November 2022 – Page 2 – Texas Children's News

November 10, 2022

Thanks to all who entered the Texans ticket giveaway and showed us your team spirit. Our winners had a blast at the game! Watch the video recap. Read More

You showed up and showed out for Halloween Spirit Week, and we loved seeing all the funky hats, spooky socks, and festive gear! The competition was stiff for our Costume Contest, but congratulations to the winners chosen by our very own Texas Children’s volunteers:

Team Winner: Pain Medicine – “Sesame Street”

Individual Winner: Dr. Rayne Rouce – “Troll”

The Department of Pediatrics also hosted an impressive Pumpkin Decorating Contest on The Auxiliary Bridge with voting open to employees, patients and visitors. The entries were other-worldly, and we were all impressed by the talent of our teams who participated!

Leading up to spirit week, Spirit Halloween helped us host a delightfully spooky Halloween party in the Child Life Zone complete with costumes and crafts for our patients. For fifteen years, their Spirit of Children program has partnered with Texas Children’s to improve the lives of children and raise funds for our Child Life program. So far, they’ve raised $2.7 million for Texas Children’s, half a million of it in 2021 alone. Click here to read more about the partnership.

Thanks to all who joined in on the fun and made Halloween an exciting and memorable experience for our patients and team members. Click through the gallery to see some of our favorite costumes, pumpkins and moments from Spirit Week!

We’re in the final week of 2023 Annual Enrollment, with just a few days left to submit your benefit elections by Friday, November 11, at 11:59 p.m. If you do not take action by the deadline, you will be enrolled based on your current 2022 elections with the exception of the Flexible Spending Accounts, which must be re-elected annually.

For a complete overview of 2023 benefits, refer to the What’s New page on TexasChildrensBenefits.org, then make the best elections for you and your family in 2023.

Focus on your financial well-being and get in-person enrollment support

Our final virtual session focuses on Texas Children’s retirement plans, today, Tuesday, November 8, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Click here and take the following steps to attend: 1) Select “Attend a learning event” 2) Type “Texas Children’s” in the Employer Name field 3) Select “Virtual Event” in the Event Type field 4) Click to register for “Ask Fidelity: How to make the Most of Your Retirement Savings.”

Benefits team members will be on-site at The Woodlands and the Medical Center this week to help you navigate available benefits.

Event/Location/Date/Time
The Woodlands Lobby
Wednesday, November 9: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Feigin Building 19th Floor
Room C.014.0.05
Friday, November 11: 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Important reminders

Select Dollars. Texas Children’s will continue to contribute majority of the costs associated with our medical plans and will also continue its commitment of providing all full-time and part-time employees with additional funds (Select Dollars) on a bi-weekly basis to help offset the cost of benefit premiums, regardless of whether you are enrolled in Texas Children’s medical benefits.

Benefit changes. Under federal regulations, benefit changes after Annual Enrollment ends are not permitted except for qualified life events and job status changes. Otherwise, the next opportunity to change your benefit elections will be during the Fall 2023 Benefits Annual Enrollment period.

PERMA Profiler Well-Being Survey. Remember to take our new annual survey if you haven’t done so already. The confidential PERMA measures five areas of your well-being – Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. You can get confidential immediate results, while helping us plan initiatives that help you be your best self. You will find the survey link on the What’s New page at TexasChildrensBenefits.org or by clicking here. For an optimal experience, we recommend you complete the survey while on the Texas Children’s network.

QUESTIONS? NEED HELP?

Ask Emma, Your Personal Digital Benefits Advisor

Available 24/7 in both English and Spanish from any desktop or mobile device, Ask Emma offers confidential guidance and advice to help you select the right benefits for you and your family.

Texas Children’s Benefits Service Center

Our Benefits team is available to help from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Spanish language assistance is also available via phone and web chat.

Phone 832-824-2421 (select option 1 and then option 1 again for Benefits).
Web chat (located at the top of your Benefits homepage).

More than 60 nurses from every Texas Children’s campus and the Health Plan have been named recipients of the 2022 Excellence in Nursing Awards from the Good Samaritan Foundation for offering extraordinary and compassionate care and service at the bedside.

Each Excellence in Nursing honoree was nominated by their peers for demonstrating passion for the nursing profession, leadership, mentorship and service to the Houston community. The nominations were reviewed and scored by a selection committee comprised of clinical leaders in the Texas Medical Center.

Recipients were honored on October 27 at the 18th annual Excellence in Nursing Awards Luncheon, which celebrated and recognized outstanding nurses in education and clinical practice throughout the state. The awards are among the largest programs in Texas that recognize the dedicated nurses who are actively working in the profession.

Three Texas Children’s nurses were selected to receive Gold Awards this year, the highest honor. Click on each name to watch their tribute video.

Aimee Jackson, Pavilion for Women
Lisa (Beth) Pali, The Woodlands
Mili Vakharia, West Campus

Laura Sealy, a Baylor College of Medicine team member based at the Medical Center campus, was selected to receive a Silver Award.

