June 9, 2015

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Have you ever thought about becoming a runner, one of those people who laces up their brightly colored shoes and takes off rain or shine just to get some exercise? Or, maybe you already are an avid runner and simply enjoy logging in the miles. If you are either of these people, or are somewhere in between, now is the time to hit the pavement.

Texas Children’s Hospital recently was chosen to be an official charity for the January 17, 2016 Houston Marathon and Half Marathon, which means you can run for a reason. You can be on the Texas Children’s Running Team and fundraise on behalf of Texas Children’s Hospital, knowing your donations will directly impact the lives of countless sick children. The team is led by Kelli Calderwood, an employee of Texas Children’s and a sponsored distance runner. Read her blog post about the run here.

61015runforreasoninside200Signing up for the Houston Marathon and Half Marathon as a Texas Children’s Runner guarantees your entry into the race distance of your choice and all of the money you raise will go directly to the Promise Campaign, which focuses on five key initiatives:

  • CareFirst, for the expansion of our Critical Care services, ORs/PACU and Emergency Center at the Main Camp
  • Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, our new 548,000-square-foot dedicated pediatric hospital serving the growing communities north of Houston
  • Endowed Chairs, which are a powerful tool in recruiting and retaining world-class physicians and scientists
  • Divisions and Centers of Excellence to provide ongoing support for specialty care programs and projects
  • Charity Care and hospital priorities, to help alleviate the financial burdens families take on with complex medical care and to provide flexible funds to address the hospital’s most pressing needs at any given time.

There is no better excuse to try something new or hone what you already know. Make your promise today and join the Texas Children’s Running Team. Here’s how:

Fundraise to Run

A fundraising entry is a way for runners to secure a guaranteed entry to the race of their choice, while fundraising for Texas Children’s Hospital. The minimum fundraising milestone to receive the guaranteed entry is $1,500 ($500 for Texas Children’s employees). Please complete this form and email it to Kelli Calderwood at kkcalder@texaschildrens.org to sign up and secure your registration. Donations can be received from May 2015 – February 2016. These donations can come from friends, family and employer matching programs. Some of the perks of being on the team:

  • Custom Texas Children’s race jersey
  • Prizes for fundraising milestones
  • Organized team runs
  • Access to a trained and experienced marathoner
  • Calls with a Development Manager to assist you in your fundraising efforts
  • A sponsored pre-race pasta dinner
  • A post-race party
  • A wild cheering station to cheer you to the finish
  • A personal tour of Texas Children’s Hospital – to show how your hard work will pay off
  • And much more!

Fundraising Milestone Prizes

  • $350 – A set of notecards designed by a Texas Children’s patient
  • $500 – Texas Children’s tumbler
  • $1,000 – Texas Children’s tee shirt
  • $1,500 – Texas Children’s hat
  • $2,000 – Texas Children’s sports bag
  • $5,000 – Framed artwork, painted by a Texas Children’s patient
  • $10,000 – A 2016 Ambassadors Membership

Support the Team

To support the Texas Children’s running team with a donation, please visit our fundraising page.

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Fetal Center nurse Laura Mollett finally is getting the smile of her dreams, thanks to Texas Children’s discounted orthodontia services for employees.

Mollett, a nurse in the Fetal Center, had braces when she was young but they weren’t maintained properly and her teeth shifted. As an adult, she often thought about getting her teeth corrected but knew she didn’t have the time to make the regular appointments.

That changed when she learned Texas Children’s offers discounted orthodontia services in house to its employees. Mollett said she saw a flier about the services at a bridge event and called immediately. She got an appointment shortly afterward and is well on her way to having straight teeth again.

“It’s a wonderful program,” Mollett said. “In addition to the cost savings, it’s convenient. They get you in and out really fast because they know how important it is to get you back to work.”

Beginning in January, Texas Children’s began offering traditional braces and Invisalign at a discounted price to all employees, regardless of whether they are enrolled in the organization’s dental coverage. The services cannot be claimed under the dental plan or any other insurance plan, however eligible out-of-pocket expenses can be reimbursed through the Healthcare FSA.

Total out-of-pocket costs for these discounted services are:

  • Traditional braces: $3,000
  • Invisalign: $3,500

Dr. John Wirthlin, a craniofacial orthodontist on Texas Children’s cleft lip and palate team, leads the orthodontia program and said an added bonus to the discount is the convenience on-site orthodontia services offers to the patient.

