December 12, 2017

Dr. Paul Sirbaugh, chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine since 2012, has been named chief medical officer for Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, effective January 2, 2018. Sirbaugh will succeed Dr. Charles Hankins, who will be joining CHRISTUS as system senior vice-president of pediatrics and president and chief medical officer of The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.

Sirbaugh brings a wealth of expertise and experience to this leadership role. In addition to a medical degree and board certification in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine, Sirbaugh earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from Rice University. He has served as the pediatric medical director for the City of Houston Emergency Medical Service for the past 22 years and is an extremely broad-based clinician, medical educator and clinical investigator. He currently serves as associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a proven leader of Dr. Sirbaugh’s impeccable character and abilities step into this important role,” said Texas Children’s Physician-In-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline. “We thank all of you, but especially our Woodlands-based faculty and staff, for joining us in congratulating Dr. Sirbaugh and welcoming him to The Woodlands community.”

For the fourth year, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus has been named one of the 10 top children’s hospitals in the nation by The Leapfrog Group, an independent hospital watchdog organization. The award recognizes achievements in patient safety and quality and is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive and exclusive honors an American hospital can receive.

“We are honored to again be recognized as a top performing children’s hospital by The Leapfrog Group,” said Michelle Riley-Brown president of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and executive vice president of Texas Children’s Hospital. “Our entire team of physicians, nurses and employees strive to provide a safe environment where we can deliver the highest quality care possible for our patients and their families. We applaud our team for their tireless work and the incredible care they provide for the children in our community every day.”

In the survey, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus received a Top Children’s Hospital distinction and was recognized nationally alongside 45 Top General Hospitals, 18 Top Rural Hospitals, 36 Top Teaching Hospitals and only nine other Top Children’s Hospitals.

“We are proud to recognize Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus as a 2017 Leapfrog Top Hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and Chief Executive Officer of Leapfrog. “This demonstrates extraordinary dedication to patients and the local community. The entire staff and board deserve praise for putting quality first and achieving results.”

The Leapfrog Group is an organization that provides the only national, public comparison of hospitals across safety, quality and efficiency dimensions. Performance across many areas of hospital care is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, maternity care, and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors.

To see the full list of institutions honored as 2017 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.

On February 10 at Third Coast on Bertner Avenue in Houston, Texas Children’s Chief of Otolaryngology Dr. Ellis Arjmand and Dr. Oded Netzer, professor of business at Columbia Business School in New York City, will lead an interactive workshop focused on the psychology of decision making in medicine.

During the 8-hour course, attendees will learn about the psychology of decision making and how to make smarter decisions in the presence of uncertainty.

Building on the landmark research from two trailblazing psychologists, Drs. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, attendees will learn how to recognize cognitive bias and systematic errors in decision making. Topics discussed include:

  • Cognitive Bias and Decision Making
  • Systematic Forms of Error: Understanding Our Biases
  • System I and System II: Thinking Fast and Slow
  • Interrogating the Data
  • Understanding Error in Medical Decision Making
  • Syntheses vs. Summary
  • Reducing Bias in Medical Decision Making

To register for the Continuing Medical Education course or for more information about the event, click here.

Texas Children’s Hospital was the presenting sponsor of the 2017 Via Colori street painting festival in downtown Houston. The Division of Otolaryngology took the lead within Texas Children’s to man a booth at the event and ensure a strong Texas Children’s presence.

Otolaryngologists, audiologists, speech pathologists, nurses and clinic staff participated in playing yard games with families in attendance and sharing information about the hearing and speech services at Texas Children’s. Dr. Ellis Arjmand, chief of otolaryngology at the hospital, took the main stage to talk about the Hearing Center at Texas Children’s.

Via Colori is one of the city’s largest and most popular art festivals. Produced by the The Center for Hearing and Speech, the event is held to fund critical health and educational services for local children with mild to profound hearing loss.

All proceeds from Via Colori benefit The Center for Hearing and Speech, which is a partner of the Texas Children’s Hearing Center.

December 5, 2017

A little over a year ago, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands Outpatient Building opened its doors to the Greater Houston area and beyond. Since then, the ever-growing team of providers and support staff have seen 50,000 plus patients in the outpatient areas and received numerous compliments from the patients and family members they serve.

“Our first year has been packed with many new and exciting opportunities,” said Julie Barrett, director of outpatient and clinical support services for the Outpatient Building. “We have grown substantially, adding new service lines, providers and staff, and we have established a culture that exemplifies our mission to provide the best possible care for our patients and their families.”

Designed with a “spirit of the woods” theme to incorporate the lush, woodsy landscape that surrounds it, the six-floor, 209,973-square-foot Outpatient Building opened in October 2016 housing almost 20 areas of specialized care including cardiology, sports medicine, neurology and hematology/oncology. A dedicated medical staff at the facility works in conjunction with the Texas Children’s system to provide top-notch medical care.

Connected to the almost year-old Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands on floors one and two, the Outpatient Building offers a fresh, new kid-friendly environment to families seeking the best pediatric care for their children. A state-of-the art sports physical therapy gym is on the first floor, check-in and check-out stations resembling a child’s club house are at the entrance of each clinic, and spacious exam rooms and provider work stations line many of the building’s halls.

