December 19, 2017

Representatives from the Otolaryngology, Pulmonology, Audiology, and Speech, Language and Learning groups at Texas Children’s Hospital presented and attended the 2017 SENTAC (Society for ENT Advances in Children) Annual Meeting in Toronto.

Otolaryngologist Dr. Carol Liu, former fellow Dr. Annabelle Tay Sok Yan, resident Dr. Tanner Fullmer, Sr. Audiologist Barbara Novak, and medical student Mark Michael gave presentations during the conference.

Dr. Rodrigo Silva and Dr. Tony Hughes from Otolaryngology served as session moderators and Dr. Shailendra Das from Pulmonary was a panelist.

Barbara Novak received the 2017 SENTAC Quality Care Award for the highest scoring abstract at the conference.

At the conclusion of the conference, Texas Children’s Dr. Deepak Mehta received the SENTAC President’s Bell to ring as he assumed the SENTAC presidency for 2018.

The Texas Children’s contingent also attended an event at the Hockey Hall of Fame and had a group photo taken with the Stanley Cup. The 2018 Annual Meeting will be held in Houston with Texas Children’s as the host site.

December 13, 2017

Dr. Carla Davis has been appointed the new head of the Section of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology and Chief of the Allergy/Immunology Service in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Jordan Orange, who currently holds this position, will be leaving Texas Children’s to become the new Chair of Columbia University’s Department of Pediatrics. Until his departure in the Spring 2018, Orange will work closely with Davis to ensure a smooth transition of leadership.

Davis earned an M.D. degree from Duke University Medical School in 1997. She completed pediatric residency training at Baylor and Texas Children’s, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in Allergy and Immunology (2001-2003) and HIV/AIDS Clinical Research (2000-2001 and 2003-2004). She joined the Baylor faculty as an assistant professor in 2005 and was promoted to associate professor in 2015. Davis is certified by both the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. She is an internationally recognized authority and investigator in the field of food allergies.

“Under Dr. Davis’ leadership, I have no doubt that our outstanding programs in Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology will continue to flourish,” said Texas Children’s Physician-in-Chief Mark W. Kline. “Please join me in thanking Dr. Davis for her willingness to take on this important leadership role.”

From January 22 to 24, Magnet appraisers will conduct a site visit at Texas Children’s, which represents a huge milestone in the hospital’s journey towards achieving Magnet redesignation, the gold standard for nursing excellence. A staff notice has been posted on Connect for details on what to expect during the visit. Click above for visit details.

December 12, 2017

A lot happens behind the scenes before patients are wheeled into the operating room at Texas Children’s Hospital to undergo surgery. Technicians disinfect the OR from top to bottom and a team of people with the Sterile Processing Department clean, prepare, assemble and sterilize surgical instruments for patient care.

At Texas Children’s Main OR in the Medical Center, the sterile processing team handles instruments for close to 80 procedures a day Monday through Friday and around 15 procedures on the weekends. The procedures can require anywhere from two to 12 sets of instruments each with a numerous amount of single instruments.

The team processes more than 17,000 instruments a day. To be able to handle this and keep up with the demands there are 3,200 plus sets of instruments. Sterilization of the instrument sets can be accomplished by steam, hydrogen peroxide, or ethylene oxide. Each requires special quality assurance monitoring and designated time for completion.

There are also operating rooms designated for cardiovascular cases, at Wallace Tower, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands that have their own sterile processing areas.

Click here to watch Channel 11 KHOU’s story about Texas Children’s sterile processing team.

On December 8, Texas Children’s posted the 2017 Pension Plan deposit into the account of eligible employees. To see how much your pension plan has grown, log into your Mercer account. For new users, you may register by clicking on “Get Started.” On the Mercer website, you will also find useful tools to help you view your balance, estimate your future pension plan balance and verify/update your beneficiary information.

This pension plan is designed to provide a foundation for your retirement and is fully funded by Texas Children’s. You are automatically enrolled in the plan on April 1 or October 1 once you reach 21 years of age and have worked 1,000 hours or more during the 12 consecutive months after your initial date of hire. Contributions are vested according to the schedule shown in the image above.

To learn more about Texas Children’s Pension Plan, visit our Benefits website or call 800-752-8230 to speak with a Mercer representative.

Texas Children’s 403(b) Savings Plan

The IRS has increased the retirement contribution limits for 2018. The maximum amount an employee can contribute to their Texas Children’s 403(b) Savings Plan during 2018 is $18,500. Employees turning age 50 or over can contribute an additional $6,000 during 2018.

Texas Children’s matches 50 percent on the first 6 percent of your pre-tax contributions per pay period, to a maximum of $8,250 for 2018. Employer contributions are vested according to the schedule shown in the image above.

If you are not already enrolled in the 403(b) savings plan or not contributing at least 6 percent, you should consider doing so now. To update your contribution elections or to enroll, please visit the Fidelity NetBenefits to access your online account. If you are registering online for the first time, please click on “Register as a new user” in the log in area.

To learn more about Texas Children’s 403(b) Savings Plan, visit our Benefits website or call 800-343-0860 to speak with a Fidelity representative.

