January 10, 2017

11117norbertomontes175Norberto Montes, Medical Technologist for Pathology Department, died December 28, 2016 at the age of 68.

Norberto joined Texas Children’s Hospital Pathology as a Medical Technologist in 2005. He was a “founding” medical technologist in the diagnostic laboratory at the Pavilion for Women since 2012. Bert was dependable, hard-working and good-spirited. He has been a good friend to everyone in the department and will always be remembered and will forever remain in their hearts.

Bert is survived by two children, Michael Montes and wife Jessica, and Michelle Luna and husband, Felix; three granddaughters, Danielle, Alexis and Molly; brother, Reynaldo Montes and wife, Susan; and sister, Paulina Laugo; nephews and niece, Michael, Jun-Jay and Pauline Jaye; and the rest of his relatives and friends.

11117wayfinding640As part of Texas Children’s continuing efforts to improve wayfinding across our entire system, one of our top destinations in West Tower has been updated.

The West Tower Level 3 destination for Surgery Reception and the PASS Clinic is just beyond the elevator banks. The blue wall that has been used as a directional landmark for many years has now been painted purple to match West Tower’s newly assigned wayfinding color.

In May, each building on Main Campus was assigned a color to add a layer of identification to our locations, allowing employees, patients and families to be able to easily discern between buildings not only by name, but also by color.

Pavilion for Women = Turquoise
Pediatric Tower = Yellow
West Tower = Purple
Abercrombie Building = Green
Feigin Tower = Blue
Clinical Care Tower = Orange

These colors are being added to the ongoing wayfinding signage as these changes and improvements continue to be implemented.

For more information about our wayfinding efforts, click here. To view a color-coded map of Texas Children’s Hospital, click here.

January 4, 2017

1517nicuweddingpg640When baby Lucas was born 24 weeks prematurely at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women on October 28, he weighed 1 pound, 12 ounces. For weeks, Phil DeCarlos and Lilly Nguyen watched their little son fight to survive, spending every day by his bedside in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

“Some days were long and scary while other days were stable,” DeCarlos said. “We promised Lucas that every day we’re going to be here, so 65 days, 66 days, we’ve been here every day for our son.”

But as the holidays inched closer, DeCarlos made a huge decision on December 15.

“Something just clicked and I said, I am not waiting anymore. On that day, I went and got the ring.”

A few days later, as he was putting his plan together, he realized he needed some help.

“Phil asked if we could help him arrange a surprise engagement proposal to his girlfriend next to their newborn son’s isolette,” said Tina Babb, nursing manager in the NICU at the Pavilion for Women. “We were so touched by this request that our nurses quickly sprang to action to make this moment possible.”

But there was one problem – they didn’t have much time to prepare. The proposal would happen a few hours later. So, with the clock ticking, the nursing team worked with DeCarlos to prepare the room before Nguyen arrived for what she thought would be a family photo shoot with their son.

DeCarlos laid out the items – a white bib he decorated with hearts and roses, a diamond ring, a blanket to cover the isolette, and a cartoon caption that read, “Will you marry my Papa?” The caption was placed next to Lucas’ head and the diamond ring was attached to his bib with a posy.

When it was time to pop the question, the nurse opened the isolette. Nguyen leaned over, and seconds later, she tearfully said, “Yes!” Immediately, the room erupted in applause for the newly engaged couple.

“It was such an emotional moment for all of us,” said Pavilion for Women’s NICU clerical assistant Debra Staples, who gave the nurses a heads up about the surprise proposal a few hours in advance. “It was so nice to see our nurses and staff come together to make this happen for our patient family.”

The couple’s love story didn’t end there. DeCarlos and Nguyen got married on New Year’s Day in the Children’s Chapel at Texas Children’s with Chaplain Johnna Faber officiating the ceremony. More than 30 guests, including several of the nursing staff, witnessed the two exchange their vows.

But there was one special guest the couple wanted to include in their celebration. After the private ceremony, the couple went upstairs to the NICU to see Lucas, now 4 pounds 4 ounces, dressed up in a tuxedo fit for the occasion.

“We are grateful to have him be a part of our wedding,” Nguyen said. “We wouldn’t change it for the world. Our hope is that he gets stronger and can come home with us and one day we’ll be able to share these stories with him.”

Click here to watch KHOU’s video of the wedding ceremony.

1517newparentemployeesupportgroup250Having a new baby is a life-changing experience, filled with both joy and challenges. For many new and seasoned parents, a baby can bring unexpected difficulty and stress as they adjust to new family dynamics and feeding routines.

During such times in early parenthood, social support can help parents manage their stress, feel more confident in their parenting abilities as they discover new information, and share common experiences and knowledge.

To help support our many new parent employees, Texas Children’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), in partnership with The Women’s Place at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, is debuting a new parent employee support group, beginning Wednesday, January 4.

“During my pregnancy, I researched a neighborhood mothers’ group, but when talking to a colleague here, she encouraged me instead to reach out to her friend in another department,” said Vice President of Human Resources Catherine Codispoti. “That’s when I realized we have a fantastic parent support group right here at Texas Children’s.

“Many of our colleagues who work with us every day have struggled with similar parenthood issues/concerns, and as a community, we have an unbelievable wealth of first-hand wisdom and knowledge on how to balance major life commitments such as families, careers, friendships, and communities.”

The new parent employee support group is an open forum and welcomes all Texas Children’s employees who are new parents. The group will meet from noon to 1 p.m. every Wednesday at The Women’s Place in Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Employees do not have to register and there is no cost – simply complete these two short forms and bring them along to your first meeting. Paper copies will also be available when you check in at The Women’s Place.

