September 4, 2019

Texas Children’s is known for implementing the latest technology to increase the quality of care for our patients. At an open house, The Woodlands campus recently celebrated the Radiology Department upon receiving two new, hi-tech MRI scanners that will expand the range of exams that are performed.

“We feel that we owe it to our patients to deliver the best possible care and with that it includes getting the best possible diagnoses and having the best possible equipment,” Assistant Director of Radiology Traci Foster said. “We are extremely excited about what this means for The Woodlands campus, and Texas Children’s as a whole.”

The celebration began in the second floor conference room at The Woodlands campus, as members of the radiology department and hospital leaders mingled and enjoyed complimentary breakfast. Foster then opened a small program by welcoming everyone and thanking many others for their part in this accomplishment. Three MRI technologists, Dionne Dowdy, Hollis Marshall, and Mark Caspari, were awarded the Texas Children’s – The Woodlands Radiology Promise award for Quality Improvement for their collective efforts in successfully transitioning the Radiology Department to the new MRI platform.

“I have been here 22 years and I am really excited about receiving these new scanners and the success of the radiology department as a whole,” Dowdy said. “I look forward to working with these machines and expanding the scope for what we can do for our patients.”

The primary benefit of the new scanners are to provide the best possible quality MR imaging, particularly for neurologic imaging of the brain and spine. The implementation of these machines is a part of a cutting edge platform by our vendor partner, Siemens.

“Texas Children’s for years has set standards for pediatric care in Texas and the country,” Vice President of Sales for Siemens Healthcare Matt Hoffman. “We are excited to be working with you all to be a part of providing high-quality care to children.”

The multinational manufacturing company provided the campus with both the 3T Vida scanner and the 1.5T Sola scanner. Both scanners represent the latest technology on their newest platform, and are amongst the first of its kind in any pediatric facility worldwide.

“Texas Children’s has a commitment to the highest quality and the highest safety for patients, and we are extremely proud of being a part of something so groundbreaking in radiology,” Dr. Victor Seghers, Chief of Community Radiology, said. “These new Siemens MRI magnets represent yet another tangible delivery of our CEO Mark Wallace’s promise to The Woodlands community that children will receive the best care, close to home.”

Following the program, everyone proceeded to Radiology on the first floor as seventeen-year-old patient, Ashia Smith cut the ribbon commemorating this momentous event, just before her scheduled MRI exam.

“We have improved our ability to diagnose disease and ultimately treat our patients due to the investment in this new technology,” Seghers added. “Our patients are also reporting improved convenience and satisfaction related to faster imaging time acquisition and the quieter environment in the new MR scanners.”

From an imaging perspective, these new scanners will help ensure that The Woodlands campus can perform all types of MRI exams onsite as opposed to sending patients to the Medical Center campus.

“The future looks terrific. We have a solid partnership with our vendor and a brand new cutting edge platform,” Seghers said, “that can benefit from further improvements and enhancements to both hardware and software over the next 10 years. This is important in light of our clinical and academic/research mission to the patients in The Woodlands and the North Houston metro region.”

Texas Children’s will continue pioneering pediatric radiology technology as we look forward to the arrival of the Kinetic Sensor later this year. This is an integral part and one of the key features of Siemens Healthineers BioMatrix technology and of the new 1.5 Sola and of the 3T Vida systems. It is the first ever in-bore, real-time patient viewing system, allowing close patient monitoring and prospective motion correction for neurological MRI exams, and will be the first in the country.

To learn more about Texas Children’s radiology services, click here.

August 26, 2019

Karl Douglas, an imaging services technician in the Radiology department at Texas Children’s, recently received the Edward B. Singleton Staff Recipient Award. This prestigious award acknowledges individuals within Radiology whose outstanding leadership and/or contribution to the mission of the department has a significant and positive impact on advancing patient care, education, research or Texas Children’s core values.

Douglas began his career at Texas Children’s in 2003 and transferred to the Radiology department in 2010 as a technician assistant. For the past six years, he has been working in the imaging library helping our physicians and patient families obtain the images they need for patient care.

His colleagues describe Douglas as a person who goes above and beyond for patients and their families, as well as other departments, campuses and referring facilities. On several occasions, Douglas has been known to come into work early to lend a helping hand to his co-workers. His colleagues describe Douglas as a team player, and always finds a way to keep a smile on his face when handling difficult requests.

The Edward B. Singleton award was named in memory of Dr. Singleton, an early pioneer in radiology and long-time physician at Texas Children’s.

July 1, 2019

Congratulations to Clinical Staff Development Specialist, Lauren Ivanhoe, MSN, RN-BC, CEN, who is the recipient of the this year’s third quarter, Best of the West award.

