Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus honored its veterans on Veteran’s Day, November 11, with a photo tribute displayed across the campus.
Veteran’s Day is a time our country pays fitting tribute to our military veterans. The holiday coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, celebrated in other countries to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. The United States previously observed Armistice Day before renaming it Veteran’s Day in 1954.
Texas Children’s thanks all its veterans for their service.
November 8, 2016
It was 11:20 on a Friday morning when a bus of 50 high school students were rushed to Texas Children’s Emergency Center (EC) with gunshot wounds, blast and shrapnel injuries and psychological trauma. Physicians, nurses and other critical care teams worked quickly to attend to the victims’ injuries.
“It was a tense situation with lots of patients coming in with different diagnoses,” said Natashia Bush, one of the night shift managers in the EC. “One of our logistical challenges was to figure out how to get everything done in one room and still have the ability to triage the patients out of the room and get new patients in the room for emergent care.”
While the scenes played out in our Emergency Center looked real, fortunately, this was only an exercise. Texas Children’s emergency response plan was put to the test during a comprehensive mass casualty incident exercise on October 7, which included nearly 150 Texas Children’s staff and employees and about 150 members of the Houston Police Department SWAT team, Houston Fire Department Emergency Medical Services and 400 students and staff at Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions.
The exercise involved mock shootings, an improvised explosive device and a hostage situation at DeBakey High School. Many of the shooting victims were then brought to Texas Children’s Hospital EC. The intent was to help assess the organization’s mass casualty incident plan, emergency communications, incident command structure and patient flow.
“I think Texas Children’s did a fantastic job during this drill,” said Texas Children’s Executive Vice President Mark Mullarkey. “We saw it as an opportunity to learn and identify our gaps. Our ability to be critical of ourselves afterward is only going to make us improve as we move forward and be better prepared to serve the community.”
This was the first time Texas Children’s executed an emergency exercise of this scale and scope with external and internal participants. Having multiple agencies involved and simulating a mass casualty incident as realistically as possible helped our teams identify what went well with the exercise and what areas needed improvement.
“One thing we learned from this drill is that our response needs to be the same, regardless of what the incident is,” said Executive Vice President John Nickens. “We can always lower our intensity, but we should respond the same and be prepared. We are fortunate at Texas Children’s to have the resources and talent to do it.”
While triage in the Emergency Center was very fast and efficient which demonstrated the existing level of preparation with the EC, one particular area of improvement that topped the list was improving the flow of communication from the EC to other areas.
“While we have certainly identified areas for improvement, we should not consider this a failure, but rather it is the goal of our exercise,” said James Mitchell, assistant director of Texas Children’s Emergency Management. “We should also remember that we carry out preparedness efforts not simply to meet regulatory requirements, but because we support a vulnerable community, and care deeply about those we serve.”
In the coming weeks, Emergency Management will meet with all of the major group participants for feedback to create a formal, institutional mass casualty incident plan. The team will work with teams in Radiology, the ORs, PICU, the Blood Bank and other areas to conduct smaller scale tabletop exercises using the same scenario to ensure we have learned all lessons possible from this event.
Improving the experience for every patient and family who comes to Texas Children’s Hospital for surgery is a top priority for Dr. Larry Hollier, associate surgeon-in-chief for clinical affairs and chief of plastic surgery at Texas Children’s. Over the past two years, he has led the charge at the hospital to ensure every family feels there is no better place for their children to receive surgical care.
To honor him for his work in improving the patient experience at Texas Children’s, Press Ganey, a leading provider of patient experience management solutions, presented Hollier with the 2016 Physician of the Year award at the annual Press Ganey National Client Conference.
Members of the Ambulatory Surgery Patient Experience Workgroup and leaders throughout Texas Children’s nominated him for the award.
“Dr. Hollier is very passionate about the patient experience, and he embraces all of the different touch points that comprise a patient and family’s care experience,” said Sarah Maytum, assistant vice president of patient and family services at Texas Children’s. “In leading the Ambulatory Surgery Team, he not only sought input from front line staff, he listened, acted on their input and empowered staff members to take ownership of project implementation.”
