September 4, 2018

On August 23, an excited group of Walmart and Sam’s Club employees visited Texas Children’s for a special presentation and ribbon cutting for the Walmart and Sam’s Club Waiting Room on the 20th floor of Legacy Tower and part of the new Texas Children’s Heart Center®. They were welcomed by Chief of Pediatric Cardiology Dr. Daniel Penny, Vice President Judy Swanson and Texas Children’s Executive Vice President Mark Mullarkey, who spoke about Texas Children’s special partnership with Walmart and Sam’s Club through the Children’s Miracle Network.

“We couldn’t be more appreciative of the support we’ve had from Walmart and Sam’s Club over the years,” Mullarkey said. “Your generosity has made it possible for us to provide families with critically ill children the space they need to be together and to be comfortable.”

Even with a crowd of more than 30 attendees, there was plenty of room to move in the expansive new waiting area, which was specially designed as a haven for families with children who are dealing with some of the most complex medical issues – children like 11-year-old Jhett Skaggs, a Texas Children’s patient from Oklahoma, who with his dad, Brian, attended the event. Brian shared their story.

Jhett was born with cardiomyopathy, a rare heart disease. Doctors told Brian and his wife, Audra, that Jhett needed a life-saving heart transplant. They began researching options for treatment and decided Texas Children’s was the best choice. Experts from Texas Children’s flew to Oklahoma to transport Jhett to Houston, where he received a heart transplant at just 10 months old. For years, everything seemed to be okay, until at age 5 Jhett developed coronary artery disease. He would require another transplant. In 2012, Brian and Jhett moved to Houston to be closer to Texas Children’s. And though they had to wait nearly six years, Jhett finally received his second heart this past July.

“Everything worked out perfectly,” Skaggs said. “I wouldn’t change one single thing about our decision to come to Texas Children’s.”

After Brian’s moving story, Mullarkey turned the floor over to Trina Greer, Walmart Regional Vice President of Human Resources, who presented Texas Children’s with a check for nearly $1 million.

“It’s always my pleasure to watch our employees get excited about raising money for children who need our help,” Greer said. “I’m proud of the work we do and the funds we raise in the Greater Houston area to help Texas Children’s.”

Since 2005, Walmart and Sam’s Club have contributed more than $9.2 million. Last year, in addition to the funds raised in Houston area stores, the Walmart Foundation also gave Texas Children’s a gift of $500,000 for Hurricane Harvey Relief. In appreciation of this generosity, Texas Children’s leadership decided to dedicate the Heart Center’s new waiting area in honor of Walmart and Sam’s Club.

The new Heart Center – set to open on September 25 – will occupy eight floors and will feature four cardiac catheterization labs including integrated MRI scanner, four cardiovascular operating rooms, three cardiovascular ICU floors with 48 private rooms, two cardiac acute care floors with 42 private patient rooms, and a dedicated space for families.

In 2002, Dr. George Mallory helped establish Texas Children’s Lung Transplant Program and has built it into one of the world’s preeminent pediatric programs, with a reputation for collaborative, patient-centered care. This year, Mallory is passing the torch of medical leadership to Dr. Tina Melicoff, who will lead the program in partnership with surgical director Dr. Jeffrey Heinle.

“We all share Texas Children’s vision of taking care of children with complex lung conditions,” said Melicoff. “Cases that would be too complex to treat elsewhere are common at Texas Children’s. With our amazing team, and our focus on clinical and basic research, we can continue to build on Dr. Mallory’s incredible legacy of compassionate care and clinical excellence.”

Under Mallory’s distinguished leadership, the program has reached some extraordinary milestones. It is one of the largest lung transplant programs in the world – and the most active, with the highest clinical volume of any program over the past five years. Experts at Texas Children’s have performed more than 200 lung transplants, completing more in the past five years than any other pediatric program. Over the past ten years, the program has been one of only three that consistently performs transplants in infants and young children. It is also one of only two programs performing 10 or more pediatric transplants per year. And even with high volume, the program has a pristine record of below-average wait list times, with a median wait time of less than four months, shorter than most other programs.

Mallory, who is transitioning to the role of Medical Director Emeritus, attributes the program’s success to the collaborative and comprehensive approach to care, which includes surgery, pulmonary medicine and immunology services, infectious disease expertise, social work, nutrition, psychological care, basic and clinical research, and more.

“One of the things I’m most proud of that we’ve achieved is a fabulous multidisciplinary team,” he said. “That’s common language in modern medicine, but we really have a great team”

As the program moves forward under new leadership, that team will continue to work together for the same shared goals: improving outcomes, delaying chronic rejection and keeping children where they should be – with their families.

