December 2, 2014

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Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus has been recognized as a top children’s hospital by the Leapfrog Group for the second consecutive year.

The Leapfrog Group is an organization that provides the only national, public comparison of hospitals across safety, quality and efficiency dimensions.

Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus is among an elite group of only nine children’s hospitals selected out of more than 1,400 rural, urban and children’s hospitals surveyed, and the only children’s hospital in Houston to be recognized with this prestigious distinction.

“We are honored to again be recognized as a top performing children’s hospital,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, president of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. “Our physicians, nurses and employees continuously strive to provide high quality care for our patients and families while keeping their safety our top priority.”

This year’s list of recognized hospitals includes 60 Top Rural Hospitals, 25 Top Urban Hospitals and nine Top Children’s Hospitals. To be selected as a Top Hospital, organizations must meet or exceed Leapfrog criteria in three critical areas of hospital care: how patients fare, resource use and management structures in place to prevent errors.

The Leapfrog Group was founded to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability. The annual survey is the only voluntary effort of its kind. The Top Hospitals will be honored at Leapfrog’s Annual Meeting on December 2 in Arlington, Virginia, which gathers key decision-makers from Leapfrog’s network of purchaser members, industry partners, health care stakeholders and national collaborators.

For more information, or to see a complete list of The Leapfrog Group’s 2014 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/news.

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Texas Children’s Neonatologist Dr. Jennifer Arnold, her husband, Bill Klein, and their two children, Will and Zoey, are back for another season of their hit reality show, “The Little Couple” on TLC, December 2.

The family’s adventures begin again with a trip to Washington, D.C. as the family represents Texas Children’s to advocate on Capitol Hill for the ACE Kids Act which stands for “Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act.” The proposed legislation will ensure that children with medical complexities who rely on Medicaid are able to receive the care they need from a center equipped to provide comprehensive care, even if they are required to cross state lines to receive the appropriate care.

12314littlecoupleinsideThe Kleins joined other families from across the nation for Children’s Hospital Association’s (CHA) Family Advocacy Day, which supports a grassroots initiative called Speak Now for Kids. The family visited the offices of members of congress where they spoke about their personal experiences and asked them to support the legislation by signing on as co-sponsors for the bill. ACE Kids Act, H.R.4930, currently has 97 cosponsors.

Watch the first episode and join the efforts to Speak Now for Kids:

  1. #Speaknowforkids. Use this hashtag and saturate social media with your stories about why children’s hospitals matter.
  2. Get social with your policymakers. Find the social media pages for your representatives and senators and post messages on their pages about why you want them to Speak Now for Kids. Encourage them to sign on as co-sponsors for this important piece of legislation.
  3. Call, write, and reach out. Lawmakers are elected by you to stand up for you. Make your voice heard. Contact their offices and let them know why you care about Medicaid reform for medically complex children. Click here to find out who represents you.

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Texas Children’s cares for some of the country’s most critically ill patients, and safe, quality care for every patient is the most important responsibility of each staff member and employee here. Equipping our staff and employees with the knowledge and tools to take preventive action is key to creating an environment of safe patient care.

In an effort to illuminate the importance of everyone’s role, each month we will share patient safety stories that help heighten staff and employee alertness and accountability and, ultimately, reduce harm. This month’s story is a reminder that being familiar with your surroundings and knowing what to do in an urgent situation can help improve the outcome.

Jason* was a relatively healthy 9-year-old boy when he was admitted for a routine operation. After the procedure, he went to the PACU for recovery. There, a PACU nurse noted Jason’s ECG monitor tracing looked unusual. An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of the heart and then translates the heart’s electrical activity into line tracings on paper.

The nurse asked the anesthesiologist to review Jason’s ECG tracing, and shortly afterward, Cardiology was called. Jason was evaluated and diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, a rare heart condition that causes rapid heartbeat and has been associated with sudden death.

The nurse’s attentiveness made the diagnosis of WPW possible. Jason had a corrective procedure this summer. The subsequent evaluation and the procedure will help ensure that he does well with this diagnosis and has the best possible outcome.

Actions everyone can take:

  1. Ask a question. If something doesn’t look quite right – whether it’s an issue with a patient, coworker or a process – question it.
  2. Request a change. Identify the person who can help you change the situation, and bring the matter to their attention.
  3. Voice a concern. Don’t dismiss your intuition or assume someone else will notice the problem. Your voice might be the life-changing difference for a patient.
  4. Go up the chain of command. Always know that you can go up the chain of command if necessary to bring the matter to someone else’s attention.

* Patient safety stories are based on events at Texas Children’s Hospital. Patient names and some of the circumstances of the event may have been changed to protect patient privacy.

For the latest quality and safety information, visit the Patient Safety website on Connect.