Ivanhoe is a well-respected healthcare education professional throughout the campus, system, and nationally. She freely lends her educational expertise and leads initiatives anchored in staff development and patient safety.

The Best of the West award recognizes an employee each quarter who has exceled at demonstrating Texas Children’s values – leading tirelessly, living compassionately, amplifying unity and embracing freedom.

“Lauren has gone above and beyond to ensure we are aware and capable of best practices,” her co-workers expressed. “She is one of those people who is always willing to help and support the team.”

Ivanhoe recently worked closely with the West Campus Radiology Team to simulate patient care in the mobile CT scanner. She has spent countless hours coordinating and developing training content that translated into safe practice. Additionally, Ivanhoe has worked extremely hard to develop and train staff in preparation for the Epic Upgrade, Beaker go-live, and Interoperability transition.

She also coordinates Cy-Fair Independent School District student schedules for on-site training, contributing to a pipeline of future health care professionals.

“It goes without saying that Lauren is more than deserving of this award and we are better as a campus and system because of her passion and dedication,” the radiology team collectively mentioned. “We cherish the wealth of knowledge she shares and absolutely admire her uplifting and encouraging attitude.”

June 10, 2019

Many people hope to be able to work in their preferred career upon graduation, while others may just want to work at their desired workplace with the goal of moving towards that career. Juan Flores, Radiology Generalist at The Woodlands Campus, as successfully done both very early in his career and can add a system-wide award to that list.

“This is amazing! I just graduated a little over a year ago, so working here is kind of like a dream come true,” Flores said. “I never thought I’d work at Texas Children’s until maybe later on, until I have more experience, but I took a chance so I’m happy about that.”

Flores is known to be very quick to volunteer outside of his role as a radiographer. He is on the Radiology Events and Activities Committee, he has played a role in several simulations inside and outside of Radiology, he is a part of the Customer Obsession Task Force, and helps with The Teddy Bear Clinic.

When his youthful presence is removed, Flores can be mistaken for a Texas Children’s veteran even though his has only been here a year, as his work constantly exemplifies our mission.

“In such a short time, Juan has been a fantastic addition to our team! He takes his role as a radiographer seriously and puts forth 110 percent every day,” Assistant Director of Radiology Traci Foster said. “Regardless of the day he’s having, Juan is always positive and has a great sense of humor.”

Foster recalled a time when a 4-year-old in the orthopedic clinic had a fractured arm and needed an x-ray. She says that the child was extremely anxious due to a recent, difficult, experience at an outside urgent care.

“Juan worked with the mother of the patient to identify a comfort position for the child. He was extremely patient and allowed them time to warm up to the environment by showing them the big camera and allowing the patient to touch and explore the room and equipment prior to positioning him for the x-ray,” Foster said. “The child was very receptive to his gentle approach and was able to complete the x-ray while smiling and saying ‘cheese.’ The mother was so appreciative of Juan and so are we. The entire department thanks Juan for going above and beyond to create a great patient experience for all of our patient families.”

At times after a hard day of work, when an emergency occurs there aren’t many people who will volunteer for additional duties. Flores’ hard work, determination, and persistence are all of the reasons why he is one of this year’s Caught You Caring Award recipients.

“I was so surprised when I found out that I won this award. “The fact that I’ve only been here a short while, and I work with so many other amazing people, this was really unexpected,” Flores said. “I love it here. It’s a tough job, but it’s extremely rewarding, and I hope to continue here for years to come.”

April 29, 2019

Dr. Nilesh Desai, Division Chief of Neuroradiology at Texas Children’s, recently received the Edward. B. Singleton Award. This prestigious award acknowledges faculty within Radiology whose outstanding leadership and/or contribution to the mission of the department has a significant and positive impact on advancing patient care, education, research or Texas Children’s core values.

Desai is committed to providing excellent patient care by his willingness to speak with families outside the reading room and will offer support in this manner if needed. He has given families his personal cell phone number to follow-up with him anytime on concerns and does not shy away from interacting with patient families. He is very helpful and pleasant when contacted by technologists for assistance and is supportive of the leadership team. He is a respectful and passionate leader who motivates others to challenge themselves on seeking new ways on how to approach challenges and improve results.

Desai performs all aspects of neuroradiology and fetal imaging. His research interests include brain injury in congenital heart disease, non-accidental trauma and sickle cell anemia. He is a member of numerous organizations including the American College of Radiology, American Societies of Neuroradiology and Pediatric Neuroradiology, Children’s Oncology Group and the Society for Pediatric Radiology.

This award was named in memory of Dr. Singleton, an early pioneer in radiology and long-time physician at Texas Children’s.

October 8, 2018

Before Dr. Thierry A.G.M. Huisman accepted his new position as chief of radiology, he knew that Texas Children’s Hospital was the place to be. So, when he and his family made the 1,445-mile journey from Baltimore to Houston a month ago, the move was a no brainer.

