Clear Lake and Cy-Fair Health Centers.
January 31, 2017

Five Texas Children’s nurses and two patients from Texas Children’s Cancer Center will get a chance of a lifetime to watch the football game at NRG Stadium this Sunday, thanks to the generosity of Texas Children’s community partners, Direct Energy and Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels Program.

Surrounded by colorful balloons and football-themed décor, Texas Children’s and Direct Energy hosted a pep rally on Tuesday at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women to present five heroic nurses with a pair of football tickets to Sunday’s game.

Evelyn Barren, a staff nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, was surprised to learn that she was one of the winners. When asked who she’d like to bring to the game, she had one special person in mind.

“I have a friend who works at Texas Children’s whose daughter is performing at the game with her high school,” Barren said. “Since she doesn’t have a Super Bowl ticket, I will surprise her with one so she can see her daughter perform at the game.”

The selected winners were among the recipients of Texas Children’s 2016 Nursing Excellence Awards. Click on the names below to read their heroic stories:
Amy Aaronson
Evelyn Barren
Colleen Brand
Leah Garza
Christopher Sturrock

Also, two Cancer Center patients – Eden Green and Cristian Beasley – are going to the championship game thanks to Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels program, a nonprofit organization committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer.

Eden, an 11-year-old rare tumor patient, and Cristian, a 16-year-old leukemia patient, both have trudged a long road fighting their disease. Each has undergone at least one surgery, multiple rounds of chemotherapy and countless doctor’s visits.

Fortunately, both patients have won their battle against cancer and while both patients come back to Texas Children’s Cancer Center for routine follow up visits, each child is living a relatively normal life. Eden is pursuing acting and modeling, and Cristian, a huge football fan and former player, recently was given clearance to start playing again.

To help mark these milestones, Hyundai Hope for Wheels surprised the patients with tickets to the big game and will be capturing their experience via social media. You can follow Eden and Cristian on Sunday at @hopeonwheels (Twitter) and @hyundaihopeonwheels (Instagram). Also, click here to watch KHOU News 11’s story on Cristian’s reaction to getting to go to Sunday’s game.

Dr. ZoAnn Dreyer, Cristian’s doctor at the Cancer Center, said the game day tickets are a remarkable kickoff to her patient’s own football career.

“He had a rough journey, and to think he’s recovered enough to be able to play football is amazing,” Dreyer said. “He’s given his recovery 1,000 percent, and now that work is really paying off. I’m thrilled he will get to celebrate at the game this Sunday.”

2117meyermarketinside640Texas Children’s employees have a new place to grab breakfast, lunch, a snack, coffee or even a bite for dinner. The Meyer Market on the first floor of the Meyer Building opened January 24 and offers hundreds of fresh food options in a retail space built just for you.

Managed by Canteen, one of the nation’s leading vending machine service companies, the new noshing nook is a self-checkout market stocked with a full range of merchandise, including snacks, beverages, fresh and frozen food, ice cream and coffee from well-known venders such as Panera Bread, My Fit Foods, Hint Water and Oh Snap! pickling company.

Stored on racks and in coolers, the market’s merchandise can be purchased at a cashier-free kiosk similar to a self-checkout line at a grocery store. You can buy items with a credit or debit card, or you can set up a personal account, which gives you access to the payment system via your thumbprint, account card, mobile phone or user name. Click here to set up an account.

The Meyer Market is accessible with badge access from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The extended hours were put into place to accommodate our workforce of professionals with varying schedules.

“We are very excited to offer this new, innovative and healthy eating option to Texas Children’s,” said Senior Vice President Tabitha Rice. “We hope everyone enjoys the wide variety of merchandise at The Meyer Market and the extended hours of service.”

For more information about Canteen and the type of market that recently opened in the Meyer Building, click here.

January 24, 2017

12517urology640Texas Children’s Urology Division and the innovative work they are doing in the operating room will be highlighted beginning Saturday, January 28, at a nine-day fan festival at Discovery Green in celebration of this year’s professional football championship game.

The festival will feature live music and performances, a 90-foot tall virtual reality trip to Mars and interactive exhibits, including one hosted by the Texas Medical Center that will offer fans an unforgettable experience and tell the story of innovation in Houston, specifically among the medical community.

Four virtual reality videos will take fans behind the scenes at TMC and showcase innovation at work. The video highlighting Texas Children’s will take viewers into the operating room as Dr. Chester Koh performs a robotic pyeloplasty on a one-year-old patient.

