February 27, 2018

Texas Children’s Health Plan and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston have teamed up to provide free school year and summer memberships to active Health Plan members between the ages of 6 and 12.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston has 14 locations across the region and offers a range of after-school programs, including Academic Success, Healthy Lifestyles, and Good Character and Citizenship.

“We are proud to be a partner of Texas Children’s Health Plan,” said Kevin Hattery, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, at a recent celebration of the partnership. “Both of our organizations serve Houston’s youth and families with valuable programs and resources that truly change lives.”

Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald, chief medical officer of pediatrics at Texas Children’s Health Plan, said the new relationship reaffirms our belief that community health and wellness is achievable when we take a holistic view of a child’s life and ensure medical, physical and emotional needs are met.

“We are excited for what this partnership will mean for our health plan members and the community at large,” Schwarzwald said.

Lou Fragoso, president of Texas Children’s Health Plan, echoed Schwarzwald’s comments adding that care happens beyond hospital walls, in homes, communities, and at organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston.

“By offering our members access to these clubs allows us to expand that holistic vision of care and helps create healthier communities,” Fragoso said.

The U.S. Department of State announced that Dr. Peter Hotez has been appointed as a representative to the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation Board of Governors. Hotez is a world renowned expert in neglected tropical diseases, the most common diseases affecting the poor. He is also the Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics.

The foundation promotes scientific cooperation between the United States and Israel by supporting collaborative research projects in a wide area of basic and applied scientific fields for peaceful and non-profit purposes.

“I’m excited to be re-engaged in science diplomacy in the Middle East,” Hotez said. “From my time as U.S. Science Envoy and now with the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, I have found that our nation has extraordinary capacity to reach out and promote science and technology across the globe.”

The Foundation also supports workshops and travel grants for young scientists. Since it was established, they have awarded over $600 million to more than 4,500 research projects that have resulted in significant advances in many scientific fields.

Hotez previously served as U.S. Science Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, focusing his work on Saudi Arabia and Morocco. This is just one of the many honors that Hotez has received, and he plans to continue innovating and inspiring through his work within Texas Children’s and internationally.

Cardiologists with Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program recently received The American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) new Adult Congenital Heart Disease certification. The ABIM certification is designed to recognize the qualifications of physicians who are specialists in the care of a wide range of adult patients with congenital heart disease.

Program Director Dr. Wayne Franklin, Associate Program Director Dr. Peter Ermis and Cardiac Rhythm Specialist Dr. Wilson Lam earned the certification after passing the exam, available only to qualified ABIM and/or American Board of Pediatrics diplomates who have completed required training in cardiovascular disease or pediatric cardiology.

“We are excited about all three of our ACHD cardiologists becoming certified,” said Sarah McMaster, director of ambulatory services and clinical business operations for the Heart Center’s Cardiology Department. “It is in alignment with our perspective that Texas Children’s is the best place for patients with congenital heart disease, even adults, to receive care.”

Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program earned Comprehensive Care Center accreditation from the Adult Congenital Heart Association this past fall. Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program is the first in Texas to receive this esteemed designation. Our program also now has the most ACHD board-certified cardiologists than any institution in Texas.

Click here to read more about our Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program and the providers who received the ABIM certification.

February 20, 2018

Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace recently enjoyed an intimate surprise celebration in the building that bears his name. Last week, a few leaders, staff members and Texas Children’s ukulele choir joined him for the unveiling of a new plaque, which officially dedicates the building in his honor.

“Thank you so very much for this,” Wallace said to the choir and the small crowd. “I’m deeply honored by this special moment with all of you.”

As Wallace approached the bridge, he was surprised by a small crowd and the ukulele choir, which sang an original song that music therapists Marial Biard and Alex Brickley composed about Wallace’s legacy of leadership.

Acts of leadership create tidal waves of growth.
Pledging your life to accelerate healthcare.
You’re an exemplar of this oath.

Those are just a few lyrics from the ukulele choir’s song, The Texas Children’s Way. Brickley, who co-leads the choir with Biard, said The Texas Children’s Way is the lyrical epitome of Wallace’s vision for the hospital.

“We wanted to make sure we used Texas Children’s core values in the lyrics,” Brickley said. “We knew we wanted to incorporate those because that’s what Mark Wallace said leadership is about and that’s what Texas Children’s stands for.”

The choir includes employees of all professions and allows them a break during the day to step away from work, relax, and learn music. The choir performs for our patients and is often requested for employee events.

The newly unveiled plaque hangs at the end of The Auxiliary Bridge near the third-floor entrance to Wallace Tower. Previously, Texas Children’s 16-floor clinical building had been the Clinical Care Tower. In March, Texas Children’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the building Mark A. Wallace Tower in honor of our long-time President and CEO.

