May 3, 2016

5416MothersDay640Because of the outstanding quality of care provided at Texas Children’s, there are endless stories about how our faculty, staff and employees have changed people’s lives. These stories remind us and others how big of an impact we can make and how humbling our jobs often can be. In honor of Mother’s Day, here are two stories about Texas Children’s patients whose lives were changed by our Heart Center and Transplant Services teams.

Grandmother, mom, daughter share bond through congenital heart disease diagnoses

To say Sherry Brown, her daughter, Tracy Moore, and granddaughter, Kennedie, have a special relationship would be an understatement. Other than the quintessential bond which has grown throughout the lineage’s time together, they also share congenital heart disease diagnoses.

When Tracy was born, doctors discovered she suffered from an atrial septal defect (ASD), a “hole” in the wall that separates the top two chambers of the heart. The Palestine, Texas native and her family traveled to Houston for expert pediatric heart care at Texas Children’s Hospital. Tracy was monitored growing up and underwent surgery to repair the congenital heart defect when she was 17-years-old.

The family’s experience with congenital heart disease deepened when Tracy’s daughter, Kennedie, was diagnosed with an ASD and valve issue when she was 4-months-old. As soon as Tracy left Kennedie’s local doctor’s office, she knew there was only one heart center team equipped to care for her daughter. It was the same expert team her mom had entrusted to take care of her when she was a little girl – the cardiovascular surgeons and cardiologists at Texas Children’s.

“It’s the only place to be treated,” Tracy said. “When you’re at Texas Children’s, you not only feel grateful for the care you’re receiving, but you also feel grateful for what you have when you see what other families are going through.”

Kennedie, now 10-years-old, has undergone three surgeries with cardiovascular surgeons Dr. Dean McKenzie and Dr. Jeffrey Heinle, and is closely monitored by a pediatric cardiologist as she matures. During each of Kennedie’s surgeries, Sherry supported Tracy in a way no one else could. Ironically, Sherry was also diagnosed with congenital heart disease, but not until she was 53-years-old. In 2003, she too underwent surgery with Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., surgeon-in-chief and chief of congenital heart surgery at Texas Children’s, and had a second valve repair just last year.

Though grown adults, Sherry and Tracy continue to be cared for by doctors at Texas Children’s. Dr. Wayne Franklin, director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at Texas Children’s, and his team see more than 1,800 adults like Sherry and Tracy in clinic each year. The expert team is trained in both pediatric and adult heart disease, ensuring the continuum of care from childhood through adulthood is maintained. Franklin advises patients on health and lifestyle choices for their adult needs, including physical challenges, exercise options and family planning.

Sherry cherishes the relationship she has with her daughter and granddaughter. “God has blessed me,” Sherry said. “To be able to go through something like this with my daughter as she’s having her child who also has heart disease creates one big, special bond.”

Mother donates kidney to son, gives him second chance at life

When Mary Churchman was pregnant with her son, Kyle, he was diagnosed with a posterior urethral valve. Due to the condition, he had extra flaps of tissue that grew in his urethra, causing a blockage of the normal flow of urine and damage to one of his kidneys. Doctors in New Orleans told the Churchmans Kyle wasn’t going to live an hour and if he did, he would likely need a kidney transplant by age two or three. He defied those odds.

The family moved from New Orleans to Lake Charles, La. shortly before Hurricane Katrina hit. Following the devastating storm, Kyle’s doctors scattered leaving the family in search of an expert team to care for their young son. The Churchmans discovered Texas Children’s Hospital, and Kyle has been followed by the hospital’s kidney transplant team ever since. Recently, it was determined the now 13-year-old was finally in need of a transplant.

Kyle’s dad was tested first and was a match, but due to his anatomy, wasn’t an ideal candidate for transplant. Once Mary went through the screening process and it was determined she was a match, surgery was scheduled. The Churchmans were both excited and nervous. On Feb. 4, 2016, Dr. Christine O’Mahony, surgical director of kidney transplantation at Texas Children’s, harvested Mary’s kidney and transplanted it into Kyle. Following a two-month stay in Houston for their recovery, Kyle and Mary joined the rest of the family back home in Lake Charles.

Kyle is now thriving and didn’t even realize how bad he felt prior to transplant. The family is so thankful to the team at Texas Children’s for helping Mary give her son the gift of life.

“To be able to give him this gift is amazing and a true honor, especially as his mom,” Mary said. “When I delivered him, we didn’t even know if he was going to make it and now he has another chance at life. It’s a blessing.”

5416EMinside250

The Department of Emergency Management is presenting its 10th Annual Emergency Management Bridge Event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, on The Auxiliary Bridge.

