With the opening of its first urgent care clinic in Austin just one week away and plans rapidly progressing to open its first specialty care location in October, Texas Children’s recently hosted two town hall meetings at main campus to share more details with interested employees about available positions and how they can apply, transfer and relocate to the capital city.
Additional town hall meetings on the Austin expansion will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Monday, March 19, in the conference center at West Campus and from noon to 1 p.m., Friday, March 23, in the conference center at The Woodlands. Health Center and Specialty Care Center employees can participate in the town halls from their local conference rooms via telemedicine.
“Our employees at Texas Children’s are our strength,” said David Wykes, director of Employee Relations and HR Community. “That’s why we really encourage the internal transfer option. You know the organization, and you know our great culture that we want to translate to Austin.”
Texas Children’s will launch its specialty care services in a two-floor, 51,000-square-foot facility in north-central Austin, with 400,000 pediatric lives located within a 30-minute drive. There will be 17 providers representing 11 medical and surgical sub-specialties to start, as well as x-ray, ultrasound and neurology, pulmonary and cardiology testing.
Nearly 40 specialty care positions will open throughout this fiscal year – from outpatient staff RNs, ambulatory service representatives and medical assistants, to certified ophthalmic technicians, radiology and ultrasound specialists, ECHO sonographers, a social worker, clinical dietician and more. A full list of available positions can be found in the Town Hall section on the new Austin page on the Careers website, along with answers to frequently asked questions and other resources. All job openings will be posted internally before being announced to external candidates, giving Texas Children’s employees the first opportunity to apply.
To be considered for internal transfer, employees must meet the eligibility requirements detailed in the Internal Transfer Policy and fulfill the minimum qualifications for their desired position. Relocation assistance will be offered to employees to provide additional support for their move to Austin, and those selected for transfer will enjoy the same benefits packages, compensation model and salary structure as they have at Texas Children’s locations in Houston and Harris County.
Vice President Ivett Shah told town hall attendees that employees interested in transferring to Austin must be flexible enough to handle the changes that will come as Texas Children’s continues to evolve and expand in the new market. Several additional urgent care clinics, specialty care locations, primary care practices and maternal-fetal medicine practices are slated to open across the city over the next five years.
“The demands of patients and families in Austin are different than those we have in Houston, so we have to look at new and creative ways of delivering care,” Shah said. “We want our employees, staff, physicians and patients in Austin to feel they are part of the Texas Children’s system. We want them to feel connected.”
For more information, visit the Austin careers page; attend the town hall meetings scheduled in March at The Woodlands and West Campus; or contact attend the town hall meetings scheduled in March at The Woodlands and West Campus; or contact Bobbie Jehle at 936-267-5823.
To prepare for the opening of Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate in Austin, Texas Children’s has opened a Welcome Center adjacent to the future urgent care site on the south side of Austin. The Welcome Center is being used for human resources and philanthropy. It also will serve as a means to create brand awareness for Texas Children’s in the Austin community.