The holidays are approaching, and with that comes the gift-giving season! In your role at Texas Children’s, you might have encountered situations where patients, Health Plan members, or vendors want to give you gifts to express their gratitude. And you’ve probably thought to yourself, can I accept the gift? Depending on your job, accepting a gift may interfere with your professional responsibilities, and could trigger violations of certain laws or ethical rules. So what is appropriate? Below are some FAQs to ensure you and your staff are appropriately handling gifts among Texas Children’s workforce members, patients, Health Plan members, and vendors.

Patients and Health Plan members

Can I accept cash or cash equivalents from a patient, Health Plan member, or their family?

No. Never accept cash or cash equivalents (including gift cards) from patients or Health Plan Members. Even a $5 gift card to Starbucks is not appropriate.

What other gifts can I not accept from a patient, Health Plan member, or their family?

It is not appropriate to accept high dollar value gifts such as expensive pens, jewelry, electronics, tickets to sporting events or concerts, or other extravagant items.

What can I accept from a patient, Health Plan member, or their family?

Gifts with nominal value are acceptable if they are infrequent and do not create an obligation on your part. Examples include food, flowers, and balloons. These types of gifts should be shared with your co-workers.

Can I give a gift to a patient, Health Plan Member, or their family?

Yes, you can give nominal gifts, valued under $15 per item, or $75 annually per patient or Health Plan member.

Never give cash, cash equivalents (including gift cards), or high dollar value gifts.

How can I politely decline a gift without offending a patient, Health Plan member, or their family?

  • Always express gratitude, even when you cannot accept the gift.
  • Clarify that Texas Children’s does not generally allow you to accept gifts.
  • Stress that you do not want other patients or Health Plan members to feel like they have to give gifts.
  • In the rare circumstances where return of a gift is not possible, the gift must be delivered to the Office of Philanthropy, who will use it for the benefit of patients and families.
Vendors

Can I accept cash or cash equivalents from a vendor?

No. Never accept cash or cash equivalents (including gift cards) from vendors.

What other gifts can I not accept from a vendors?

It is not appropriate to accept gifts from vendors that may influence or appear to influence their decision-making on behalf of Texas Children’s.

What can I accept from a vendor?

Gifts with nominal value are acceptable if they are infrequent, of nominal value and do not create an obligation on your part. Examples include food, flowers, and balloons. These types of gifts should be shared with your co-workers.

Unsolicited offers of entertainment or social events (e.g. attendance at a sporting or cultural event, participating in a sporting activity) as long as long as they are infrequent, do not improperly influence behavior, and will not influence any part of a decision making process.

Can I accept gifts from vendors that are involved in a bid/award process?

No. If a vendor is involved in a Request for Proposal, Request for Information, or Request for Quote, you may not accept any gift or meal, regardless of its value.

Colleagues

Can I give or accept a gift from a co-worker?

Yes, you can exchange gifts with your colleagues, as long as you paid for the gift yourself. You may not use Texas Children’s funds (e.g. eReimbursement, ProCard) for gifts for colleagues.

If you have a question about giving or receiving gifts, please contact Compliance and Privacy (ext. 4-2085 or compliance@texaschildrens.org).

As of yesterday, 89 percent of Texas Children’s employees have received their flu shot. Last year, we achieved over a 90 percent vaccination rate, and this year, we want to beat that rate! We can do it! A special thank you to all of you for getting vaccinated!

If you have not received your flu shot, it’s not too late. Make your flu shot appointment today by calling:

  • Main Campus Employee Health at 832-824-2150 (option 2)
  • West Campus Employee Health at 832-227-1365
  • The Woodlands Employee Health at 936-267-5287

If you received your flu vaccine elsewhere, please submit verification to Employee Health either in person, via email to emphealth@texaschildrens.org or via fax at 832-825-9437. Employee Health will provide a 2017/2018 flu shot badge sticker upon receiving your confirmation.

To view a brief overview of our flu shot participation thus far, click here.
To view testimonials from your peers on why they received their flu shot, click here.

“We encourage you to get your flu shot as soon as possible. We are already seeing positive flu cases at the Employee Medical Clinic ,” said Employee Medical Clinic physician Dr. Irene Lomeda. “People infected with flu shed the virus and may be able to infect others one day prior to symptoms and 5-7 days after symptoms. Remember, the flu affects people differently based on their body’s ability to fight infection. Even healthy children and adults can get very sick from the flu and spread it to friends, co-workers, and family.”

If you are on the fence about receiving your flu vaccine this year, please watch this six-minute Texas Children’s video, Facing Influenza, to see real Texas Children’s families experience the challenges and heartbreak from the flu.

As a reminder, staff who does not receive their flu shot will be required to wear a surgical mask when providing direct patient care services for the duration of the flu season. See Required Influenza Vaccination Policy and Procedure for more details. Employee Health is not accepting flu declination documentation yet. More details on the declination process will be shared in the coming weeks.

Thank you for helping protect our patients, families, workforce, and community by receiving your flu shot.