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Texas Children’s Pediatrics recently welcomed a new practice to the inner loop and merged two others in the Houston area.

The new practice, Texas Children’s Pediatrics Green Park, opened November 18 and is located at 7505 S. Main St., Suite 450. Three new physicians – Dr. Michael Connelly, Dr. Shannon Hayes and Dr. Jackie Wanebo – are seeing patients at the location.

Connelly, a Houston native, earned his medical degree from and completed his residency with the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. Connelly specializes in fitness, healthy eating, and infants and newborns.

Hayes is from Katy and earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. Hayes completed her residency at Baylor as well, and trained at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Wanebo came to Texas from Charlottesville, Va., earned her medical degree from the University of Virginia and completed her residency with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She specializes in asthma, healthy eating, teenagers and children with special needs.

Dr. Angela Mazur will join the new Green Park practice next summer after shutting the doors to her Texas Children’s Pediatrics Brasewood office at 7515 S. Main St. Mazur earned her medical degree from and completed her residency with Baylor College of Medicine. She specializes in asthma, breastfeeding, healthy eating, safety, sleep, toddlers, teenagers, and infants and newborns.

At the end of the year, Dr. Vinona Vohra will close her Texas Children’s Pediatrics practice at 17115 Red Oak Drive in north Houston and merge it with the Texas Children’s Pediatrics practice at 17030 Nanes Drive. Vohra – who specializes in asthma, allergies, breastfeeding, healthy eating, infants, keeping fit, teenagers, toddlers and tweens – will become the fifth physician at the Nanes Drive location.

Texas Children’s Pediatrics is a group of board-certified, expert pediatricians who have extensive training in children’s health care. With convenient locations throughout the greater Houston area, the group provides the finest pediatricians dedicated to meeting the health care needs of infants to teenagers.

For more information about Texas Children’s Pediatrics, visit http://www.texaschildrenspediatrics.org/.

November 25, 2014

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112614woodlandsadmininside175Two seasoned Texas Children’s leaders have been charged with heading the organization’s second community hospital – Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

Michelle Riley-Brown will become president of the new hospital and Dr. Charles Hankins will become chief medical officer of the institution, which will open its doors to outpatient care in the fall of 2016 and inpatient services the following year. Riley-Brown and Hankins will assume their new roles in January.

The leadership announcement was made November 20 to about 500 guests at The Forum Luncheon in The Woodlands, an event hosted by the Development Department.

“It’s amazing what we are allowed to do here at Texas Children’s,” CEO Mark A. Wallace said at the forum after talking to the audience about The Woodlands Campus and its leadership. “We are going to start out with the A team and then build from there.”

Riley-Brown and Hankins will come to The Woodlands with a wealth of experience in running a community hospital since both helped open and are currently leading Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

Riley-Brown, who joined Texas Children’s 15 years ago and has a Masters of Health Administration from Washington University, is the current president of West Campus, which opened in 2011 and has become a staple in pediatric health care for those who live in the area. Hankins, who has been with Texas Children’s for 11 years and specializes in neonatology, is the current chief medical officer at the hospital.

In addition to their experience in leading a community hospital, both Riley-Brown and Hankins will come to The Woodlands with a good understanding of the community, which sits about 30 miles north of Houston. Riley-Brown helped open and managed Texas Children’s Health Center – The Woodlands in 2003, and Hankins lives in The Woodlands community.

“I feel like I’m coming home,” Hankins said, adding that he is extremely excited to be heading up the medical team at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

Riley-Brown said she, too, is excited about coming to The Woodlands.

“I am looking forward to working with Dr. Hankins to ensure the success of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands,” Riley-Brown said. “As we expand our services in this community, we will continue to bring high-quality care closer to our patients.”

Leadership at West Campus

Taking Riley-Brown and Hankins’ places at West Campus will be Chanda Cashen Chacón as president and Dr. Jeanine Graf as chief medical officer.

Chacón has been with Texas Children’s Hospital for more than a decade in leadership roles in ambulatory operations, pharmacy, the Heart Center and the Fetal Center. Currently, she is the vice president for Women’s Services at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Chacón has a Master’s Degree in Public Health Administration from Yale University.

Graf, who was recently named a 2015 Catalyst Leadership Award recipient and president of the medical staff at Texas Children’s, is currently the medical director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Main Campus and of Pediatric Transport and Respiratory Care. She also is an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, where she did her residency after earning her medical degree from Ohio State University College of Medicine.

“I am more than pleased to be taking on this new role at Texas Children’s,” Graf said. “I believe we have an obligation to support all children in the community and that this is a great new avenue through which I can accomplish that goal.”

Chacón said she is honored to have been chosen to lead West Campus.

“The hospital is a wonderful asset to Texas Children’s and to Houston’s pediatric community,” Chacón said. “I want to continue to grow and nurture that asset so it can benefit the patients and families we are honored to serve.”