“Easily, the single best thing is to have engaged honestly and deeply with patients and families and see the majority of them capture years of quality of life,” Mallory said. “What we do here is much more than a dry scientific pursuit; it’s an amazing opportunity to see miracles happen.”

To learn more, watch the video.

The Southwest Pediatric Device Consortium (SWPDC), anchored at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, recently received a prestigious P50 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The five-year, $6.75 million grant will begin on September 1 and will allow SWPDC to leverage ongoing activities to expand and accelerate the development of much-needed pediatric medical devices. The five principal investigators include Drs. Chester Koh and Henri Justino of Texas Children’s and Baylor, Dr. Balakrishna Haridas of Texas A&M University, Dr. Maria Oden of Rice University, and Dr. Michael Heffernan of Fannin Innovation Studio.

SWPDC supports pediatric device innovators with the goal of addressing the shortage of needed novel medical devices for children, a public health problem that has been acknowledged by the FDA.

“A great need currently exists for medical devices designed specifically for children,” said Koh, founder of SWPDC and lead principal investigator, as well as a pediatric urologist at Texas Children’s and professor of urology, pediatrics and Ob/Gyn at Baylor. “Pediatric device development is challenging, but with this support from the FDA, our consortium will continue to assist pediatric device innovators along all stages of development with the goal of improving our care of pediatric patients.”

The past decade has been a period of growth in adult medical device innovation. Advances in devices for children, however, have lagged far behind. Why the disparity? Economics are partially to blame. The market for pediatric devices is smaller, and thus the return on investment lower. Then there are the clinical and regulatory challenges. Pediatric device projects may need an extended life cycle before they can be approved and exposed to the external market. As a result, pediatric surgeons and pediatricians have had to make do with what’s available, often using retooled adult medical devices, and without adequate testing in children.

“Significant technical (design and manufacturing), preclinical testing, clinical and regulatory testing challenges exist in the field of pediatric devices,” said Haridas, co-founder and co-PI of SWPDC (lead PI at Texas A&M) and professor of practice in biomedical engineering at Texas A&M. “This FDA-funded SWPDC is uniquely positioned to address these challenges across the pediatric device development and clinical translational cycle to deliver significant advances in treatments tailored for pediatric patients.”

Support from the P50 grant will enable SWPDC to provide services in several areas: unmet needs assessment, prototype development, product and technology acceleration services, and business acceleration services. Consortium members will evaluate and support projects, as well as advise innovators throughout the total product life cycle. Based on individual project needs, the consortium will direct investigators to specific resources, collaborators and industry experts, and will coordinate the services offered by its member programs to identify, evaluate and assist pediatric device projects.

SWPDC includes clinical, scientific/engineering, investment, regulatory and academic partners in the Texas Medical Center, the Greater Houston area and the southwestern U.S. Primary partners include Texas A&M University, Rice University, University of Houston and Fannin Innovation Studio, and includes others such as Biotex Inc., Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Children’s Health in Dallas and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, with additional future sites. SWPDC was selected as one of five national consortia that are addressing the shortage of pediatric devices.

To learn more about the Southwest Pediatric Device Consortium, visit swpdc.org.

Each year in September, Texas Children’s Cancer Center goes gold to honor the courageous journeys of our patients and families who have been touched by pediatric cancer and to create awareness about the challenges these children and their loved ones face. It is also a special time to honor the Cancer Center’s staff and everyone involved in the care and support of those who come to Texas Children’s seeking our aid.

Today, you will hear from patients, family members, doctors and other medical staff as they explain why they Go Gold in September and what makes raising awareness about pediatric cancer so important. Additional comments from staff and Cancer Center supporters will be highlighted on Instagram @oneamazingteam.

Throughout the month, there are several events scheduled across the organization geared toward raising awareness about childhood cancer. Some of those event are listed below. Please check the Connect calendar and the Cancer Center’s Facebook page for additional details. Also, visit the Texas Children’s Blog for Cancer Center related posts throughout the month.

“We are proud to say that our Cancer Center helps children fight and defeat cancer every day,” said Dr. Susan Blaney, director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. “We hope you will stand with us in Going Gold for childhood cancer, so that together, we can create a healthier future for children in our care.”