Representatives from various Texas Children’s departments as well as external partners such as the National Weather Service will be onsite to help you prepare for hurricane season by assisting you with registering in the Employee Disaster Roster (EDR), getting your emergency supplies ready, and making sure you know where to go and what to do during a disaster.

Plan to stop by The Auxiliary Bridge to meet the Ready Heroes and learn safety tips to help you prepare yourself, your family and your patients for the 2016 hurricane season.

5416drpenny175Dr. Daniel Penny, chief of pediatric cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital, was recently honored with the American College of Cardiology’s 2016 International Service Award. The award recognizes an individual with a strong commitment to providing a specific service to enhance cardiovascular care and/or education in medically developing or underdeveloped countries.

“I am truly honored to receive this distinguished award,” said Penny, who is also section head and professor of pediatrics-cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine. “It is a privilege to be recognized on behalf of the team who worked in Vietnam.”

In 2009, Penny visited central Vietnam as an invited lecturer. While there, it became apparent to him that local facilities and care were inadequate for the hundreds of children dealing with congenital heart disease. He took action and with the help of local leadership, raised money to build a new local heart institute. Over the course of 20 trips, Penny trained more than 100 local physicians, nurses and other medical staff. As a result of his efforts, the center performed more than 700 open heart surgeries in 2009, mainly in children, as well as 900 cardiac catheterizations, all done by Vietnamese doctors and staff. Prior to Penny’s efforts, 100 surgeries and 200 cardiac catheterizations were done by visiting physicians.

Dr. Hugh Allen, pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children’s and professor of pediatrics-cardiology at Baylor, nominated Penny for this award and notes the enormous impact his work in cardiac research, in the clinical area and with the larger international community will have on pediatric patients for generations to come.

5416earthday640On April 22, the Green Team hosted two Earth Day celebrations on The Auxiliary Bridge at main campus and Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

Vendors provided eco-friendly, cost-saving tips to employees and patient families including how to become more energy efficient, tips on eating green and ways to reduce waste and recycle more.

Special guests HEB Buddy entertained the crowd at main campus while our very own West Campus Vice President Matt Schaefer dressed up as Earl The Bear to greet our employees and patient families.

Customized Green Team water bottles made of 100 percent recyclable materials and seeded confetti packets were distributed to attendees.

The Earth Day events also included tree plantings at Main and West campuses thanks to the generous donations from Trees for Houston.

As the Green Team prepares for next year’s Earth Day celebrations, feel free to drop them a line. If you have any green ideas, suggestions for next year or want to join the team, email teamgreen@texaschildrens.org.

42716cornynzika640On April 22, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas listened to Texas Medical Center doctors and Houston city officials break down research efforts on the Zika virus as mosquito season gets underway. The roundtable discussion was held at Texas Children’s Hospital and included a tour of the lab where research is being done and where Texas Children’s and Houston Methodist Hospital developed the nation’s first hospital-based rapid test for the Zika virus.

The virus, which has spread rapidly through Central and South America in the last year, is transmitted between humans primarily through mosquito bites. People may not realize they’ve been infected with Zika virus because the majority of people will develop an asymptomatic or mild flu-like infection. However, the virus has heightened concern among pregnant women since it may increase the risk of microcephaly, a rare neurological birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.

While there is no vaccine to protect against Zika infection, doctors are encouraging people, particularly pregnant women, to refrain from traveling to areas where the outbreak is growing. The only way to prevent infection is to avoid getting mosquito bites.

Cornyn said what he learned from the roundtable discussion was that the risk of under reacting to the Zika virus is too high and that the virus will be a problem in the United States if it is not stopped in Central and South America. As a result, he said he will recommend to Congress that action continue to be taken and that dollars continue to be allocated to taking a look at what needs to be done to stop what he called a devastating virus.

“We need to make sure we remain vigilant,” Cornyn said. “And, thanks to the great scientists and medical professionals we have here in Houston, Texas and around the country, I’m confident we will be at the cutting edge of new discoveries that will help public health across the globe.”

Click here to read excerpts from the roundtable discussion and here for more information on the Zika virus.

42716DrLucyPuryear175Dr. Lucy Puryear of The Women’s Place: Center for Reproductive Psychiatry is the latest Texas Children’s Super Star physician. “It is a privilege to have patients trust that we will do our very best to care for them, as if they were our own family member,” Puryear said. Read more of Puryear’s interview and find out how you can nominate a Super Star.

Q&A: Dr. Lucy Puryear, July – December 2015 Physician

Your name, title and department. How long have you worked here?
Lucy J. Puryear, M.D. Medical Director, The Women’s Place: Center for Reproductive Psychiatry. I’ve been at the Pavilion for Women since they opened.