In addition to the group meeting, parents also can join the online community on Yammer to ask questions and share resources with fellow colleagues. Contact Texas Children’s Information Services help desk at ext. 4-3512, option 2 to get a Yammer account and join the “New Parent Employee Group.”

1517patientexperience640When Brande Nester’s son, Bennett, was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor at 18 months old, his diagnosis meant frequent visits and prolonged hospital stays for treatment at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“My son was diagnosed with pineal pilocytic astrocytoma,” Nester said. “The type of brain tumor is very common but the location of his tumor is very rare since it is located in the middle of his brain.”

After his cancer diagnosis in 2011, Bennett and his family had been in and out of Texas Children’s, sometimes spending up to six weeks at the hospital. But through all the ups and downs, it was the compassionate care and support from his care team that made all the difference to Bennett and his family.

Nester recalls a time when her son spent Christmas in his hospital bed at Texas Children’s.

“All of the nurses on the oncology floor were wonderful and tried to make us feel at home,” Nester said. “They helped decorate his room and some were dressed up in their holiday attire. There were so many volunteers and donors coming in with gifts for Bennett which made it extra special for him and for us.”

Just like any parent of a sick child, the emotional and financial stresses were taking a toll on the Nesters who had to juggle time off from work to be with their son for his chemotherapy treatments. But Texas Children’s staff alleviated much of their burdens and made sure they were comfortable throughout their hospital stay.

“Every time we’ve been an inpatient here, they’ve all been so wonderful,” Nester said. “They made sure we had the resources we needed. If we were tired, especially when our son was here the first time, they made sure we had a room at Ronald McDonald House so we could rest and take a shower. Whatever we needed, they’ve always watched out for us.”

Today, 6-year-old Bennett is doing well. After undergoing several unsuccessful rounds of chemotherapy, he completed proton radiation in February 2015 which significantly has shrunk the tumor in his brain.

“The tumor is stable now, so we’re just going to continue with MRIs every four months, and as long as no new symptoms present themselves, he’s going about his life as a normal child,” Nester said.

As a way to give back to Texas Children’s, Nester has partnered each year with Build A Bear to distribute bears to sick patients at Texas Children’s. When Bennett was in the hospital, one of the gifts that he received was from two sisters who had lost a sibling to cancer. They had given him a Build a Bear and his eyes lit up. Nester told her husband, “If we’re lucky enough to leave this hospital, I want to do this next year. We’re going to pay it forward.”

Since the launch of Bennett’s Bears in 2012, the Nesters have donated more than 8,000 Build a Bears to Texas Children’s patients.

“Half of the time, I just look at the parents just to see their expression because they haven’t seen their child smile in a very long time,” Nester said. “It’s so rough having your child in that hospital bed knowing they can’t get up. If your child smiles for that one little second, it is a wonderful experience for the parent.”

1517plaintalkinside640On January 1, Texas Children’s started moving forward with a multi-phased plan to use plain language for emergency communications. The plan began with a change to our alert, or readiness, levels and retires all Carla-related language.

“At Texas Children’s, Carla has been used to indicate a significant, institutional emergency, but because the word is also the name of the infamous 1961 Category 5 hurricane, it typically is associated with a weather-related event,” said Melissa Murrah, director of Risk Management, Emergency Management and Environmental Health and Safety. “Unfortunately, the risks we face today are more varied and complex than just hurricanes, tropical storms or flooding, therefore, we need to move toward a way of communicating emergency events more clearly and efficiently across the organization.”

The move to plain language was recommended by Emergency Management and is in alignment with our partners at the Texas Hospital Association. Texas Children’s executive leadership and members of the Operations Coordinating Council approved the move last year.

The first step in this change for Texas Children’s is the replacement of our readiness levels and Carla language with simpler, more intuitive levels combined with plain language instructions. These new plain language readiness levels are:

  • Normal operations – passive monitoring
  • Advisory – active monitoring
  • Alert – preparing for action
  • Partial activation – some sections of incident command system set-up
  • Full activation – all sections of incident command system set-up

Our Emergency Operations Plan has been updated with this language. All future notifications will come in the form of specific instructions from Incident Command, which will help prevent confusion and ensure appropriate actions are taken at the right time.

Departments should work with Emergency Management to update departmental plans and replace the Carla language. In addition, please ensure you have updated your personal contact information in MOLI so that you receive all emergency notifications. Click here for detailed instructions.

If you have questions, contact Emergency Management at ext. 4-2139.

1517mehtadeepakr175Texas Children’s Otolaryngologist Dr. Deepak Mehta was recently named to two important positions in professional otolaryngology organizations.

In December, Mehta was elected president of the Society for Ear, Nose and Throat Advances in Children (SENTAC). The December 2018 meeting of SENTAC will be in Houston, giving Texas Children’s otolaryngologists the chance to introduce our city and hospital to more than 200 colleagues and members of the growing professional society.

Mehta also was named program chair for the 2017 American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) meeting. One of the primary missions of the professional society is to share and disseminate advances and innovations in patient care through the annual meeting and other venues.

Mehta joined Texas Children’s in 2015 from the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, where he was director of the Aerodigestive Program. He was also associate professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Mehta performed his residency at So. Trent Otolaryngology Programme at Nottingham, UK, and a pediatric otolaryngology fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center. Mehta will see patients at the main campus of Texas Children’s and at the Sugar Land Health Center. Mehta has also been appointed associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine.