January 26, 2022

Now poised as the new director of Patient Care Services for the Austin campus in 2024, Roxanne Vara tells her unique story and shares her excitement for Texas Children’s most ambitious expansion yet. Read more

In her blog, Sharon Coddou reflects on how a culture of teamwork sets Texas Children’s apart from other organizations. Read more

The hard-working team at Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Inpatient Unit is celebrating its one-year mark and progress after opening alongside the program’s Outpatient Clinic to care specifically for patients with congenital heart conditions.

The Inpatient Unit team is pleased with their progress, especially during an extra-challenging year thanks to COVID and staffing shortages. In the midst of everything, the unit saw steady growth in inpatient volume, complexity and best of all, maintained excellent outcomes.

“The entire group has been so adaptable and willing to take on challenging cases and to work as a team,” said the unit’s director, Dr. Cameron Dezfulian. “We have pushed the limits in terms of the diagnoses we see, patient mobility and even our own census limits all in order to provide great care and it has gone exceedingly well.”

A few of the milestones the team is celebrating include:

  • Some of the Inpatient Unit’s challenging cases included heart transplants, heart failure with temporary and durable ventricular assist device placements and a number of very complex congenital heart repairs that were among referrals that were turned down at other centers across state lines.
  • The many patients who received care outside of the unit’s scope include two with strokes, one with tamponade, a dozen peri-partum women with COVID and more. One of the most challenging and gratifying cases was caring for an 18-week pregnant mom with COVID. She was supported with VV ECMO for 10 weeks and ultimately delivered a healthy baby at 32 weeks, saving two lives against all odds. Both mom and baby were home for Christmas!
  • All of the unit’s patients treated surgically have bene discharged home to independent living!

Looking ahead, the team plans to bring in patients from across Texas and the U.S. and anticipates reaching 100 percent capacity by the end of 2022, five to six years ahead of projections.

According to Dr. Dezfulian, “Our ICU is a first of its kind, so our success is important beyond the limits of the walls of Texas Children’s. As we gain experience with large volumes and a variety of adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) diagnoses, our findings will be of value to the larger ACHD community.”

A unique hospital experience

What sets the Inpatient Unit apart is its capacity to allow family members to stay with loved ones throughout their hospital stay. Patients remain in the same large room through their procedure and rehabilitation process while family members have access to laundry and respite areas (TV, food). The unit’s advanced monitoring platform (sickbay) permits the care team to assess patients remotely without difficulty and immediately respond to any issues.

January 25, 2022

As of January 24, 80.1 percent of Texas Children’s employees had received the flu vaccine. A special thank you goes out to all of you who have taken such an important step in protecting yourselves, your colleagues and our patients and families. Although we are excited to see so much participation across the system, we still want to encourage employees to get their vaccine. It is not too late!

Flu activity continues to grow across Texas with numerous cases being reported every day. As a result, Texas Children’s continues to see increases in patient and employee visits due to flu-like symptoms, and we expect that trend to continue in the weeks ahead. Although we have made progress on our flu vaccination efforts over these last few weeks, we are still aiming to achieve our goal of a greater than 90 percent participation rate, a benchmark also measured by U.S. News & World Report.

Below are the top three questions from employees. To answer any additional questions you may have, please reference this handy list of frequently asked questions.

  • Where can I receive the flu vaccine at Texas Children’s?
    • At the Medical Center, West Campus, or The Woodlands Employee Health Clinic locations; team members may walk-in to the Employee Health Clinic Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
    • During your child’s on-site appointment at any TCP location across Houston, Austin, and College Station.
    • Schedule your flu shot at an in-network provider/pharmacy, this is covered at 100 percent through Texas Children’s medical plans.
  • I already received the flu vaccine. Where do I submit proof of vaccination?

If you received the flu vaccine outside of Texas Children’s, please use this online form to submit proof of vaccination. You may also show proof of vaccination to Employee Health on-site.

  • How do I decline the flu vaccine?

