April 4, 2017

Texas Children’s Marketing team created a beautifully designed website commemorating the five-year anniversary of the opening of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women.

A few months prior to the hospital’s 5-year milestone, the Marketing team – Internal Communications, Public Relations and Web – collaborated with the Pavilion for Women Administration team to develop the content for the website.

Click here to visit the new website.

“To celebrate the hospital’s first-year anniversary, we featured Molly Struzik posing with her first birthday cake,” Marketing Specialist Emily Lamport said. “Leveraging on this concept, we decided to feature Molly again to show just how much she has grown in five years to parallel the 5-year growth and success achieved at the Pavilion for Women.”

The 5-year anniversary website contains other commemorative elements:

  • Five-year timeline spotlighting Pavilion for Women key milestones
  • By the Numbers
  • Photo gallery
  • Video reflections of what the Pavilion for Women means today

The successful completion of this project would not have been possible without the collaboration from our talented Creative Services team, who meticulously designed the website, and our photographers who provided the compelling imagery for the website.

“As part of our Pavilion for Women 5-year anniversary marketing campaign, we used multiple vehicles to drive traffic to the website including print ads and social media posts,” said Lisa Yelenick, director of Service Line, Community and Brand Marketing.

The Baylor College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and Texas Children’s Hospital hosted the 2017 Pediatric Fellows’ Research Symposium on March 21 at the Pavilion for Women Conference Center.

Dr. Huda Zoghbi, director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, provided the keynote research presentation, “Protein Levels and Neurological Diseases: Insights and Opportunities.” Besides advancing our understanding of the genetic causes of spinocerebellar ataxia and Rett syndrome, she has been instrumental in other important neurological medical breakthroughs including her recent discovery of how lowering toxic levels of tau in the brain could potentially lead to new therapies to reverse or prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Will Parsons, director for the Center for Precision Oncology at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, followed with the keynote scholarship presentation, “Precision Oncology: Deconvoluting One Trainee’s Path from the Bench to the Clinic.”

This year’s research symposium included more than 135 poster presentations from pediatric fellows and included an awards presentation featuring the top four abstracts submitted this year:

  • Bile duct ligation induces ATZ globule clearance in a mouse model Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Dr. Zahida Khan

  • Respiratory severity score on day of life 15 is higher in premature infants requiring mechanical ventilation at day of life 60

Dr. Matthew Maruna

  • Pharmacogenomic association with neurotoxicity in Hispanic children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Dr. Claire McClain

  • Inflammatory regulation promotes angiogenesis in chronic renal diseases models

Dr. Xinyi Wang

A fellows’ workshop session was offered as well. Dr. Eric Williams, associate professor of Critical Care at Baylor and Texas Children’s chief medical information officer, led the session on Innovation.

The symposium is an important forum for sharing research results and achievements, as well as for networking and establishing new collaborations. The symposium provides a venue to address topics that may be relevant to the trainee’s career development as they transition to more advanced or faculty positions.

March 29, 2017

Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus celebrated its 6th birthday this month with an employee bake off fit with birthday cake-themed treats.

As part of the day, West Campus leadership donned birthday hats and helped judge the employee bake off birthday celebration. The entries from various employees/departments of the hospital included tiered cakes, brownies and other creatively designed treats.

The winners of the contest were:

  • Best Taste: Deborah Parrott, Cancer Center – Westie Bestie Brownies
  • Best Presentation: Lauren Ivanhoe, Clinical Training and Development – ‘Anf Many Smores’ Cake
  • Best Theme: Sarah Schelnick, Occupational and Physical Therapy – Rolling in the Chocolate Brownies

“We had a great day here at West Campus celebrating six years of hard work,” West Campus President Matt Schaefer said. “We look forward to continuing to grow and serve those in need of pediatric care in West Houston and beyond.”

The celebration continued on March 20 at the campus’ daily operational briefing, which was attended by Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace as well as Texas Children’s Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown.