Upcoming cancer awareness activities:

  • September 4 at 2 p.m. – Main Campus Going Gold Parade and Ribbon Tying Event starting on fourth floor of the Pavilion for Women and ending on The Auxiliary Bridge.
  • September 4 at 6 p.m. – Vannie Cook Children’s Clinic in McAllen Going Gold Parade and Ribbon Tying Event
  • September 5 at 10:30 a.m. – West Campus Going Gold Parade and Ribbon Tying Event in front of hospital’s main entrance
  • September 6 at 10:30 a.m. – The Woodlands Going Gold Parade and Ribbon Tying Event in the main lobby of the hospital
  • September 8 at 2 p.m. – The opening of and reception for the Periwinkle Foundation’s Making A Mark exhibit on The Auxiliary Bridge. The exhibit, which highlights the art and creative writing by children touched by cancer and blood disorders at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, will be in the bridge throughout the month.
  • September 13, 20 and 27 at 1 p.m. – KPRC Channel 2 will air segments highlighting the Cancer Center.
  • September 13-14: International Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Conference in Cullen Auditorium at Baylor College of Medicine.
  • September 14 at 10:30 a.m. – Be the Match Patient Walk on the eight floor of the Cancer Center in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit
  • September 16-19 – Houston City Hall will be lit gold
  • September 21 – The President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi to visit Cancer Center
  • September 25 at 9 a.m. – The annual Hyundai Hope on Wheels Tour will stop at Texas Children’s in support of research and programs that bring us closer to better treatment and possible cures to cancer. The tour is a united effort of Hyundai dealers who travel the country to present Hyundai Scholar grants to children’s hospitals.

To learn more about Texas Children’s Cancer Center, click here.

Dr. Michael Blaine Zelisko and Brian M. Davis recently received the Best of the West award. Dr. Zelisko is recognized for his work as Clinical Director of Anesthesia and Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, and Davis for his work as Technical Supervisor of the Blood Bank.

The award recognizes employees each quarter who have exceled at demonstrating Texas Children’s values – leading tirelessly, living compassionately, amplifying unity and embracing freedom. Zelisko and Davis both exemplify the many qualities of Best of the West; they constantly find opportunities to demonstrate the values of the organization.

Some of Zelisko’s colleagues and patient families have said the following about him:

  • “He has done a great job taking over as clinical lead for the campus.”
  • “He is a clinical superstar with strong skills in the regional anesthesia program at West Campus.”
  • “He is engaging and thoughtful with significant system growth in radiology surgery.”
  • “He leads his staff with integrity and empathy, making every effort to make each day a smooth operation.”
  • “He gives his all to his work, his patients, and his staff.”
  • “He is always open to new ideas and supports changes that improve our system.”
  • “He is an exceptional provider and is often requested by families.”

Some of Davis’ colleagues and patient families have said the following about him:

  • “Brian has improved workflow for the staff and easily accessible guides to accomplish their jobs.
  • “Brian created a Massive Transfusion Protocol (MTP) lab testing form and MTP guides for staff, and trained the staff of the new protocol.”
  • “Brian monitors Blood Bank activity closely and responds to issues by reaching out to stakeholders to both understand the issue and then to develop a resolution to the issue.”
  • “He is very responsive not only to Pathology staff but also to the nursing staff and their leaders.”
  • “Brian is very dedicated and provides the best quality services.”
  • “His attention to detail and passion for his work is evident in the processes that he has developed and the effectiveness of the Blood Bank processes.”

Please join West Campus in congratulating and thanking Zelisko and Davis for showing us what it takes to be the best of the west.

Thanks to a generous donation on behalf of the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, Texas Children’s was able to host a Peanut Allergy Friendly Day at the July 14 Houston Astros game against the Detroit Tigers. Eight families with children who are allergic to peanuts got to watch the game from an area filled with peanut-free foods.

Many children with allergies are not able to attend sporting events such as baseball games due to fear and anxiety of being exposed to foods such as peanuts. At an event like the Peanut Allergy Friendly Day, children with allergies can sit back, relax and really feel the energy and excitement we all experience when we attend an Astros game.

To learn more about allergies in children, sign up for Texas Children’s 5th annual Food Allergy Symposium. The event is from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, September 29, at the United Way Community Resource Center at 55 Waugh Drive, and will focus on educating the community about emerging therapies and new research initiatives. Experts will discuss the new Stock Epinephrine Bill, as well as practical coping strategies for children with established food allergies. We will have youth sessions for children and teens, a photo booth, live cooking demos from our clinical dietician, and interactive breakout sessions for caregivers. Register for this event here: www.texaschildrens.org/allergysymposium.

August 27, 2018
Members from the August 7 (top) and August 16 (bottom) rescues are recognized.

When people tell stories about the care Texas Children’s provides, they often use the same word: miraculous. With the heroic actions of our Kangaroo Crew in two recent cases, it’s easy to see why.