The following nurses were selected to receive Bronze Awards:

Marelisa Amezcua, Medical Center
Anika Ampadu, Medical Center (Baylor)
Erin Balmert, Pavilion for Women
Kiersten Betker-Anderson, Medical Center
Jana Broussard, Medical Center
Sharon Burks, Medical Center
Amanda Byers, The Woodlands
Heather Collins, West Campus
Nicole Dumas, West Campus
Jeanie Eggers, Medical Center
Janique Forde, Medical Center
Jean Freedman, Health Plan
Fermilia Fucanan, Medical Center
Jamie Gilley, Medical Center
Artur Gonzales, Medical Center
Stephanie Gruner, Medical Center (Baylor)
Dulce Guajardo, Medical Center
Jennifer Guinon, Medical Center
Myoshia Hollings, Medical Center
Cindy Hollingsworth, Medical Center
Judith Holloway, Medical Center
Rizza Hynes, Health Plan
Michele Krenek, Medical Center
Haley Lattal, Medical Center (Baylor)
Jessica Leach, Medical Center
Sonia Mathews, Pavilion for Women
Viniya Michael, Medical Center
Heather Morand, Medical Center
Patience Nehikhuere, Health Plan
Gretchen Nordt, West Campus
Elizabeth Ortiz, Pavilion for Women
Amanda Pena, Medical Center (Baylor)
Natalie Pham, Medical Center
Michael Pickett, Medical Center
April Poncik, West Campus
Belinda Ramirez, Medical Center
Susan Romero, The Woodlands
Rainey Russell, Medical Center
Erin Scurlock, Medical Center
Sonya Simms, Pavilion for Women
Sandra Simon, Health Plan
Heather Soni, Medical Center (Baylor)
Natalie Stephens, Medical Center
Joannie Stoker, Medical Center
Kathleen Tew, Medical Center (Baylor)
Tijo Thomas, Medical Center
Karen Thomas, The Woodlands
Amy Valdez, West Campus
Nadia Villarreal, Medical Center
Shelly Wilke, The Woodlands
Kevann Williams, The Woodlands
Robbye Willoughby, Medical Center
Tiffany Wrenn, Medical Center
Michelle Yu, Medical Center

Congratulations to all of our Nursing colleagues on this achievement!

November 2, 2022

What to read, listen to, watch, try and know this month on our journey to a more diverse, equitable and inclusive culture. Read More

To help you prepare for the new Voyager system, Employee Self-Service and Manager Self-Service training will be available in HealthStream beginning November 14.

Please complete these required training courses by the December 28 deadline.

Employee Self-Service Training

After completing Employee Self-Service courses, you will know how to:

Manage tax withholdings and view pay slips
View and update personal information
Manage your performance and update your talent profile

(Approx. time commitment – 60 Minutes)

Manager Self-Service Training

After completing Manager Self-Service courses, you will know how to:

Perform Manager Self-Service actions for direct reports
Complete onboarding tasks for new hires
View and monitor goals of direct reports and complete performance evaluations
Approve compensation plan for merit increases
View employee’s talent profiles

(Approx. time commitment – 4 Hours 30 Minutes for both Manager and Employee training courses)

Be on the lookout for course assignments in HealthStream and a training launch communication.

Are you Ready?

Please take this 2-minute survey to help the Voyager team understand your readiness.

Have questions or want to learn more?

Access the Voyager SharePoint site
Reach out to a Change Agent
Contact the Voyager team at: VoyagerProject@texaschildrens.org

We are in Week 2 of our three-week 2023 Annual Enrollment period, running now through 11:59 p.m. Friday, November 11. There’s still plenty of time to attend an event, get support and explore benefit options for you and your family.

You can learn about all of our benefit updates for 2023 and find the options that are right for you on the What’s New page at TexasChildrensBenefits.org. Along with comprehensive coverage options featuring no rate increases for the next year, we are offering on-site and virtual events to focus on your physical, mental and financial health.

Week 2 and 3 On-site Events, Virtual Sessions and Support

Benefits Fairs. Talk with Benefits team members and vendors about the resources and benefits available to help you meet your well-being goals.

Tuesday, November 1, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Pavilion for Women
4th Floor Conference Rooms
E.475.80 and F.0475.70

Wednesday, November 2, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
West Campus Lobby

Wednesday, November 2, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Medical Center
The Auxiliary Bridge

Friday, November 4, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The Woodlands Lobby

Monday, November 7, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
6330 West Loop
Basement Conference Room

In-person Enrollment Support. Benefits team members will be on-site to help you navigate available benefits throughout Week 3 at the following locations.

Monday, November 7, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
West Campus Room WA210

Wednesday, November 9, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
The Woodlands Lobby

Friday, November 11, 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Feigin Building 19th Floor
Room C.014.0.05

Financial Health Virtual Presentation. Fidelity will lead a session with Q&A on Tuesday, November 8, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., specifically focusing on Texas Children’s retirement plans. Click here and take the following steps to attend: 1) Select “Attend a learning event” 2) Type “Texas Children’s” in the Employer Name field 3) Select “Virtual Event” in the Event Type field 4) Click to register for “Ask Fidelity: How to make the Most of Your Retirement Savings.”

PERMA Profiler Well-Being Survey. During Annual Enrollment you are encouraged to participate in our new annual survey, which measures five areas of your well-being – Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. You can get confidential immediate results, while helping us plan initiatives that help you be your best self. You will find the survey link and assess your well-being on the What’s New page at TexasChildrensBenefits.org or by clicking here. For an optimal experience, we recommend you complete the survey while on the Texas Children’s network.

Important things to remember during Annual Enrollment

Select Dollars. Texas Children’s will continue to contribute the majority of the costs associated with our medical plans and will also continue its commitment of providing all full-time and part-time employees with additional funds (Select Dollars) on a bi-weekly basis to help offset the cost of benefit premiums, regardless of whether you are enrolled in Texas Children’s medical benefits.

Benefit changes. Under federal regulations, benefit changes after Annual Enrollment ends are not permitted except for qualified life events and job status changes. Otherwise, the next opportunity to change your benefit elections will be during the Fall 2023 Benefits Annual Enrollment period.

Questions? Need Help?

Ask EMMA, Your Personal Digital Benefits Advisor