Both Wallace and Riley-Brown, who was president of West Campus when it opened in 2010, expressed sincere appreciation to the hospital’s current leadership team for a fabulous six years.

“The work you all have done here is tremendous,” Wallace said. “Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus is doing a great job of providing the right care at the right time at the right place.”

Riley-Brown agreed and said with each passing year West Campus adds more services, staff and expertise to better serve its patients and families.

“You should be proud of your accomplishments,” she said to the leadership team.

The West Campus officially opened hospital services on March 7, 2010. Today, the campus sees more than 1,000 patient encounters per day.

On March 24, country singer-songwriter, RaeLynn, celebrated the release of her debut album, WildHorse, at Texas Children’s Hospital. The day was filled with excitement as the Baytown native made her first donation from The RaeLynn Diabetes Fund to the hospital, which she credits for saving her life when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 12.

Dr. Jake Kushner, chief of diabetes and endocrinology at Texas Children’s, accepted the gift on behalf of the hospital and thanked RaeLynn for her support of patients just like her.

“We are honored to have this emphasis on Type 1 diabetes, which is a special source of passion for us at Texas Children’s Hospital,” Kushner said. “For those of us who have spent our lives dedicated to the children who have Type 1 diabetes, it’s also very important to us to see adults who are living with the disease, too.”

Because of RaeLynn’s special contributions to the city of Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner was on hand to proclaim March 24 “RaeLynn Day.”

“On behalf of the city of Houston, we are so proud of you and know that your best days are ahead of you,” Turner said. “I’m always thrilled to support the amazing talent that comes from the city of Houston.”

Following the proclamation, patients joined RaeLynn in the hospital’s Kids’ Own Studio to listen to songs off of her album and smile for photos.

“The care that this hospital gave me at such a young age and the confidence it gave me to just be really comfortable with my diabetes is just absolutely incredible,” RaeLynn said. “I’m so honored to be able to stand here today and give from my diabetes fund on a day that is so special to me.”

More about RaeLynn

RaeLynn’s breakthrough came after appearing on NBC’s hit show, The Voice, in 2012. Since then, her career as soared with her current single “Love Triangle” reaching sales milestones and the music video racking up more than 5 million views. Recently nominated for the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards fan-voted THE FRESHEST! – BEST NEW ARTIST COUNTRY and selected as a 2017 “Country Artist to Watch” by Pandora Radio, Napster and Billboard, RaeLynn has tallied 104 million plus cumulative career streams.

She is poised to follow in the early success of her Top 10, GOLD-certified song “God Made Girls” that has racked up more than 925,000 track equivalent sales and has been streamed more than 48 million times. The track was nominated in 2016 for Radio Disney’s Favorite Country Song, earned her recognition as one of CMT’s Next Women of Country and was the highest charting debut single by a solo female in 2014. The music video has accumulated more than 28 million views and earned her a pair of CMT Music Award nominations for Female Video of the Year and Breakthrough Video of the Year in 2015.

More about Texas Children’s Diabetes and Endocrine Care Center

The Texas Children’s Diabetes and Endocrine Care Center is a leader in the research and treatment of children with diabetes and endocrine disorders. The center provides diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of endocrine dysfunctions, including:

  • congenital adrenal hyperplasia
  • growth hormone deficiency
  • hypo/hyperthyroidism
  • hyper/hypocalcemia
  • precocious puberty

We also treat and educate both established and newly diagnosed diabetes patients and their families in self-management of all aspects of types 1 and 2 diabetes.

On March 26, 2017, Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women reached an incredible milestone – five years of delivering high quality and comprehensive care to women and newborns.

Since opening the hospital’s 1.3-million square foot facility, it’s amazing how much we have accomplished in just five short years. The thought and careful preparation that went into creating the Pavilion for Women has led to unprecedented access and a full range of services for women and newborns, all in one location.

As a premier destination for women and babies across the country, the Pavilion for Women continues to deliver miracles and is recognized as a leader in obstetrics, gynecology and fetal intervention.

