October 10, 2017

More than a dozen employees recognized by the Texas Children’s Caught You Caring program got to watch the Houston Texans defeat the Tennessee Titans on October 1. The Texans-Titans game was sponsored by Texas Children’s Hospital and celebrated the National Football League’s Play 60 campaign, which encourages children to be active 60 minutes a day to help decrease childhood obesity.

In honor of the Kids Day game, Drs. Charles D. Fraser Jr. and Daniel J. Penny, along with their patient Jack Guyre, served as Coin Toss Captains. The tickets to the game were one of the benefits of Texas Children’s Hospital being the official children’s hospital of the Houston Texans football team. The goal of Texas Children’s and the Texans partnership is to inspire children to lead healthier, more active lives.

Caught You Caring is a recognition program offered to patients and families, as well as staff, to recognize employees who have gone above and beyond their role to provide compassion and kindness to another person. This could be in the care of a patient, service to a family, or in support of a coworker.

Launched in 2015 in ambulatory surgery, the now system-wide program has recognized many employees, including the 13 listed below who were honored by the program this year and were chosen to receive the additional benefit of attending the Play 60 Texans game.

Experience Consultant with Family and Patient Services Maggie Weimer said being able to reward our Caught You Caring recipients in this way is truly amazing.

“Recognizing people for their hard work goes a long way when it comes to creating a positive work environment,” she said. “So many members of our Texas Children’s family go above and beyond each and every day for our patients, families and colleagues, and we appreciate that very much.”

Texas Children’s wants to continue to recognize those who take great pride in the work they do and encourages patients, families and employees to catch someone who is making a difference. Caught You Caring boxes and cards can be found throughout the Texas Children’s system for patients and families to fill out and recognize staff. Employees can fill out a Caught You Caring form on Connect. Cards and online submissions will be distributed to leaders for staff recognition.

Click here to learn more about the Caught You Caring Program.

Click the links below to read more about this year’s Play 60 ticket recipients and how they were caught caring.

Grace Collins
William Davidson
Joyce Enochs
Heather Eppleheimer
Dr. Yong Han
Roderic Johnson
Amanda Riddle
Sandy Rodriguez
Linda Santana
Keith Thomas
Debra Udombat
Donald Wilkins
Kevin Young

Texas Children’s patients and families got the chance to visit NBC’s Sunday Night Football Bus October 6 ahead of the Houston Texans game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The bus included a player wall where children and adults could compare themselves to a real NFL player, a replica news desk for photo ops, Player of the Game balls signed by the players of each week’s game, the Super Bowl trophy and more.

TORO was on hand for the excitement, posing for photos and signing autographs.

October 3, 2017

Last week, NASA astronauts and a Roscosmos cosmonaut from its international partners worked hand-in-hand on a beautiful art project with the bravest heroes of all, patients at Texas Children’s Cancer Center.

As part of NASA’s Spacesuit Art Project and the Periwinkle Arts In Medicine program at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, NASA astronauts Jack Fischer, Nicole Stott, Mike Foreman, Doug Wheelock and Russian Roscosmos cosmonaut Nikolay iTikhonov spent the morning with the children painting on fabric pieces that will be used to create the VICTORY and EXPLORATION art spacesuits.

“The opportunity to work with NASA and its international partners on this incredible project is such an honor,” said Carol Herron, Periwinkle Arts In Medicine program coordinator at Texas Children’s Cancer Center. “For our patients to create amazing art with these amazing astronauts and then see their work in space will be truly inspiring.”

The EXPLORATION suit, the fourth spacesuit of the Spacesuit Art Project, one of the two spacesuits worked on last week, can be seen on permanent display in the following months at Space Center Houston, NASA’s Johnson Space Center visitor center.

View photos from last week’s event, including a shot of one of the spacesuits below.

The VICTORY spacesuit, the fifth spacesuit created, symbolizes the end of the cancer journey, something every staff member, patient and family at Texas Children’s Cancer Center strives for. Getting each patient to that moment where they ring the end-of-treatment bell is everyone’s goal – the ultimate victory.

The VICTORY spacesuit cover is planned to be worn on the outside of a Russian Orlan Spacesuit and is planned to be jettisoned into space from the International Space Station during a Russian spacewalk later in 2018 as the first ever orbiting art exhibit in space.

You can follow the Spacesuit Art Project’s progress on Social Media at:

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/spacesuitart/
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+SpacesuitprojectOrg
Twitter: https://twitter.com/spacesuitart

More about the NASA Spacesuit Art Project:
The Spacesuit Art Project began in Houston through a partnership between NASA, the Arts in Medicine program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and spacesuit company ILC Dover to help raise awareness to the issues surrounding childhood cancer and to reveal the positive connection between the arts and the healing process. The project has grown into a global collaboration of the five international space agencies that built the International Space Station and pediatric cancer patients and hospital’s Arts in Medicine Programs from the respective partner countries in the United States, Canada, Russia, Europe, and Japan. It continues to grow globally with this Texas Children’s Cancer Center and Periwinkle Foundation event, and with more and more hospital participation around the world. The Project brings childhood cancer patients, their families, doctors, hospital staff, International scientists, engineers, astronauts and cosmonauts together through this unique endeavor. It is an amazing story of human triumph and hope by combining science, technology, the arts, and the indomitable human spirit. The spacesuits are a stunningly beautiful representation of what can happen when art, science, and the healing process unite. All of the spacesuit replicas travel to events, museums, conferences and other relevant places as a communications tool to help to raise awareness to the issues surrounding childhood cancer.

The Periwinkle Arts In Medicine program at Texas Children’s Cancer Center has been dedicated to bringing the healing power of the arts to patients throughout their cancer journey for over 20 years. To learn more about the program at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, visit txch.org/arts-in-medicine.

September 29, 2017

Patients got the chance to root for their hometown football team Friday prior to the Houston Texans’ Sunday game against the Tennessee Titans. Two of the team’s cheerleaders and the team’s mascot, TORO, were in the Child Life Zone to participate in the fun.

See photos from the pep rally below.

The Texans-Titans game is sponsored by Texas Children’s Hospital and will celebrate the National Football League’s Play 60 campaign, which encourages children to be active 60 minutes a day to help decrease childhood obesity.

The game caps off a week of Play 60 activities hosted by Texas Children’s and the Texans. One of the most popular events of the week was Play 60 at the Park. Held at Levy Park in the Upper Kirby District of Houston, the family-friendly event featured appearances by players Braxton Miller and Brian Peters, and focused on staying active and eating healthy.

Click here to watch a video from Play 60 at the Park.

Texas Children’s Hospital is the official children’s hospital of the Houston Texans football team. The goal of Texas Children’s and the Texans partnership is to inspire children to lead healthier, more active lives.

September 8, 2017

Some Texas Children’s patients recently got the chance to kick off the upcoming Houston Texans season right by attending a special event near the Choo-Choo Hut just inside the entrance of the Abercrombie Building.

On the count of three, the children peeled a sheet of paper off of the large glass windows that encases the intricate model train exhibit. Behind the window was an exhibit transformed into a Texans wonderland.

See photos from the event below.

“Oh, my goodness!” screamed 8-year-old Alejandro Mendoza as he pointed to a pile of footballs inside one of the trains carriages. “Wow!”

In addition to getting an up-close-and-personal look at the train decked out in Texans helmets, flags, banners, footballs and more, patients got to visit with two Texans cheerleaders, Ana Karen and Alexys, as well as Toro, the Texans lively mascot.

Dressed in her Texans cheerleading outfit, 6-year-old Claire Kochenowermet was especially excited about seeing Toro, one of the only Houston sports mascots she hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting.

After posing for a photo with Toro, Claire bashfully nodded her head when she was asked if she was enjoying herself. Her mother, Jodie Kochenowermet, said it was nice to see her daughter smiling and having fun.

Alejandro’s mother, Maria Sanchez, said her son has been at Texas Children’s for a month and does not get the opportunity to leave his room very often. So, to see him not only get to leave his room, but to do so for such a special event “feels really good.”

Don Bozman, the professional model builder hired to construct the train at Texas Children’s Hospital, still helps manage the maintenance of the train and attended last week’s event.

“The smiles on the faces of the patients and their families is what keeps me wanting to do this,” Bozman said. “It’s great to see them all so happy.”

Come check out the train yourself! It will be decorated in Texans gear until Halloween.

August 22, 2017

Patients got a special treat last week when the Houston Texans cheerleaders paid them a visit and hosted their third annual mini Jr. cheerleading camp at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Equipped with fluffy pom-poms, T-shirts and hats, the cheerleaders spent an hour working with the patients on a dance routine, playing games, signing autographs and posing for photos. Excitement filled the room as the patients showed spirit for their hometown NFL team.

“It was such a wonderful surprise to be able to come today,” 11-year-old Gabriela Palacios said with a smile. “It’s a nice break from my daily routine here at the hospital.”

Following the camp, the cheerleaders visited neurology and neurosurgery patients at the bedside, bringing along pom-poms and autographed posters. For cheerleader Morgan O., the August 15 visit was something she had been wanting to do for a while. Being new to the squad last year, Morgan was not able to come to the camp. She was excited to learn she would have the opportunity this year.

“It is such an honor to be here today,” Morgan said. “I feel privileged to be part of these children’s lives even if it is for a short amount of time.”

Lesly Romero said the event meant a lot to her and her 3-year-old daughter, Briana Lopez, who has been an inpatient at Texas Children’s for almost two months.

“She hasn’t had the opportunity to get out and just have fun in a while,” Romero said. “So, this is just great.”

Click here to watch a video about the cheerleading event.

The goal of the partnership between Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans is to inspire children to lead healthier, more active lives through camps, programs and events all year long. Texas Children’s works alongside the Texans through community engagement and education programs to give Houston-area kids the tools necessary to make healthy choices throughout their lives. Last week’s mini Jr. cheerleading camp is just one of many of the exciting events we’ll take part in throughout the year. Click here to learn about some of the other ones.

August 16, 2017

Two weeks ago, Mark Wallace launched a four-week leadership challenge on his blog that highlights employees who demonstrate his Maxims of Leadership and poses a leadership question that you may respond to in the comments section of the blog post.

In September, the Corporate Communications team will collect all of your comments and draw the names of 100 commenters to attend a private event with the Houston Texans, including a behind-the-scenes tour of NRG Stadium, an autograph session with two Houston Texans football players and photos with the Texans cheerleaders.

So make sure you respond to the question at the end of Mr. Wallace’s blog post to be entered to win!

The autograph session and tour are a great way to bring the awesome players of two winning teams together. At Texas Children’s Hospital, everyone is a leader, and we are looking forward to hearing from leaders across the entire organization over the next few weeks.

This opportunity is one of the benefits of the Texas Children’s Hospital partnership with the Houston Texans football team. Since our launch in 2015, we have reached thousands of children in our local communities through fun, educational camps, school programs, special hospital visits and appearances with the Texans players, cheerleaders and TORO. Together, Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans are inspiring children in our community to lead healthier, more active lives.

Click here to watch a video about how Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans are leading in patient care and on the football field every single day.

Click below to read and comment on the two Leadership Challenge blog posts that are already on the blog.

Maxim 1 – “Leadership always influences or determines outcomes not some of the time, but all of the time.”

Maxim 2 – “Leadership applies to everyone.”