January 13, 2015

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If getting in shape or losing weight top your list of New Year’s resolutions, you are not alone. According to several polls and surveys conducted across the United States, the No. 1 New Year’s resolution for 2015 has to do with fitness, whether it be “losing weight,” “getting in shape,” or “staying fit and healthy.”

At Texas Children’s, our goal is to help you thrive in 2015 while building a collective atmosphere supporting your well-being. Given the popularity of fitness and weight loss this time of year, we want to remind you of the fitness center discounts available to all Texas Children’s Hospital badge holders and their families through Employee Health and Wellness.

Participating fitness centers include: 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, Lifetime, Blast Fitness, UT Recreation Center and the YMCA. Discounts apply to current and former members, so check your current rate to see if the discounts provided through Texas Children’s can reduce your costs.

Another perk offered at Texas Children’s that will help maximize your fitness and weight loss goals is access to a new 17-week series of Weight Watchers, the world’s most effective weight loss program. The program is launching soon onsite at Main Campus. An informational open house will take place Tuesday, January 20 in Feigin Center 02A and the first official session of the series will be Tuesday, January 27 in FC 18A. All sessions will be from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Please fill out this form if you’re interested.

In addition to fitness and weight loss, there are several other ways you can thrive in 2015, and Texas Children’s has a variety of services available to help you look, feel and live your best life yet. Some of those services are:

Employee Medical Clinic – Did you know the Employee Medical Clinic can serve as a convenient solution to all of your primary care needs? All Blue Cross Blue Shield medical members are covered at 100 percent for annual exams, and additional lab work can be done for a small co-pay. The Employee Medical Clinic also offers a variety of educational programs to help you live well with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. A team of medical providers and a Certified Diabetes Educator/Dietitian will provide you with the practical tools and knowledge to effectively manage your conditions. Contact the Employee Medical Clinic for more information and to schedule your appointment: Ext: 4-2150.

Tobacco Cessation – As of September 1, 2014, Texas Children’s medical plan members can receive free tobacco cessation medications and over-the-counter treatments with a prescription. For more information or additional guidance, please call the Employee Medical Clinic at: Ext: 4-2150.

Employee Assistance Program – Offers counseling, stress management, financial assistance and grief recovery programs. For more information, please call: Ext: 4-3332.

We wish you a Happy New Year and hope you thrive in all areas of your life in 2015 and beyond.

Watch the newest “I Am Texas Children’s” video featuring employee Joseph Quin in Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus – Culinary Services.

“I’ve worked at West Campus since the day it opened,” said Quin. “It’s a great place to work because the people are caring and we have the opportunity to help sick kids.”

Check out Quin’s video, and find out how you and your coworkers can be featured in the “I Am Texas Children’s” section on Connect.

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The look on people’s faces when I tell them our news is always hilarious and always the same: wide eyes, open jaws and nodding heads shaking back and forth in disbelief. If this isn’t the look we receive right away then I immediately know they haven’t heard me correctly. So I restate the facts: “Twins, again. Only 20 months a part. Four kids under the age of 2.” And then I wait for the reaction. And it’s always spot on and always the same.

11415BWelizabeth640-2Most people would classify my husband, Scott, and I as nothing short of crazy. Yes, four kids under the age of 2 is going to be extremely challenging, and yes, I’m aware of how I will rarely have any time left for myself. But in all reality, I consider us to be the luckiest people in the world. How many families do you know that are blessed with two sets of twins? How many people get to grow their family in such a unique way? I come from a large family (I’m the second of five children), and so I’m welcoming the chaos with open arms. My childhood home was always full, always loud and always busy. But above all, it was fun. As a child, I used to crave silence, but now as an adult I can’t imagine anything better than to give our children siblings and to introduce them to the world I knew growing up.

The chaos will increase at the end of January when we welcome babies no. 3 and no. 4. Since our first set of twins are a boy (Charlie) and a girl (Caroline), my husband and I decided to let the next set be a surprise. We’ve had the envelopes revealing their genders for several months, but somehow we’ve managed not to open them. My friends and family ask me all the time how we have the willpower to not rip them open and find out the surprise, but it honestly hasn’t been that hard for me. The only focus we have is on healthy children. As long as they arrive healthy and strong, we couldn’t care less what their genders are. We already feel blessed beyond measure and can’t wait to become a family of six in just a few weeks!

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Texas Children’s is excited to announce the arrrival of Dr. Benjamin Shneider, our new chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Shneider was also appointed professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

Shneider obtained his undergraduate education at Stanford University and earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago. He completed pediatric residency training at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, as well as a subspecialty fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology at Yale University.

Shneider served as chief of the Division of Pediatric Hepatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine before moving to the University of Pittsburgh and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC where he served as professor of pediatrics and director of Pediatric Hepatology.

Shneider’s clinical expertise includes liver disease in children with a particular focus on cholestatic liver disorders and portal hypertension. His current basic research focus is on intestinal gene regulation, while his translational and clinical research centers on pediatric liver diseases. His basic, translational and clinical research in intestinal gene expression and liver diseases has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1993.