About the community campuses

West Campus employs about 650 full and part-time workers and is home to a comprehensive array of pediatric specialty services including cardiology, gastroenterology, pediatric surgery, as well as occupational, physical and speech therapies.

Last year, the hospital saw more than 1,500 admissions and 37,000 emergency room visits. In addition, almost 4,000 inpatient and outpatient surgeries were conducted at the West Campus.

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands will open with 500 employees and will include 24 emergency room beds, 74 outpatient exam rooms, four operating rooms, 30 acute care beds, 12 intensive care beds, five radiology rooms and a helipad.

Ample free parking will be available with 1,000 spaces planned. Along with serving families throughout The Woodlands Area, Texas Children’s anticipates serving families in counties throughout Greater North Houston, including Montgomery, Walker, Grimes, Liberty, Harris, Polk, San Jacinto and Hardin.

“You will never hear us refer to the West Campus or The Woodlands as satellites, because that’s not the way we look at them,” Wallace said during a 2013 interview about the announcement of The Woodlands campus. “We have one standard of care at Texas Children’s Hospital, whether it’s here or at the West Campus, it’s all the same.”

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Texas Children’s Hospital Neonatologist Dr. Jennifer Arnold and her family are no strangers to the spotlight. Arnold, her husband, Bill Klein, and their two children, Will and Zoey, are the stars of TLC’s “The Little Couple.” This year, the family will officially kick off the holiday season by leading the 65th Annual H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade through downtown Houston. They will serve as the parade’s grand marshals and join Mayor Annise Parker at the head of the parade route.

“It is an honor for our family to be included in this 65-year tradition, which brings together Houstonians to celebrate Thanksgiving,” said Dr. Jennifer Arnold. “The holidays are a special time for our family and leading this parade will be a memory our children will never forget.”

The 65-year tradition continues this year with the parade showcasing Houston’s finest characteristics including a tribute to the Texas Medical Center, families, fashion, food, art, entertainment and sports. New floats and high-flying balloons will be seen throughout downtown.

“Bill and I are proud Houstonians and we are thrilled for our children to experience this year’s parade, which is dedicated to our city,” said Arnold. “The Texas Medical Center is a huge asset to Houston and I am excited to represent the medical community in this amazing holiday tradition.”

The first Thanksgiving Day Parade in Houston took place in 1949 with Santa arriving at Union Station and riding his sleigh to the downtown Foley’s. While much has changed about the city and the parade in six and a half decades, the parade continues to be a major tradition of Houston families during the holidays with about 250,000 spectators expected to line the streets.

“We have terrific sponsors who have made it possible for this family holiday tradition to continue,” said Mayor Annise D. Parker. “Each year Houstonians have so much for which to be thankful, from advances in medical research and practices in the Texas Medical Center and world-class exhibits and entertainment to international cultures that give this city its character and flavor. This year, we will shine the spotlight on the cornerstone of Houston’s greatness – our families.”

This year’s new downtown route will begin on Smith at Lamar, head north to Walker, east to Milam, south to Pease, west to Louisiana, north to Clay, west to Smith, and north to end at Smith and Dallas. The parade begins at 9 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit www.houstonthanksgivingparade.org.

Texas Children’s employees are role models for our coworkers, our patients and our families. One of the most important ways we can lead during this year’s flu season is to get vaccinated against the potentially deadly illness.

Kay Tittle, president of Texas Children’s Pediatrics, agreed and elaborates below on how important it is to be a role model and to get your annual flu shot.

“One of the most important things we can do is to get the flu vaccine,” Tittle said. “It will provide protection for ourselves, our patients, our coworkers and our families.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every season. This recommendation has been in place since February 24, 2010 when the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted for universal flu vaccination in the United States to expand protection against the flu to more people. Vaccination to prevent influenza is particularly important for people who are at high risk of serious complications from influenza. Those people include many of the patients seen here at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Influenza activity so far this year has been low in the United States, including Texas, according to the CDC, which collects, compiles and analyzes information on influenza activity year round in the United States and produces a weekly report from October through mid-May. That doesn’t mean this year’s flu season will be mild.

While seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May. So, the time is still right for you to get your flu vaccine and join the more than 80 percent of Texas Children’s employees who already have.

Employee Health is administering free seasonal influenza vaccinations to all Texas Children’s employees, Baylor College of Medicine employees working in Texas Children’s facilities, Texas Children’s medical staff and volunteers.

Please schedule an appointment to get the flu vaccine at the Employee Health Clinic by calling Ext. 4-2150. Leaders can request a flu cart to their unit by calling the same number. If you received your vaccine elsewhere, please fax a statement from your doctor or pharmacist saying you did so to Ext. 4-2141 or via interoffice mail to Employee Health A5527.