“You would have to take a half a day off a month if you received services off campus,” Wirthlin said. “If you get your services here, all you have to do is walk over to the Clinical Care Center.”

The Orthodontic Clinic is located on the eighth floor of the Clinical Care Center.

For more information on this program, please call Ext. 2-3920 or email orthodonticptline@texaschildrens.org.

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Since implementing error prevention training almost a year ago, more than half of Texas Children’s employees – 8,075 clinical and nonclinical staff – have completed their required training. While these numbers are impressive, our goal is to achieve 100 percent compliance by Tuesday, June 30.

In July 2014, Texas Children’s launched error prevention training to ensure all employees and medical staff across the organization are equipped with the necessary tools to keep patients safe. This training initiative is a critical component of our CareFirst promise – to focus on what’s right for our employees and medical staff, and most importantly, what’s right for our patients, their families and their care.

Error prevention training is based on the notion that every Texas Children’s employee – regardless of job title or position – plays an important role in preventing and eliminating preventable harm to patients.

“Every day, we provide care to the sickest of the sick at Texas Children’s, and when you’re taking care of that many severely ill children and women, it’s a great challenge,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace. “Everyone recognizes that creating a safe environment – focusing on safety and error omission – is job one. Doing no harm to our patients is first and foremost.”

That’s where error prevention training comes into play. Texas Children’s Chief Safety Officer Dr. Joan Shook says delivering clear, concise and complete communication is paramount to ensuring the safest possible patient care.

“Once training is completed, employees know how to effectively communicate concerns requiring action, how to support a questioning attitude, and how to employ three-way communication to achieve greater clarity,” Shook said. “When everyone speaks a common language and shares the same expectations, we can eliminate preventable harm to patients.”

As part of our commitment to patient safety, Texas Children’s has pledged that every member of our workforce and medical staff receive this critical training. Frontline staff are required to take three hours of classroom training and non-clinical employees can complete their training online.

June 30 is the deadline to compete error prevention training. Click here to log in to the E-learning module.

“Error prevention training will propel us to the next level of safety at Texas Children’s and encourage employees to speak up when something doesn’t seem quite right,” Shook said. “We have a moral obligation. If we can prevent harm to patients, let’s prevent it.”

Click here to watch a CareFirst video highlighting how each of us can make patient care safer at Texas Children’s by advancing error prevention initiatives.

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Aisha Jamal from Business Planning is the latest Texas Children’s Super Star employee. “I think a Super Star is someone who is passionate about Texas Children’s and our mission,” Jamal said. “It is someone who doesn’t just do what is expected but instead takes it to the next level, exceeding both one’s own as well as others’ expectations.”

Read more of Jamal’s interview:

Q&A: Aisha Jamal, February 2015 Employee

Your name, title and department. How long have you worked here?
Aisha Jamal, Senior Project Manager in Business Planning. I have worked at Texas Children’s Hospital for 7 years.

What month are you Super Star for?
February 2015

Tell us how you found out you won a super star award.
My executive Paola Álvarez-Malo called me in for an early morning meeting, and after we wrapped up, walked me back to our suite. I opened the door, the room was dark, and as I walked in, I heard “Surprise!!!!” My entire team was there and they had decorated my area with stars, lights, streamers, and confetti. My leader Roula Zoghbi Smith, told me about the award, and we celebrated with a team breakfast. It was a complete surprise, and I was so touched by this amazing and thoughtful celebration.

What does it mean to be recognized for the hard work you do?
It is an honor and a privilege to work at Texas Children’s, and I am very grateful for this award.

What do you think makes someone at Texas Children’s a super star?
I think a Super Star is someone who is passionate about Texas Children’s and our mission. It is someone who doesn’t just do what is expected but instead takes it to the next level, exceeding both one’s own as well as others’ expectations.

What is your motivation for going above and beyond every day at work?
I love everything Texas Children’s stands for and enjoy being able to contribute in some small way to our mission to heal sick children.

What is the best thing about working at Texas Children’s?
The wonderful people I get to work with every day! I have the most amazing colleagues and friends at Texas Children’s Hospital, and it is a joy to come to work and share my day with them (Paola, Roula, Megan, Thomas, Brad, Angie, Michelle and Josh).

Anything else you want to share?
I would like to thank all the wonderful people who have mentored me throughout my career here at Texas Children’s as well as all the members of the Business Planning, Financial Services, Corporate Finance, and Payroll teams. I’d especially like to thank Samantha Raffield, Neil, Jennifer Wilson, Alec King and most of all Paola Álvarez–Malo.