“This is such an exciting way to talk about the innovative work we are doing here in the Urology Division in the Department of Surgery at Texas Children’s,” Koh said. “It will allow us to reach a vast national audience about the services we offer to children and their families.”

Texas Children’s pediatric robotic surgery program ranks among the highest in annual pediatric robotic surgery volumes in the U.S. In 2013, Texas Children’s adopted a cutting-edge robot assisted surgical system designed to decrease post-operative pain, reduce hospital stay length and minimize scarring thanks to smaller incisions.

To learn more about the program click here. For more information on the festival click here.

January 11, 2017

11117texansspirit640Texas Children’s employees know how to show their team spirit!

Last week, several Houston Texans fans across the Texas Children’s system sported jerseys, shirts or team colors to support our home team, who, for the second year in a row, clenched the AFC South title and are now in the playoffs.

On January 7, in front of a home crowd of 71,790, the Houston Texans defeated the Oakland Raiders 27-14 in the AFC Wild Card game to advance to the next round of the NFL playoffs. The Houston Texans will continue the postseason with a trip to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional round. Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. CT on Saturday, January 13, at Gillette Stadium.

To continue our support of the team, Texas Children’s employee fans are encouraged to wear Texans jerseys, shirts or team colors on Friday, January 13, and Saturday, January 14. Khakis or similar slacks may be worn but no denim jeans, as we wish to present a spirited yet professional appearance to our patients and their families.

The Houston Texans organization has been an incredible partner for Texas Children’s. Together with their enthusiastic players, cheerleaders and TORO, we continue to reach thousands of children in our local communities through fun and educational camps, school programs, special hospital visits and appearances.

As we cheer on the Houston Texans, especially in this Saturday’s game with the New England Patriots, please share with us examples of your team spirit! Send photos of you and your co-workers in your Texans gear to HR Communications at dialogue@texaschildrens.org.

January 10, 2017

11117discounts640Given the popularity of New Year resolutions about health and well-being, we want to remind you of the well-being discounts available to all Texas Children’s badge holders. Participating vendor partners include:

  • 24 Hour Fitness
  • American College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine
  • Blast Fitness
  • CampGladiator
  • Define body & mind
  • Dynamic Fitness 24/7
  • LA Fitness
  • Lifetime Fitness
  • My Fit Foods
  • Orange Theory Fitness
  • Revolution Studio
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Weight Watchers
  • YMCA
  • Yoga One Studios

For discount details, eligibility, and enrollment click here.

In addition to our well-being discounts, Texas Children’s subsidizes 50 percent of Weight Watchers’ Beyond the Scale, a program with a holistic approach to weight management. To learn more about the program, check out this video.

Another benefit offered at Texas Children’s is access to our well-being programs, available at no cost to Texas Children’s employees:

Did you know?
Texas Children’s also offers counseling, stress management, financial assistance, and grief recovery programs. For more information, please call the Employee Assistance Program at ext. 4-3332.

January 4, 2017

1517plaintalkinside640On January 1, Texas Children’s started moving forward with a multi-phased plan to use plain language for emergency communications. The plan began with a change to our alert, or readiness, levels and retires all Carla-related language.

“At Texas Children’s, Carla has been used to indicate a significant, institutional emergency, but because the word is also the name of the infamous 1961 Category 5 hurricane, it typically is associated with a weather-related event,” said Melissa Murrah, director of Risk Management, Emergency Management and Environmental Health and Safety. “Unfortunately, the risks we face today are more varied and complex than just hurricanes, tropical storms or flooding, therefore, we need to move toward a way of communicating emergency events more clearly and efficiently across the organization.”

The move to plain language was recommended by Emergency Management and is in alignment with our partners at the Texas Hospital Association. Texas Children’s executive leadership and members of the Operations Coordinating Council approved the move last year.

The first step in this change for Texas Children’s is the replacement of our readiness levels and Carla language with simpler, more intuitive levels combined with plain language instructions. These new plain language readiness levels are:

  • Normal operations – passive monitoring
  • Advisory – active monitoring
  • Alert – preparing for action
  • Partial activation – some sections of incident command system set-up
  • Full activation – all sections of incident command system set-up

Our Emergency Operations Plan has been updated with this language. All future notifications will come in the form of specific instructions from Incident Command, which will help prevent confusion and ensure appropriate actions are taken at the right time.

Departments should work with Emergency Management to update departmental plans and replace the Carla language. In addition, please ensure you have updated your personal contact information in MOLI so that you receive all emergency notifications. Click here for detailed instructions.

If you have questions, contact Emergency Management at ext. 4-2139.