May 18, 2021

Texas Children’s Global Health partners at the Area 25 Health Centre in Malawi planted giant bamboo seedlings in its permaculture garden to recognize Earth Day, and to celebrate the lasting connections between human and environmental health.

An average of 20 babies are delivered each day at the health centre in the Malawian capital city of Lilongwe, where Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine launched a Global Women’s Health program in 2012 in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Malawi and Baylor Foundation Malawi.

With a lack of access to health care services and limited resources in many settings, Malawian women experience 675 deaths per 100,000 live births; in the United States, the ratio is 14 deaths per 100,000 births. Texas Children’s Global Health is working to improve the odds for Malawian moms through transformative programs that benefit thousands of women and babies.

One such effort is the Permaculture Program at Area 25, which focuses on establishing a safe, nurturing environment for all patients receiving care at the facility – particularly pregnant women staying at the maternity waiting home. The vibrant permaculture garden is designed as a human-centered landscape, and based on a system of sustainable agriculture that promotes harmony with the local environment and natural ecosystems.

For Earth Day, Malawi Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources Nancy Tembo and U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Robert Scott joined health centre officials in the permaculture garden for a symbolic planting of giant bamboo. They also distributed seedlings to patients, which they’ve done for more than 3 years.

The distribution supports environmental stewardship by creating a relationship between the mother, her child and the seedlings she takes home. As the child grows, so do the plants, providing the family with new sources of food and firewood.

“The symbolic planting of the bamboos is a manifestation of the ministry’s commitment to healing the earth, using bamboo as a candidate species for landscape restoration and improved livelihoods,” Tembo said after the event.

Through the USAID Agricultural Diversification Project, the permaculture garden at Area 25 also supports nutrition and productivity. The space is a demonstration site for soya milk and mini drip kits, as well as drip irrigation and distribution of PICS bags to patients that allow for storage of grains without the use of insecticide.

Texas Children’s Global Health Network is the largest provider of pediatric HIV care in the world, with an expanded scope that also includes tuberculosis, malnutrition, Sickle Cell Disease, oncology, cardiology, emergency medicine, surgery, anesthesiology and maternal health.

Once your team reaches a 75% vaccination rate, you’re automatically eligible to win some of the hottest electronics on the market – just like these recipients. Read more

Life is busy, especially more so during the pandemic. As we continue to navigate our reconstructed future, it is more important than ever to keep healthy and strong for ourselves, and our families and friends.

As part of our commitment to your total well-being, Texas Children’s Employee Health and Well-Being teams have organized a variety of programs and resources around Women’s Health Month to help refresh your focus on your physical, mental and emotional well-being. Watch for more on Connect.

This week, we are focusing on your mental well-being.

Work-life satisfaction: Take advantage of EAP Plus, the enhanced Employee Assistance Program, available to all employees and their eligible dependents. In addition to round-the-clock access to counseling services by phone and referrals to qualified mental health providers in the community, EAP Plus provides legal guidance, financial information and unlimited work-life solutions to help you take care of tasks such as planning a party, securing child or elder care, arranging home repairs and more. Call 833.EAP.PLUS 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to connect with a certified counselor, or visit the EAP Plus website and enter EAPPLUS as the Organization Web ID.

Virtual Mental Health Care: Taking care of your mental health can help you live a happier, healthier, and more productive life. Cigna now offers the following options:

  • Behavioral and mental health virtual care via MDLive, where you can talk privately with a licensed counselor or psychiatrist via video or phone anywhere and anytime. You can also have a prescription sent directly to your local pharmacy, if needed. Please note there will be a co-pay. To learn more about MDLive click here.
  • Talkspace, an online therapy platform where you are able to hold sessions with a licensed behavioral therapist from anywhere, at any time. Please note there will be a co-pay. Once you are matched with a therapist, you can message each other to schedule your session. For additional information on Talkspace, click here.
  • Meru Health offers a 12-week virtual counseling program that includes daily chat support from a licensed therapist, a biofeedback device, anonymous peer and psychiatrist support, mindfulness practices, and habit-changing activities for sleep, nutrition, and more – accessed anytime and anywhere. Click here to learn more.

After winning the Get the Vaccine to End COVID-19 Drawing, the following team members tell us why they stepped up to be vaccinated and hope to inspire others.

Wilena Grayer – 5.9 years of service
Coding Quality Assurance Specialist III – HIM Coding
I chose to get the COVID-19 vaccine to continue to protect me, as well as my family. I had 7 family members to catch COVID and I was in close contact with them, but I never got infected. Their serious of illness ranged from hospitalization on respiratory assistance to 14-day quarantine. Seeing the true COVID residual effects first hand, I chose to be safe and protect myself and those I love by getting the vaccine. I hope others choose to do the same.

Erin Psencik – 12.3 years of service
Occupational Therapist – Inpatient
I chose to get the COVID-19 vaccine to protect not only myself and my family, but the patient and families that I treat. It was a humbling experience during both my first and second dose to know that I was doing my part to help stop the spread of this virus. Thank you Texas Children’s Hospital!

Angela Anderson – 5.9 years of service
Service Coordinator – Social Work
Honestly, initially I was against getting the vaccine, but after doing my own research and talking with family about it I decided it was best to get the vaccine. I am glad I was able to do my part for my family, my community and my world.

To date, 80 percent of our workforce has volunteered to be vaccinated against COVID-19. If you haven’t already, schedule your vaccination appointment now; simply click here and sign up for the date and time that works best for your schedule.

This week on Mark Wallace’s blog, he celebrates the groundbreaking of Texas Children’s Hospital in Austin, and why this marks a new hope for generations to come. Read more

During Lauren Bailey’s routine 20-week anatomy scan in October 2020, her OB/GYN noticed an abnormal growth on her placenta. It was a chorioangioma, a benign, vascular tumor. Read more

May 17, 2021

More than 100 team members in Texas Children’s Department of Pathology were recently awarded the G.J. Buffone Pathology Improvement Award for the way they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year – extending shifts, adjusting schedules and making personal sacrifices to manage significantly increased volumes of testing in the lab.

Since March 2020, Pathology has received and tested more than 183,000 samples for COVID-19 diagnostic testing alone. This includes testing of Texas Children’s patients and team members, as well as patients from other hospitals in the Houston area. It is also in addition to various other tests needed for patient management and treatment of COVID-19, which caused test volumes in some specialties to rise dramatically.

For the diagnostic testing, technicians looked at samples like nasopharyngeal swabs, nasal/nasopharyngeal washes and bronchoalveolar lavages. Labs involved in this work included Specimen Management, which receives all specimens from various collection sites; Medical Microbiology & Virology, which handles rapid COVID-19 testing; and Molecular Microbiology, which handles both routine and rapid COVID-19 testing. Additional testing labs included Chemistry for COVID-19 antibody testing, and the Microbiome Center for COVID-19 sequencing for variant surveillance.
To accommodate the increased laboratory workload, Pathology team members worked tirelessly behind the scenes, stepping up to cover extra weekends and even eschewing family and personal time to remain flexible through inconsistent shifts in schedules. In some services where staffing has had to nearly double to keep up with the pace, leaders have managed their teams while also onboarding new technologists to meet the demand.

With a mission to provide state-of-the-art diagnostic services to Texas Children’s patients and their families, Pathology is committed to providing answers to support accurate diagnoses by obtaining puzzle pieces in the form of patient samples. The team celebrated National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week from April 19-23.

For a look at our Texas Children’s lab technicians – truly among the unsung heroes in health care – at work, check out the video above.