Wallace took the reins of Texas Children’s Hospital in 1989, and under his leadership, Texas Children’s has become the largest and most comprehensive pediatric and women’s health care organization in the nation. Although obviously surprised by the small celebration, Wallace immediately offered a few words of aspiration and a promise.

“Even though we’ve done a lot in these last several years together, the best is yet to come,” Wallace said.

Special thanks to the ukulele choir members who performed at Mr. Wallace’s plaque unveiling:
Saharay Alamos-Almeida
Marial Biard
Alix Brickley
Ashby Gleditsch
Amanda Harris
Caley Johns
David Kolacny
Nick Ryan Magdoza
Danh K Nguyen
Halle Nick
Hannah Nilsen
Ashley Wood

The Clinical Research Center/Research Resources Office presented the Clinical Research Award for First Quarter 2018 to Dr. Daniel Leung, associate professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition where he serves as Director of Clinical Research.

This award was established by the Clinical Research Center in collaboration with the Research Resources Office to recognize and honor individual contributions to protecting the best interest of the research subjects and compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

Leung’s research activities in the CRC focus on caring for children with a variety of liver disorders. He is an active investigator in the NIH-supported CFLD and ChiLDReN Networks which study cholestatic and cystic fibrosis-related liver disease and led the recently completed Cystic Fibrosis Foundation sponsored multi-center Baby Observational Nutritional Study (BONUS). Leung also oversees the Viral Hepatitis Program at Texas Children’s Hospital which offers cutting edge antiviral therapies through several clinical trials to children throughout the state who have Hepatitis B and C. Virtually all these patients are seen for study treatment and long-term follow up with the support of CRC staff. With the new pipeline of oral direct acting antivirals (DAAs) against hepatitis C, children with chronic HCV can now be cured in as short as 12 weeks with minimal to no side effects. Leung credits the outstanding nursing staff in the CRC and research coordinators through the RRO as “true co-laborers in helping cure and eradicate viral hepatitis in children and breaking the vicious cycle of these viruses.”

On February 9, more than 350 guests joined event chairs Sidney Faust, Judi McGee, Elsie Eckert and Scott Basinger for the 10th annual Celebration of Champions fashion show and luncheon at the River Oaks Country Club.

The event featured a fashion show with pediatric cancer survivors from Texas Children’s Cancer Center walking the runway with this year’s Community Champions, a group of notable Houstonians who do so much to help children battling cancer and make the community a better place.

More than your typical fashion show, it was a “look at me now” moment for children who have seen some dark days early in their lives in their fight with cancer. View a gallery of photos from the event below.

In addition to showcasing the latest fashion trends from Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillard’s, the event also featured a special appearance by the honorary event chairs Jeff Bagwell and Mary Lou Retton. Bagwell and Retton kicked off the event with the lighting of the Torch of Hope and later took the runway alongside patient champions.

Since its inception, the event has raised more than $1.5 million for the Long Term Cancer Survivor Program at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, which monitors patients for delayed side effects and complications caused by previous cancer therapies. Not every pediatric cancer treatment center continues to care for its patients into adulthood however, caregivers at Texas Children’s Cancer Center recognize that health concerns for childhood cancer patients do not end when their cancer treatment is successfully completed.

The program currently has 25,000 long-term pediatric cancer survivors nationwide enrolled in Passport for Care®, an online resource guide developed at Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine that provides individualized health care information to guide physicians’ care for late risks and effects from childhood cancer treatment. It has developed an international reputation as a leader in the field and has attracted a world-renowned faculty involved in local, national and international research that benefits today’s pediatric cancer patients and future survivors.

The event’s Community Champions included Jeff and Rachel Bagwell, Mary Lou Retton, Dr. David Poplack, Lisa McCoy, Linda and Mark Evans, Winell and Doug Herron, Kristy and Chris Bradshaw, Christie and Billy McCartney, Kathi and Bill Rovere, Tena and Tyson Faust, Hannah and Cal McNair, Penny and John Butler, Mary and John Eads, Diane and John Riley, Courtney and Christopher Sarofim. Among the event’s other medically-minded supporters were Flo Crady, Emily Crosswell, Bo Butler, Scott Butler, Megan Cushing, Bethany Hibbetts, Caroline Walter, Joanna and Brad Marks, Lisa and Mike O’Leary, Carmen and Butch Mach.

IT’S A GIRL! Elsa now has a little sister. Texas Children’s first therapy dog, is not the hospital’s only female, four-legged, furry friend. A new therapy dog will be arriving at the end of the month, and Child Life just announced that it will be a GIRL.

The gender reveal was broadcast live through ZTV, or channel 19, on the hospital’s internal television station. This was the first live segment for the channel. Be sure to tune in from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday – Friday, for more exciting television shows that the Kids Zone has to offer.