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Texas Children’s Pediatric Anesthesiologist and Baylor College of Medicine Associate Professor Dr. Olutoyin Olutoye recently received the college’s Rising Star Clinician award.

The award recognizes assistant and associate professors with at least five years of clinical service who have shown exemplary qualities of clinical excellence and expertise, consistent high level of patient care, professionalism, commendable leadership skills, and continuous service to our community.

Established by Baylor President, CEO and Executive Dean Dr. Paul Klotman, the award was presented to Olutoye at a May 14 ceremony.

“These awards are important to me personally, and they are also important to Baylor College of Medicine,” Klotman said. “At the end of the day, how we take care of patients is what differentiates us from others.”

Texas Children’s Anesthesiologist-in-Chief Dr. Dean Andropoulos said Olutoye is well deserving of the Rising Star Award seeing that she is an international authority on maternal-fetal anesthesia, and is our Texas Children’s leader of that service.

“She is widely recognized for her clinical excellence, leadership skills, compassion and bedside manner for these complicated patients,” Andropoulos said. “She also is the pediatric anesthesiology liaison to the Texas Children’s Hospital Global Surgery Service, and is a recognized authority in anesthesia service and education to developing countries.”

Olutoye, who directs Texas Children’s Hospital’s Fetal Anesthesiology Services, earned her medical degree from Obafemi Awolowo University Medical School. She completed an internship and two fellowships at the Medical College of Virginia, and a residency program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Olutoye’s interests include the effect of drugs on the fetus and the fetal brain during Maternal-Fetal surgery as well as the effect of pediatric obesity on the efficacy of anesthesia drugs.

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Texas Children’s Mothers’ Milk Bank recently held its second annual appreciation luncheon to honor mothers who have generously donated the lifesaving gift of breast milk. Together, they contributed 444 gallons of breast milk to our Milk Bank, resulting in more than 56,802 feedings in 2014.

This remarkable feat would not have been accomplished without the generous support of our milk donors, many of whom are Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine employees. Mothers of critically ill infants in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Texas Children’s Newborn Center depend on pasteurized donor breast milk to supplement their own milk supply if they are unable to produce enough milk for their baby.

Texas Children’s Chief of Neonatology Dr. Stephen Welty, Neonatal Nutrition Director Dr. Amy Hair and Dr. Jennifer Arnold congratulated our milk donors for their selfless act of kindness at the luncheon, which was funded by Bad Pants, a long-time supporter of our Newborn Center.

“Every ounce of donor breast milk improves outcomes for our NICU babies,” Hair said. “Mothers who donate their excess supply to our milk bank ensure our tiniest, most vulnerable patients receive a constant supply of nourishment and protection to stay healthy.”

Unlike formula, human milk contains antibodies that protect babies against bacterial infections and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening neonatal condition that causes intestinal inflammation. Since the Newborn Center implemented its exclusive human milk feeding protocol in 2009, NEC rates in our NICU have dropped by 77 percent.

This year, the Milk Bank celebrated its fourth year of operation, and is working hard to ensure enough pasteurized donor breast milk is available to feed the more than 2,000 NICU babies treated at the Newborn Center each year.

“Our milk donors are life savers,” Texas Children’s donation coordinator Laurel Laviolette said. “The amount of breast milk collected last year exemplifies our milk donors’ commitment to promoting the health of our NICU patients.”

For more information on how to become a Texas Children’s milk donor, click here.

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Two Texas Children’s pediatric urologists recently were honored and recognized by the Society for Pediatric Urology.

Pediatric Urology Fellow Dr. Jason Au was recently awarded the top prize at the Society for Pediatric Urology / Society of Fetal Urology / American Urological Association Annual Meeting for his case presentation, “Urologic Considerations in the Separation of Conjoint Twins.” Au was recognized for excellence and innovation in case presentation. The national meeting is the largest of its kind in the world providing unparalleled access to groundbreaking research, new guidelines and the latest advances in urologic medicine.

Dr. Chester Koh, director of the Pediatric Robotic Surgery Program at Texas Children’s Hospital, was appointed to serve a three year term on the Society for Pediatric Urology Executive Council. In this capacity, Koh will serve on the governing body of the main professional organization for pediatric urologists that oversees the society’s activities. His term will run from 2015 to 2018. The Society for Pediatric Urology is a non-profit society whose main purpose is to promote pediatric urology, appropriate practice and education, as well as exchanges between practitioners involved in the treatment of genito urinary disorders in children.