Hollier has been responsible for leading patient experience innovations within the Department of Surgery including: same-day surgery consultation appointments, standardized pre-surgery materials, the surgery greeter program, direct scheduling for Texas Children’s Pediatrics providers and for Texas Children’s Emergency Center; surgical patient ingress/egress patterns; and a physician communication course, called Breakthrough Communications, aimed at enhancing the conversation between patients, families and caregivers. He has also been instrumental in advancing the hospital’s expertise in caring for patients with a range of complex conditions while simultaneously becoming a leader in outcomes measurement and patient experience.
Recently, the Meds to Beds program, which delivers post-surgery medications to a patient’s bedside before discharge, was highlighted in NEJM Catalyst as a highly innovative program. Meds to Beds not only enhances the surgery experience for patients and families, but has also resulted in improved pharmacist and OR staff satisfaction.
“We in the Department of Surgery are extremely proud of the extraordinary work being done at Texas Children’s to optimize the care experience of our patients and their families,” said Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., Texas Children’s surgeon-in-chief. “Dr. Larry Hollier has been an outstanding and visionary leader for the surgery service in partnering with Sarah Maytum and the Patient Relations team. His recognition by Press Ganey is a testimony not only to his enormous contributions, but to the effective team spirit we are so proud of in the Texas Children’s Hospital family.”
Hollier holds the S. Baron Hardy Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery at Texas Children’s and serves as professor and chief of Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. In addition, he is chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of Smile Train, an international children’s charity that provides free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care worldwide, and serves on the board of the Duke Global Health Institute focusing efforts on reducing health disparities. Hollier has authored more than 190 articles for scholarly and professional publications, written 37 book chapters and sits on the editorial board of numerous journals. His surgical specialties include craniofacial conditions, cleft lip and palate, and microsurgical hand repair.
At Texas Children’s, doing what’s right is of the utmost importance to maintaining the quality of care we provide our patients, their families, and our Health Plan members. That’s why the role of the Compliance and Privacy Office is integral to our organization’s health and success.
The office’s team is committed to maintaining the highest ethical, legal and professional standards by providing leadership and oversight of all Texas Children’s business practices. Areas of prominent interest to the office include:
Safeguarding protected health information
Adhering to private payer billing standards
Complying with all state and federal laws and regulations as well as Texas Children’s policies and procedures
“At Texas Children’s, we are committed to leading tirelessly in maintaining an ethical workplace,” said Texas Children’s Vice President and Compliance and Privacy Officer Lance Lightfoot. “By upholding the highest standards of integrity and ethical behavior, we enable Texas Children’s to better fulfill its important mission of creating a healthier future for children and women.”
To recognize and promote the importance of integrity and ethics at Texas Children’s, the Compliance and Privacy Office will be celebrating National Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week (Monday, November 7 – Friday, November 11) by hosting a series of awareness events throughout the organization. These events are wonderful opportunities to meet members of the Compliance and Privacy Office team, learn more about what they do, play games and win prizes.
The events also offer a chance to keep your personal information secure as well as our patients’ and our Health Plan members’. Twice during National Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week, the office is providing employees a free, safe and secure opportunity to destroy any confidential personal documents that are ready for disposal. The Shred Days will be held Tuesday, November 8 at West Campus, and Friday, November 11 at Main Campus. For a complete schedule of this week’s events, click here.
For more information about the Compliance and Privacy Office click here and if you have any questions, please call the office at Ext. 4-2085 or send an email to compliance@texaschildrens.org.
How can you help?
Unethical, illegal or questionable activity should be reported to one of the following sources:
Your immediate supervisor
The Compliance and Privacy Office at Ext. 4-2085
The Texas Children’s Confidential Hotline at 1-866-478-9070 (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
Retaliation for voicing concerns made in good faith is a violation of Texas Children’s policy.
Marshall Thomas, patient transporter for Patient Escort-Facilities Operations Division, died October 31 at the age of 58.
Marshall joined Texas Children’s Hospital in 1998 and provided excellent patient care for the next 18 years. He was known for his dependability and hard work – always the one who was more than willing to share his knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual advice with others on the job.