What month are you Super Star for?
July through December of 2015.

Tell us how you found out you won a super star award.
Dr. Belfort called me to his office unexpectedly. I at first wondered if I’d done something wrong, but when I arrived he made me close my eyes and hold out my hands. He put a red bag in my hands with the award inside and read aloud the notice of the honor I received. What a nice surprise!

What does it mean to be recognized for the hard work you do? How has the organization helped you achieve your personal and professional goals?
It feels wonderful to have your colleagues recognize all of the efforts you make to do the very best job that you can. It helps to know that those efforts are recognized, and it feels wonderful to be appreciated. It’s validating to hear, “yes, you are doing a great job, and we see it.”

What do you think makes someone at Texas Children’s a super star?
I would really have to say there are lots of superstars at Texas Children’s Hospital. I find the dedication to patient care and the mission to be the best at what we do is a consistent attitude among most people who work here, from top to bottom.

What is your motivation for going above and beyond every day at work?
I feel being a doctor is a mission to serve others. It is a privilege to have patients trust that we will do our very best to care for them, as if they were our own family member. I take that commitment very seriously. I want to be the very best I can be. I get great joy seeing the patients I treat get better.

What is the best thing about working at Texas Children’s?
I most enjoy the sense of teamwork, that we all have the same desire to improve the lives of women and children, and that treating others with kindness and compassion is who we are and how we are expected to behave.

What does it mean to you that everyone at Texas Children’s is considered a leader? What is your leadership definition?
When everyone at an institution has a passion for the same mission, and a common goal, then each member of the team is responsible for taking leadership in their own area to ensure that in their place of work they are contributing to that goal. Even if far removed from patient care, the goal of everyone who works at Texas Children’s is to be a leader in the quality and safety of the patients we care for. For me a leader is someone who keeps the goal in sight, encourages others to collaborate to achieve that goal, and is able to put aside personal benefit in order to make sure everyone wins.

Anything else you want to share?
I love my job!

When was the last time you helped patients navigate our hallways? Did you look them in the eye when you talked to them? Did you greet them with a smile and a friendly handshake?

Patient and family experience at Texas Children’s is more than the medical care we provide at the bedside. It’s a reflection of how we treat our patients and their families from the moment they call us to schedule an appointment to the moment they leave our care.

Recently, Texas Children’s employees and staff at the Pavilion for Women got a chance to put themselves in the shoes of their patients by walking into the Galleries of Parallel Truths. Two rooms, named Gallery A and Gallery B, were decked out with posters, statistics and compelling stories, one showing the positives and one the negatives of patient experience at Texas Children’s.

“The galleries were organized by our nursing leadership in collaboration with Ambulatory Services,” said Kim Holt, assistant director of nursing at Texas Children’s Cancer Center The Woodlands campus and the project’s team leader. “We felt it was necessary to re-engage our staff around the importance of consistently creating a positive patient experience, which will help to improve our Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores at Texas Children’s.”

When staff entered Gallery A, the atmosphere was cold and uninviting. The walls were plastered with shocking statistics and disturbing complaints from patient families and employees who had left the organization.

“It looked like we were walking into a dungeon of the unknown,” Felicia Cruise said. ”There was trash everywhere and employee badges were scattered on the floor. It was dark and a place that I didn’t want to be in.”

“The phone was ringing constantly,” Delores Metoyer recalled. “I wanted to say, “Somebody get the phone! Get the phone!”

Next door in Gallery B, the atmosphere was bright and inviting. A red carpet was rolled out onto the floor symbolizing superior customer service we deliver to our patients and their families. The walls were decorated with pictures of happy employees and volumes of awards, recognitions and stories showcasing outstanding employee achievements in patient care and patient experience.

“The purpose of the galleries was for employees to remember the impact and the experience they felt going through the negative and the positive room,” said Oluwakemi Orogbemi, one of the nurses who helped organize the event. “Employee engagement is very important to positive patient experience. We want our employees to know their happiness, their positive experience here at Texas Children’s will translate into a positive experience for our patients and their families.”

The employee feedback gathered from these sessions will be sent to the Patient Experience Committee where staff will collaborate on strategies to resolve the issues raised by employees and patient families.

The Galleries of Parallel Truths started in January 2016 and has been presented to employees at the Pavilion for Women, West Campus, and several of the health centers in the community.

To find out when the next Galleries of Parallel Truths will be presented, contact Kim Holt at Ext. 8-9265 or kpholt@texaschildrens.org.

Patient Experience Week

Employees, patients and their families will also get a chance this week to learn more about Texas Children’s efforts to make the patient and family experience here the best it can be. Events will be held at Main and West campuses. Click here for a schedule of events.