If you elect to decline the flu vaccine this year, you are required to complete a Flu Declination Form. The declination form can be found on the Employee Health and Wellness Portal. Follow these instructions: Log in to the Employee Health and Wellness Portal. If this is your first-time logging into the portal, click “Having trouble logging in” to reset your password. For instructions on how to log in to the portal click here. Once you log in, click on the “Forms” tab, then select the Flu Declination Form.

If you have any questions, please contact Employee Health at 832-824-2150, option 5.

The beginning of this new year is an ideal opportunity to refresh and refocus on achieving our professional and personal goals. If January came and went and you haven’t set your intentions (or maybe you prefer “resolutions” – your choice) for 2022, it’s not too late! Don’t let the beginning of the new year fade without taking a moment to refresh your goals and set your intentions for the rest of 2022. The Employee Well-Being team encourages you to consider using one word that will help motivate and inspire you as you set your goals and work toward staying Healthy + Strong in 2022.

The power of just One Word

In his video “One Word that will Change Your Life,” best-selling author and speaker Jon Gordon encourages you to choose one word that resonates with you that you can focus on every day, all year long. Your one word should sum up who you want to be and/or how you want to live. If you let your word guide you, it will not only shape your year but become the compass that directs your decisions and leads your steps throughout the year.

Resources to keep you focused

Texas Children’s has a variety of resources to keep you focused on your one word and four key dimensions of Well-Being to support keeping you Healthy + Strong: physical, mental, financial and social. Our EAP, Well-Being and Benefits teams encourage you to leverage these resources throughout the year to ensure you take care of your well-being every day.

For a start:

  • Print out your My One Word card and join the Employee Well-Being team to set your intentions for the year to stay Healthy + Strong in 2022!
  • Kickstart your year with webinars from the Employee Well-Being team. All sessions are from Noon – 12:30 p.m. Click here to register.
    • Healthy and Strong in 2022: One Word – Wednesday, January 26, and Friday, January 28
    • Go Red for Women: Heart Health – Friday, February 4
More to come

To help keep you focused and motivated, look for more Connect articles exploring our other Well-Being dimensions in the coming weeks.

January 21, 2022

Following the federal government public notice requiring commercial health plans to cover up to eight over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests per month per covered individual for diagnostic purposes, starting Jan. 15, Cigna has announced their coverage process for the OTC COVID-19 antigen tests for all U.S. commercial customers and their respective members enrolled in the medical benefit.

Coverage and reimbursement details can be found here and summarized below:

  • Employees covered by Texas Children’s Cigna medical plan may receive reimbursement for up to eight FDA authorized OTC COVID-19 at-home tests per covered individual on the plan per 30-days without a health care provider prescription or individualized clinical assessment.
    • Each individual test is counted separately – so, if a package includes eight tests, it counts as eight tests, and not one, toward the quantity limit.
  • Cigna will reimburse the costs of OTC tests purchased on or after Jan. 15, 2022, regardless of where it was obtained (including online, in- and out-of-network).
  • Employees or their covered members can get an authorized test kit at any pharmacy (in- or out-of-network), retail store or online retailer.
  • COVID-19 testing performed by health care providers is not subject to a quantity limit.

Covered employees may also go to Cigna.com, MyCigna.com or the MyCigna app to access detailed instructions on the reimbursement process and to a view more information, including FAQs. Please click here for the COVID-19 Over-the-Counter (OTC) Test Kit Claim Form.

For employees and medical staff covered by Baylor’s medical/pharmacy plans United HealthCare and CVS/Caremark, please check the Baylor intranet site for plan coverage details and reimbursement information.

For members of Express Scripts mail order services, they are currently working on a solution designed to meet mandate requirements and we will keep you updated when we learn more.

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order four free at-⁠home COVID-⁠19 tests, please visit https://special.usps.com/testkits.

As we work as an organization and community to protect ourselves, each other and our patients against the surge in COVID-19 Omicron cases, we appreciate your commitment to this effort and by taking advantage of these additional testing opportunities as needed. Ongoing updates can be found on the COVID-19 Vaccine website and in this FAQ document.

January 20, 2022

Learn how compassion motivated Tyler Giess to become a part of Texas Children’s twelve years ago and how that same compassion is leading him in his new role for Austin. Read more