The first story took place on August 7. The team in Texas Children’s Mission Control received a frantic call from a surgery center north of Houston.

“There was a very panicked voice on the other end,” said ETM dispatcher Amber Lieberman. “She said, ‘We need your team, we need blood and we need you now.’”

A 6-year-old patient had suffered a lacerated carotid artery during a routine outpatient procedure. The surgical team had applied pressure to stop the bleeding, but the patient had lost too much blood and there was no emergency blood on hand. Without immediate assistance, the child might die.

Mission Control immediately sprang into action. A Kangaroo Crew team at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands was dispatched to the patient. On the scene, the team swiftly assessed the situation and began preparing the patient for transport, taking special care to keep the patient as secure as possible since the team at the community surgery center was still applying pressure on the artery. One wrong move could mean disaster.

Meanwhile, Mission Control also dispatched the Kangaroo Crew from Texas Children’s medical center campus to take the emergency release blood to The Woodlands team. In a stunning display of coordination, Mission Control and the two teams orchestrated a hand-off of the blood just off Interstate 45 between The Woodlands and Houston. They planned down to the exact moment when each vehicle would arrive and also on which side of the highway they would meet. In the parking lot of an abandoned restaurant, the two teams connected almost simultaneously and the blood was handed off.

Once the patient was stable, the medical center campus Kangaroo Crew followed The Woodlands Kangaroo Crew to the Texas Medical Center in case support was needed during the drive. Mission Control constantly tracked the movements of each vehicle and coordinated our teams in the emergency center (EC) and operating room and interventional radiology (IR), providing constant updates on the patient’s condition and ETA.

When they arrived at the EC, Kangaroo Crew team members assisted the emergency staff until the patient was taken to IR. This is a story that could have had a much different ending.

“Because of the seamless coordination with Mission Control, it’s amazing what we can accomplish,” said Kangaroo Crew transport nurse Roma Frier. “It wouldn’t have happened like it did without the transfer center and the way it operates.”

Just over a week later, on August 16, the Kangaroo Crew was transporting a patient from another hospital in the Texas Medical Center to Texas Children’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). As they passed the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Michael Johnson, the EMT on the team, saw something startling at a nearby bus stop.

“There was an individual giving chest compressions to a man,” Johnson said. “I turned and yelled to the back, ‘We need to stop, I don’t think this guy’s breathing.’”

The Kangaroo Crew immediately stopped to assist. Members of the team sprinted to help and began CPR while another crew member stayed with the stabilized patient on board and contacted Mission Control, who alerted paramedics. Less than three minutes later, the Houston Fire Department (HFD) arrived on the scene and a unified command was initiated. HFD, assisted by the Kangaroo Crew, began administering advanced cardiac life support.

Within moments, the patient was revived.

As HFD and EMS prepared the cardiac arrest patient for transport to an adult hospital, the Kangaroo Crew proceeded to Texas Children’s NICU with our patient, who had been stabilized and monitored throughout the rescue.

This is another story that could have ended in tragedy. However, both the NICU patient and the gentleman are alive today, and the prognoses are excellent.

“This is a story that deserves celebration,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace. “The heroes in the Kangaroo Crew and Mission Control are such a big part of this one amazing team. They are always running toward the problem, and they make such a huge difference here at Texas Children’s.”

Also awed by the heroic actions of the Kangaroo Crew that day was Craig Moreau, HFD captain and paramedic from Fire Station 33.

“I am convinced that the early decisive actions of the members of the Kangaroo Crew gave this patient the best possible chance for survival,” Moreau said. “If in the unfortunate event something drastic is to occur to me or any members of my family, I hope the Kangaroo Crew is nearby to assist. Their efforts went above and beyond the call of duty.”

The heroes on August 7 were:

Mission Control
Mona McPherson, Pediatric Medical Control
Amber Lieberman, Dispatch
Gloria White, Charge Nurse

Kangaroo Crew Transport Team 991 from The Woodlands
Adrian Gonzales, EMT
Shawnaka Holland, RN
Ryan Seaholm, RRT
Jacob Willits Martinez, Orientee

Kangaroo Crew Transport Team 992 from Main Campus
Ray Estlinbaum, RRT
Roma Frier, RN
Kim Karn, RN and Orientee
Michael Johnson, EMT

The heroes on August 16 were:

Kangaroo Crew Transport Team
Ashley Griffin, Orientee
Michael Johnson, EMT
Kristine Knight, RRT
Jennifer Rinaldo, RN

Click here to learn more about the Kangaroo Crew.

Click here to learn more about Mission Control.