November 23, 2021

The holiday season is in full swing and, with the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales about to take place, we want to help make your digital shopping experience as safe as possible.

Whether purchasing online or checking orders through your email, remember scammers can come in many forms, whether that’s through phishing emails, social media sites or even mobile apps. To learn how to identify these cybercriminals and protect yourself, watch a special holiday cybersecurity training video below.

As always, if you feel you’ve received a suspicious email within your Texas Children’s email address, click the Phish Alert button in Outlook to delete the email from your inbox and forward it to our Security Operations Center team for instant analysis.

Click Here to learn how to use the Phish Alert Button.
Click Here to learn what to report with the Phish Alert Button.

For other tips on how to stay safe this shopping season, click here.

It was a year ago when a lifelong Texas Children’s Hospital cardiology patient stepped off the elevator and saw the Adult Congenital Heart Program sign and was overcome with emotion. While receiving excellent care at Texas Children’s, the pediatric setting wasn’t ideal for her needs. Her worries were over now that there was a facility built with patients like her in mind.

“This is an incredible milestone we’ve reached with our clinic,” said Dr. Peter Ermis, Cardiology at Texas Children’s. “We knew opening during a pandemic was a risk, but this clinic was desperately needed and our hard-working team made it happen for our patients.”

Celebrating its one-year anniversary, the Adult Congenital Heart Program outpatient clinic was designed with its patients in mind. While Texas Children’s has the finest Adult Congenital Heart (ACH) cardiology and cardiac surgery experts in the world, the service offering and existing clinic weren’t exactly suited to adult patients. The adult clinic offers comprehensive services, including nutrition, physical therapy, social work, psychology and psychiatry.

“The goal was to provide the right services our patients need and the best care possible,” Ermis continued. “None of this would be possible without the relentless dedication of our team. They have risen to every challenge and their passion for providing the absolute best care for ACH patients has made this a success.”

The team was confident if they built this facility, the patients would come, and they have, from all over the country and the world. They have no plans of stopping now as their sights are set to continue to grow and meet the unique needs of their patients.

Congratulations on this important milestone!

Texas Children’s members, patients and their families can now more easily connect with social service programs in your city, state and across the nation with a new online tool that provides targeted information on resources like financial assistance, food pantries, medical care and more.

The Texas Children’s Family Resources website was launched in partnership with the findhelp.org organization to connect people seeking help with the appropriate organizations and services with dignity and ease. The platform allows individuals to simply enter their zip code and quickly find local and community-based resources, including free or reduced-cost food, goods, healthcare, work, housing, transportation, money, education and legal services. In addition, there are services available to provide assistance with day care costs.

“We’re excited to partner with the findhelp.org organization to offer this service to our members, patients and their families,” said Natalie Burns, assistant director, Population Health Programs for Texas Children’s Health Plan. “It saves valuable time taking the guesswork out of finding the right organizations and gives them peace of mind knowing they can more easily get the assistance they need.”

The Family Resources site can also be accessed by our Texas Children’s team members for multiple uses. Through Epic or single sign-on, team members can access information to help direct members, patients and their families to the resources and organizations they need. In addition, team members can take advantage of the services for themselves and their families through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or by following the instructions below.

To get started:

  1. Visit the website at txchfamilyresources.org
  2. Enter the zip code where resources are needed.
  3. Find a variety of local programs and services in the chosen area with contact information and details on eligibility, cost, next steps and more.

Brittany Dore shares how her preceptors molded her to become the nurse she is today. Her hope is to inspire nurses with the same kind of care and compassion she received. Read more

Simulation Centers play a vital role in the quality and safety of care delivered to patients. To be accredited takes discipline, excellence and leadership.

The Texas Children’s Simulation Center is succeeding in all areas and recently received full accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) across the following standards: core standards, teaching and education, research and system integration.

Our Center is certainly in rarefied air. The SSH has been accrediting simulation centers since 2010 and we are only the 220th accredited center in the nation, 13th in Texas and first in the Texas Medical Center!

“I’m so proud of our team for this achievement and thank all involved in making this a reality,” said Tarra Kerr, assistant vice president of Quality. “This would not have been possible without the outstanding leadership and passion Dr. Cara Doughty and Royanne Lichliter bring to work every day.”

In addition to the official accreditation, the team received high praise from the surveyors citing multiple areas of excellence.

Key observations included:

  • Team collegiality, communication and respect
  • Organizational and leadership support for simulation activities
  • High integration of simulation with quality and safety
  • Support for unit based space to perform “In Situ” simulations
  • Team support of the organizational and departmental mission to improve quality and safety
  • Strong partnerships between simulation center staff, unit based simulation instructors and associate medical directors

Congratulations to the Simulation Center!

Pictured above are the Simulation Education Specialists, the Medical Director of Simulation and the Assistant Director of Simulation. This is just a small part of the team that made this happen. This accreditation would not have been possible without the entire Quality Education and Simulation Team.

November 18, 2021

Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women opens a new community clinic location, bringing top tier women’s health care closer to patients who live in the Bay Area. Read more

With a beautiful backdrop of sunshine, Texas Children’s hosted a special private luncheon for patients, their families and employees on the 18th green at Memorial Park during the Wednesday Pro-Am of the Houston Open.

As part of a new three-year commitment as a Community-Partner sponsor for the PGA Tour stop, Texas Children’s also served as a Gate Day sponsor on Saturday and sponsor of the Houston Open Family Fun Zone, which included games and activities for children.

“All of us at Texas Children’s are honored and excited to be a part of the Houston Open,” said Mark A. Wallace, Texas Children’s President and CEO. “We are so proud of our partnership with the Astros Golf Foundation, and thank Jim (Crane) and his phenomenal team for putting together a wonderful event to keep this historic tradition alive for our community.”

The sponsorship provided plenty of signage and branding, as well as participation in the Wednesday Pro-Am where our very own Dr. Jim Versalovic, Matt Girotto, Trent Johnson and Dan Gollins took home the afternoon tournament. Way to go gentlemen! While the experience alone was reward enough, they each took home an Astros jersey with the Houston Open logo signed by Jim Crane.

The 2021 Houston Open was the third hosted and operated by the Astros Golf Foundation, which was formed in 2018 after Jim Crane agreed to take control of the long-standing tournament.

Through this sponsorship, Texas Children’s continued its support in the Houston community, raised money for local charities and showcased our expertise as national leaders in keeping families healthy, happy and growing.