Everyone who has known Marshall will miss his understanding smile, distinctive calm, peaceful demeanor, and remarkable humility.
He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Sharon; daughters, Rasheba Telford and Michelle Thomas; son, Marshall Glenn Thomas Jr.; sisters, Roslyn Donaie, Shelia Thomas and Debbie Ben and four grandchildren.
Upcoming services
Saturday, November 12
Viewing: 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
Funeral service: 10 a.m.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
4600 Reed Road
Houston, TX 77051-2857
713-738-2311
Tuesday, November 15
Memorial service: 2:30 p.m.
Texas Children’s auditorium, Abercrombie Building, B1 Level
Patients, families and employees at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus recently received a special treat when The Periwinkle Foundation granted a request to bring its Making A Mark exhibit to the community hospital.
The exhibit showcasing art created by children ages 3 to 22 who have been affected by cancer and blood disorders was installed in the lobby of West Campus last month and will be there until mid-November. This exhibit will then travel to other Texas locations.
Deborah Lee, assistant director of nursing for the Cancer Center at West Campus, said she is thrilled to have the Making A Mark exhibit on display for the West Campus community and that many of the pictures were created by patients who’ve received care at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.
“These beautiful expressions of the child’s feelings through artwork show a piece of the journey they’ve been through,” Lee said. “It allows us to see the human factor affected by disease. It also brings healing for the child who created the art and for all who have the opportunity to view it.”
Linda Baker, assistant director of pharmacy at West Campus, helped get the Making A Mark exhibit to the community hospital and said she looks forward to it being a part of the campus for years to come.
“We are so excited to have the Making A Mark exhibit at West Campus for our patients and families to enjoy,” she said. “The Periwinkle Foundation specifically selected artwork by children that live in West Houston for this display.”
Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers is the largest pediatric oncology and blood disease center in the United States and was ranked No. 2 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The center, located in the Medical Center and at West Campus, is staffed by nationally and internationally recognized experts who have made major clinical and research advances in the treatment of childhood malignancies.
November 1, 2016
As Madisyn Thompson sat in her hospital room at West Tower, all she could think about was her surgery the next day. Her mind swept through a flood of conflicting emotions and thoughts until she got a surprise visit from a furry visitor.
“I was so happy to see her and interact with her,” Madisyn said, as she combed her fingers through the soft fur behind Elsa’s ears. “She made my day because she is really lovable and sweet.”
Madisyn is one of several Texas Children’s patients already benefitting from the hospital’s new facility dog program that launched this month. The program uses animal-assisted therapy to improve the emotional well-being of pediatric patients by reducing their anxiety, perception of pain and fear of hospitalization.
“We knew having a facility dog here full time, Monday to Friday, would allow us to really target that patient population who could really benefit and show enhanced outcomes through work with a therapy dog,” said Mary Tietjens, assistant director of Child Life and Social Work.
Elsa and her handler Sarah Herbek begin their shift bright and early around 8 a.m. After Herbek reviews the consults for the day, she and Elsa begin seeing patients in West Tower from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. with a one-hour lunch break in between patient visits.
“We provide goal-oriented therapeutic interventions to patients who have been hospitalized due to a traumatic event such as victims of abuse or patients who have chronic pain,” said Herbek, a Child Life specialist and animal-assisted therapy coordinator. “We also work alongside physical and occupational therapists to provide a little bit of encouragement and motivation to patients who are rebuilding their motor skills or who need to ambulate after surgery.”
For Madisyn, spending a few minutes with Elsa helps her focus less on her illness and more on the unconditional love and comfort that a therapy dog provides.
“It takes your mind off things and it distracts you from everything going on and the stress and all the feelings that go through your head when you have some spare time to sit and think,” Madisyn said.
Madisyn’s mother couldn’t agree more as she tearfully recalls the heart-warming moment when Elsa walked in to her daughter’s room.
“You see your child and you see the light going out of their eyes,” Jessica Thompson said. “When Elsa walked in, my daughter’s face lit up. She’s been excited about the whole experience.”
Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus honored its veterans on Veteran’s Day, November 11, with a photo tribute displayed across the campus.