Shneider has authored 114 original research papers published in the peer-reviewed medical literature and 104 additional textbook chapters, case reports and review articles. He has delivered 199 invited lectures at top medical centers and scientific meetings around the world. He is an elected member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

“Dr. Shneider is an internationally-recognized clinician, researcher and expert in diseases of the liver and gastrointestinal system,” said Dr. Mark W. Kline, physician-in-chief at Texas Children’s and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor. “We are confident his leadership will continue to advance the international prominence of our gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition team.”

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Three inspirational women who are members of the Texas Children’s family have been inducted into the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC) Hall of Fame.

Dr. Lucy Puryear and Texas Children’s Board of Trustees members Jan Duncan and Cindy Taylor were among the 13 outstanding women recognized at last month’s Hall of Fame Gala. The ceremony honored female leaders who have made significant contributions to the advancement of women through leadership, education, advocacy and mentoring in the Greater Houston community.

Texas Children’s was the only organization that had more than one inductee into the Hall of Fame, which speaks volumes about our organization’s incredible leadership.

“We are thrilled that several of our own female leaders were awarded this prestigious honor,” said Cris Daskevich, senior vice president at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “These dynamic women are making a profound impact in their respective fields and helping Texas Children’s advance care for children and women in our region and around the world.”

The awards ceremony featured a heartfelt video tribute applauding each of our female leaders for their efforts in promoting Texas Children’s passion for the mission.

Jan Duncan
Jan Duncan serves on the Board of Trustees and has been a long-time supporter of Texas Children’s. She and her late husband, Dan, helped establish the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s, which has led to remarkable advances in the diagnosis and treatment of rare, childhood neurologic diseases. Their commitment of $50 million to the NRI is the largest single gift in Texas Children’s history.

As an advocate for children’s health, Duncan serves as an honorary chair of Texas Children’s Heal Sick Children campaign. She also supports Texas Children’s Cancer Center, the Baylor International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative and has ensured the success of our Vision 2010 initiatives.

Dr. Lucy Puryear
Dr. Lucy Puryear has been a passionate advocate for women’s mental health and her ongoing efforts have not gone unnoticed in her profession. Recently, she received the GHWCC’s coveted Kathryn S. Stream Award for Excellence in Women’s Health.

Puryear is the medical director of The Women’s Place: Center for Reproductive Psychiatry at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and co-director of The Menopause Clinic, an initiative to improve the health of women as they age. One of her current projects is to initiate maternal depression screening for women throughout their pregnancy and postpartum period to help enhance their quality of life through early diagnosis and treatment.

Puryear is a nationally recognized expert on women’s mental health and has delivered numerous presentations to health professionals and lay persons through invited lectures, print and television appearances. She is the author of the book, “Understanding Your Moods When You’re Expecting: Emotions, Mental Health, and Happiness, Before, During and After Pregnancy.”

Cindy Taylor
Outside of her professional achievements in the oil and gas industry, Cindy Taylor has served on Texas Children’s Board of Trustees since 2012. In these short years, she has helped our organization create a roadmap for the future.

As chair of the Board’s Operations, Planning and Development Committee, she oversaw the very important CareFirst planning process to evaluate the hospital’s critical needs and help us set the right course for Texas Children’s for decades to come. At the heart of this process is our organization-wide focus on quality, safety, patient experience and proactive growth.

Congratulations to Texas Children’s remarkable female leaders on a job well done!

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Texas Children’s Hospital is excited to announce Dr. Lauren Kane as a new cardiovascular surgeon at Texas Children’s Heart Center. Kane, whose appointment is effective this week, is also an assistant professor of surgery and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Kane join our growing team as she brings with her a great array of clinical and research experience,” said Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., chief of congenital heart surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children’s, as well as professor of pediatrics and chief of congenital heart surgery at Baylor. “Not only will her addition to the team allow for more convenient access for children in need of cardiac surgery, but we’re confident her research will continue to advance the national prominence of our cardiovascular team.”

Kane’s clinical and research interests include the full spectrum of congenital heart surgery, with a particular interest in neonatal palliation and outcomes-based research.

Kane previously served as assistant professor of congenital heart surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She earned her bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Arlington, and her medical degree from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Kane completed her surgical residency at The University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Emory University and a fellowship in congenital heart surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Ranked No. 2 nationally in cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report, Texas Children’s Heart Center cares for children of every age, including preterm and low-birth-weight newborns tailoring procedures and treatments to the needs of each individual child and his or her family. Texas Children’s Heart Center is recognized across the globe as a leader in the highly specialized field of pediatric congenital heart surgery and performs more than 800 surgical cardiac procedures each year with outcomes among the best in the nation.

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Do you need extra hands-on assistance this summer? Do you need assistance with office work or need help to keep patients busy? The 2015 Summer Junior Program will run from Monday, June 8, to Friday, August 14, with more than 100+ Summer Junior volunteers Summer Junior Volunteers are high school students who will commit to 12 hours a week within a variety of service assignments.

Employees and all departments are encouraged to request Summer Junior volunteers to provide a fun, rewarding experience at Texas Children’s Hospital. The volunteers will be able to assist in office tasks, patient interaction, and overall staff support. Please fill out the required form to request volunteers for your department (Main Campus only) by Sunday, March 1.

Please contact Melisa Akin for any questions.