To commemorate this five-year milestone, the Corporate Communications team developed this animated timeline video spotlighting some of the Pavilion for Women’s greatest accomplishments over the last five years which would not have been possible without the dedication from our employees, staff and leaders.

Over the last five years, the Pavilion for Women has reached many notable milestones:

  • 27,000 births and counting (exceeded 6,000 deliveries in 2016)
  • 902 sets of multiples delivered
  • 6,700+ babies have received NICU care
  • Performed groundbreaking two-port fetoscopic repair to treat spina bifida in the womb
  • Received Baby Friendly Hospital designation
  • First women’s hospital to become CNOR strong internationally
  • Launched one-of-a-kind Neurosonology Ultrasound Specialty Program

“We really have evolved and have become a much more comprehensive Pavilion for Women,” said Pavilion for Women’s Senior Vice President Cris Daskevich. “The future is bright for our hospital and we are excited about the next five years, the next 10 years and what that can hold.”

March 26, 2017

Five years ago today on March 26, 2012, Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women opened its 1.3 million square foot facility dedicated to the delivery of high quality care for women and newborns.

Since our opening, the Pavilion for Women has delivered many miracles and has proven itself as a leader in obstetrics, gynecology and fetal intervention, and is a premier destination for women and babies.

This week on Connect, we will look back at some of the Pavilion for Women’s greatest accomplishments over the past five years and celebrate our employees and staff who made these milestones possible.

  • Monday, March 27 – Pavilion for Women 5-year milestone timeline video
  • Tuesday, March 28 – A look back at the Bump Watch blog
  • Wednesday, March 29 – In the Voice of Nursing blog, Dawn Miranda reflects on the hospital’s opening as a nurse and what it means to her today
  • Thursday, March 30 – New website dedicated to the Pavilion for Women’s 5-year anniversary
  • Friday, March 31 – In his blog, CEO Mark A. Wallace shares his reflections on the Pavilion for Women and our trajectory for the future

To commemorate this remarkable milestone, a special celebration will be held in the Pavilion for Women fourth-floor Conference Center from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, March 27.

And, don’t forget to share your memories and congratulatory comments on the Pavilion For Women’s Facebook Page.

March 21, 2017

On March 17, the 500th liver transplant was performed in the Main ORs at Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. John Goss, medical director of Transplant Services and surgical director of the Liver Transplant Program at Texas Children’s, led the team who transplanted a donor liver into a 5-year-old boy. This volume has only been accomplished by a handful of pediatric programs in the U.S., and Texas Children’s is now among this distinguished group.

The multidisciplinary team involved in the milestone included: surgeons Drs. John Goss, Christine O’Mahony, Thao Nguyen and Abbas Rana; anesthesiologists Drs. Paul Hopkins and Ann Ng; physician assistant, Marielle Faraone, and nursing circulator Jana Brunet, with surgical techs Susan Burnicle and Danielle Govea. Transplant coordinator, Ashton Bramlett, organized the transplant, ensuring all were informed and kept the parents updated.

The extended liver transplant team includes: anesthesiologists Drs. Rahul Baijil, Carlos Campos, Nicholas Carling, Yang Liu, David Mann, Nihar Patel, Steven Stayer, William Waldrop and Kenneth Wayman. Perioperative Services staff on the liver transplant team includes: nurses Theresa Bagley, Jana Brunet, Anita Hadley, Lindsay Meade, Audra Rushing and Wendy Sison, with surgical techs Megan Izaquirre and Marlon Wilkins.

“I would like to congratulate everyone at Texas Children’s who has contributed to the development of our Liver Transplant Program,” said Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children’s. “Reaching this significant milestone is a reflection of the incredible teamwork and dedication of those who care for our transplant patients each day.”

The institution’s first liver transplant was completed on September 14, 1988. In 2013, the program performed 43 liver transplants, the largest number completed in one year at Texas Children’s.