Susan Niles, a senior athletic trainer with Sports Medicine, said the Outpatient Building’s Sports Medicine staff has grown substantially since it starting seeing patients a year ago, adding nurses, physical therapists, athletic trainers and a sports dietitian. Such growth has allowed the staff to provide quicker access to therapy services, Niles said. It also has provided opportunities for research.

“Using technology from the motion analysis lab, we have launched a research project that we hope will provide breakthrough information on concussions,” Niles said. “We are the only campus with a motion analysis lab and we are excited to use the technology for our patients.”

Ambulatory Services Therapy Manager Jay Mennel said another unique service offered in The Woodlands comes by way of an Alter-G treadmill, an anti-gravity treadmill utilized by sports therapy patients, he said. Such a specialized service combined with other specialty clinics led to the therapy staff completing more than 18,000 outpatient visits during the Outpatient Building’s first year in operation.

“We have some fantastic physicians and great senior leadership at The Woodlands, which has helped our department grow at an exceptional rate,” Mennel said. “We hope to continue to grow this next fiscal year.”

Heather Jordan, a staff nurse in Outpatient Surgical Services, Melanie Garcia, a medical assistant with Plastic Surgery, and Yvonne Barham a staff nurse with Diabetes and Endocrine, all said they have seen tremendous growth in their areas and that they have seen patients from all over Texas and surrounding states.

“Our patients have come from Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Bryan/College Station, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur, and Louisiana,” Barham said. “Many of the local residents have stated how happy they are to not have to travel for their regular office visits.”

Garcia agreed and said patient experience is something that everyone at The Woodlands Outpatient Building takes to heart. “We go above and beyond on a daily basis to make sure every patient feels special,” she said. “We are always improving, always compassionately serving each other and our patients.”

When asked what’s next, leaders, providers and staff point to continued growth and involvement in The Woodlands community.

“Now that we are here and have established workflows, processes and procedures, we can begin to work on things such as more access to patients and families, and staff being more involved in the community,” said Shawnda Kelley, ambulatory manager of various service lines at the Outpatient Building. “I am happy and proud to be a part of this new beginning and can’t wait to see what’s next.”

It’s beginning to look a lot like the holidays at Texas Children’s. The annual tree lighting ceremonies kicked off the season of joy with Santa and Mrs. Claus spreading holiday cheer to patients and their families.

On November 30, Senior Vice President Tabitha Rice and Nancy Baycroft, president of The Auxiliary to Texas Children’s Hospital, kicked off the tree lighting event on The Auxiliary Bridge. Within seconds, the bright lights magically turned on and Santa’s HO HO HO could be heard as he walked down the hallway bearing gifts. Every child received a stuffed holiday bear. Santa also visited patients who were not able to leave their rooms. St. John’s School Choir sang holiday carols to more than 50 patients and their families.

Santa Claus also spread holiday cheer to more than 145 guests at the inaugural Tree Lighting event at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Charles Hankins delivered the welcome speech and Vice President Trent Johnson thanked the event sponsors, Newfield Exploration and The Woodlands Art Council, and wished everyone good cheer. Children took photos with Santa and participated in fun activities including making holiday ornaments and picture frames.

Approximately 8,000 people attended the 10th annual Tree-Lighting Celebration in the courtyard at LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch on November 18. Three-year-old Paris Ndu, a patient at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, had the honors of lighting the 30-foot Christmas tree to kick off the holiday season.

With the holiday season upon us, there’s plenty of cheer left for patients, families and employees. Be sure to check out one of these holiday gatherings on your clinic floors and get in the holiday spirit.

  • Thursday, December 7 – Gingerbread house making (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in The Zone)
  • Thursday, December 7 – Storybook Theater with Elsa (3 p.m., The Woodlands campus lobby)
  • Monday, December 11 – Junior League Big Santa Event (1 p.m. in The Zone)
  • Friday, December 15 – Bennett’s Bears visit fifth-floor inpatient (The Woodlands)
  • Tuesday, December 19 – Santa visits patients (1 p.m., West Campus)
  • Thursday, December 21 – Holiday Piano & Violin Duo (11:30 a.m. The Woodlands campus lobby)
  • Friday, December 22 – Bennett’s Bears visit clinic floors (10 a.m., West Campus)

The 14th Annual Texas Children’s Radiothon has begun and is packed with inspiring stories about many of our patients, the struggles they are facing and how we are helping them push through.

Historically, the Cox Media-hosted radiothon has been conducted over a couple of days and is broadcasted from Texas Children’s Hospital. This year, because of Hurricane Harvey, and the fact that many people have already been so generous to Houston already, the format of this year’s radiothon has changed.

Instead of a few days with a serious fundraising push, Cox Media will spread its fundraising efforts over several weeks from December 4 to Sunday, December 31, highlighting a story about a Texas Children’s patient each day during a segment called “Hero of the Day.” The stories will air on The Eagle (106.9 & 107.5), Country Legends (97.1) and The New 93Q (92.9).

Click here to view descriptions and a schedule of the stories that will be told by the radio personalities. Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

While listening, consider opening your heart and wallets and asking your family and friends to do the same. Every dollar donated to the radiothon will help Texas Children’s continue to fulfill its mission to create a healthier future for children and women throughout our global community by leading in patient care, education and research.

Click here to make a donation to this year’s Texas Children’s Radiothon.

Watch a video from last year’s Radiothon, which raised more than $650,000.