Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, commemorates the final Texas emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. With less COVID 19-related restrictions compared to last year, there are many wonderful ways for you and your family to celebrate Juneteenth across Greater Houston. Read more
Our Texas Children’s people are excited that we’re putting our gratitude into meaningful action by increasing each employee salary by 2 percent and providing an additional week of highly-deserved paid time off.
This week, we’re showing off the celebration held by the OR and PACU teams at The Woodlands campus – complete with colorful party hats, shiny balloons and mask-covered smiles!
How is your team recognizing each other and this very special moment for all of us at Texas Children’s? Send your photos, videos and details to HR Communications for a chance to see your celebration featured on Connect.
To watch the Tomorrow, Together announcement from our President and CEO Mark A. Wallace, click here.
For answers to your frequently asked questions about this initiative and the bold actions we’re taking for our employees, click here.
Texas Children’s is now third nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospital rankings, and for the fifth consecutive year our Heart Center has been named the best place in the country for children in need of pediatric cardiology and heart surgery care.
A total of eight of Texas Children’s subspecialties are also ranked within the top five in the nation as announced by U.S. News. Texas Children’s is one of only 10 children’s hospitals across the country to achieve the Honor Roll designation, and the only hospital in the state of Texas awarded this distinction by ranking as one of America’s best in:
For more than 60 years, our integrated, multidisciplinary team at the Heart Center has combined cutting-edge technology with a compassionate and family-centered approach to care. Annually, more than 1,000 surgeries and 1,400 cardiac catheterization procedures are performed in Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower, the home of the Heart Center, where a team-based approach brings experts in every aspect of cardiac care to the bedside.
Heart Center cardiologists, congenital heart surgeons, cardiac anesthetists and cardiac intensivists are world-renowned leaders in the field and work together to treat some of the rarest and most complex heart cases from Houston, across Texas, the U.S. and around the world. The team strives to provide unparalleled care at every point from diagnosis through treatment and follow-up, in order to achieve the best possible care for each patient.
Texas Children’s also recently opened a first-of-its-kind dedicated facility designed by and for adults with congenital heart disease. The 27,000-square-foot space includes a 16-bed inpatient unit, outpatient clinic, cardiac rehab gym, diagnostics lab and more. Our ACH Program is accredited by the Adult Congenital Heart Association and is one of only four accredited programs in Texas. As pediatric patients with congenital heart defects transition into adulthood, members of the team advise patients on health and lifestyle choices for their adult needs, including physical challenges, exercise options and family planning.
U.S. News introduced the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings in 2007 to help families of children with rare or life-threatening illnesses find the best medical care available. The rankings are the most comprehensive source of quality-related information on U.S. pediatric hospitals.
The U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals rankings rely on clinical data and on an annual survey of pediatric specialists. The rankings methodology factors in patient outcomes, such as mortality and infection rates, as well as available clinical resources and compliance with best practices. For more information, click here.
Trang Vu shares her experiences in the Professional Advancement Program, a voluntary program that provides staff nurses an opportunity to be recognized for their commitment to excellence in nursing practice. Read more
Recognize LGBTQ Pride Month this June by reading more about the national celebration of LGBT communities and their ongoing fight for equal rights. Read more
As you have likely heard and seen on Connect, Texas Children’s is growing in Austin! We broke ground last month on our new freestanding hospital for children and women, and we are excited to build on that momentum and continue the celebration with our One Amazing Team.
In the weeks that have followed the groundbreaking event, we have received many questions from our team members around several common themes and areas, including our construction timeline for the new hospital, the services that will be offered, and when career opportunities will become available.
To provide you with our best answers and current details, Texas Children’s is organizing three, 30-minute live information sessions on Wednesday, June 16, for participants to hear the latest updates. Attendees will also be able to submit questions during the sessions and have them addressed in real time.
Session 1: June 16 | 7 a.m. Join Live Event
Outlook calendar invite, click here.
Session 2: June 16 | Noon Join Live Event
Outlook calendar invite, click here.
Session 3: June 16 | 6 p.m. Join Live Event
Outlook calendar invite, click here.
On the day of the live session, join the session by clicking the MS Teams participant link. It is recommended that you test your connection in advance of the meeting. If you are unable to join, replays of the streams will be available on Connect.
Austin continues to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, and our goal has always been to expand our expert pediatric and maternal care to more conveniently serve the families of Central Texas. Our new hospital is yet another example of how Texas Children’s is living up to this commitment while adding value to the health care options already available in the area.
You are invited to join the Austin project team next week to learn more about all the great things Texas Children’s has in store for children and women in our capital city.
It’s been 20 years since Tropical Storm Allison swirled into Houston – deluging the area with more than 35 inches of rain; submerging more than 50,000 homes and 70,000 vehicles under water; and racking up $5 billion in damages as the costliest urban flood on record in the United States.
Yet even as the Texas Medical Center sustained roughly $2 billion of that damage and Memorial Hermann, Houston Methodist and St. Luke’s were forced to evacuate hundreds of patients, the doors of Texas Children’s remained open to our patients and families without any interruptions to care.
That same resolve and resiliency have defined and sustained our organization through seasons of challenge and joy alike. And the lessons we learned from the storm – to prepare for every possibility, expect the unexpected and always rally together as a team – have continued to keep us sturdy and strong.
Mere months before Allison hit, Texas Children’s Board of Trustees had approved a plan to install five submarine-style doors in tunnels leading to and from our facilities. The doors were installed just 30 days prior to the storm’s landfall, thanks in large part to the foresight of Trustee George Peterkin who evaluated the potential for flooding and predicted, “It’s not if, it’s when.”
Texas Children’s had also implemented disaster and perimeter protection plans in the previous weeks, and team members received training on flood protection systems.
When the worst of Allison’s rain began pounding the Houston area and flash flooding loomed, Texas Children’s quickly activated the Command Center to closely monitor the developing situation and continually chart the best course of action.
Quick-thinking team members in Engineering and Environmental Services also ensured a successful conversion to auxiliary power, making Texas Children’s one of just two Medical Center hospitals where the lights stayed on despite widespread power outages.
Despite taking on 6.5 million gallons of water in total during Allison that affected systems from Mechanical and Communication to Transportation and Food Services, Texas Children’s was still able to accept patient transfer requests from other Medical Center institutions.
Every pediatric renal dialysis patient from Memorial Hermann was moved here for care, as well as 22 critically ill adult patients from St. Luke’s and two bone marrow transplants from Methodist. Two operating rooms were made available, and an entire 12-bed unit was dedicated to Methodist patients for post-operative intensive care and recovery.
In the wake of the storm, Texas Children’s also launched the Employee Assistance Network to help team members who suffered storm-related loss or damage. Today, its successor – the Employee Assistance Financial Fund (EFAF) – is a valuable resource for those experiencing unexpected, unforeseen or unavoidable emergencies.