“From the moment I walked into Texas Children’s, one of the many things that attracted me to this hospital was the people and their enthusiasm and dedication to patient care,” Huisman said. “I am thrilled to join this wonderful team at Texas Children’s and love the opportunity to bring the best of radiology to the bedside of each patient to guide the care, and consequently optimize the health, of all the patients we take care of.”

Before joining Texas Children’s radiology team, Huisman obtained his medical degree from Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands. He completed his radiology and pediatric residencies, and his pediatric radiology and neuroradiology fellowships, at the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland where he also served as chairman and radiologist-in-chief of the Children’s Hospital Zurich before he was recruited to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Most recently, Huisman served as chairman of the Department of Imaging and Imaging Science at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore and chief of pediatric radiology.

As Texas Children’s new radiologist-in-chief, Huisman will lead one of the nation’s most clinically and academically active radiology programs, bringing together world-class multidisciplinary expertise with leading-edge technology in a family-centered environment to provide comprehensive, accurate and safe imaging.

“Besides leveraging the most advanced, objective imaging techniques at Texas Children’s, it is my overall vision for our radiology team to lead the way in identifying new approaches to diagnose disease as well as advance the discovery of new treatment options that will lead to even better outcomes for our patients,” Huisman said.

As a clinician-investigator, Huisman’s primary field of expertise and research focuses on advanced, quantitative, precision imaging in the field of Pediatric Neuroradiology. He has given more than 380 invited lectures, published 320 articles, 30 reviews, 60 book chapters, five text books, serves on multiple scientific committees of the various radiological societies and has organized multiple national and international meetings in Europe and the USA. He has been the founding member of the Swiss Symposium in Pediatric Neuroradiology.

“I am thrilled Dr. Huisman, who is a talented radiologist and collaborative leader with a history of bringing radiology expertise to the bedside, has joined our one amazing team at Texas Children’s,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace. “In addition to his focus on patient care, Dr. Huisman’s significant accomplishments as a clinician-investigator, as well as his passion for education and mentorship, will continue to enhance our radiology research and education efforts.”

September 19, 2017

Since the topping out celebration of Texas Children’s Legacy Tower nearly seven month ago, significant construction milestones have been reached inside the tower’s 400-foot-tall structure at Texas Children’s Medical Center campus.

Carefully designed to promote the safest possible environment to care for our most critically ill patients and their families, construction is underway on the patient care rooms in the cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU), pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and the progressive care unit (PCU). Last year, a series of patient care simulations were conducted to identify and eliminate any latent safety defects in the final design of the critical care tower before actual construction began.

Based on helpful feedback from our providers and patient families, the size of the critical care rooms inside the Legacy Tower will be between 350 to 450 square feet – three times the size of the hospital’s current ICU rooms. The rooms will feature a dedicated family space, a bathroom and shower, and care teams will have enhanced visibility and monitoring between patient rooms and into the patient rooms from the nurses’ work stations. The ICU rooms also will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology including a boom that will provide gas, power and data from the ceiling.

“Booms allow us to position the patient almost anywhere in the 360-degree circle,” said Chief of Critical Care Medicine Dr. Lara Shekerdemian. “This means that we can use some very state-of-the-art equipment for mounting all of the pumps, monitors and ventilators at the patient’s bedside while keeping the equipment off the floor.”

The Legacy Tower’s high intensity operating rooms and intraoperative state-of-the-art MRI suite also will provide dedicated subspecialty care for surgical patients.

“Our pediatric surgical patients are different than other ICU patients,” said Texas Children’s Chief of Plastic Surgery Dr. Larry Hollier. “For the first time, we’re going to have them in a setting where the care is designed specifically for that surgical patient, and that’s going to be located one floor above the operating rooms. The new tower will help us increase our OR capacity so we are not turning patients away from receiving critical care.”

The Legacy Tower will open in two phases. The first phase will occur in May 2018 when the PICU, PCU, operating rooms and Radiology open. A few months later, the Heart Center will move into the new tower in August 2018.

The 25-floor Legacy Tower will house 126 beds for pediatric and cardiovascular intensive care, six new operating rooms (ORs) with the latest technology to complement the hospital’s existing 19 ORs, and will be the new home of Texas Children’s Heart Center, including the outpatient clinic, four cardiovascular ORs and four catheterization labs. This vertical expansion will help reinvest in the programs needed to provide the highest level of care to our most critically ill patients.

“I don’t know of any other children’s hospital in the country that has the type of experience that Texas Children’s has in bringing all of these elements together,” Hollier said. “With larger, more functional spaces, we will be able to provide patients and families with the best possible environment to receive care.”