April 7, 2022

We’re excited to expand our world-class care in Austin, one of America’s fastest growing cities, and we hope you will join us!

As we continue our search for top talent to help deliver on our mission, we have posted 18 new career opportunities, including 16 new Assistant Director positions.

Please click here to explore these new roles and apply for these opportunities. Until April 5, these roles will be posted internally only and will then open to the public.

Even if the role isn’t right for you, please consider reaching out to your network to pass along these great opportunities. We’re always looking for top candidates who want to make a difference, and through E.A.R.N., you can receive $1,000 for referring a candidate who joins our team.

There’s so much to look forward to in 2024 when we open our new state-of-the-art hospital in Austin and further establish ourselves as a leading health care provider for children and women across central Texas. We’ve already built a strong foundation with our expansive operations in the community, including Urgent Care at Westgate, Specialty Care Austin, and multiple Texas Children’s Pediatrics locations.

To address the need for expanded pediatric, fetal and Ob/Gyn care in the central Texas area, the hospital will include neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, operating rooms, epilepsy monitoring, sleep center, emergency center, fetal center, state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging, acute care, and an on-site Texas Children’s Urgent Care location, to name a few. We will also offer numerous subspecialties to patients and families.

For more information and opportunities at Texas Children’s in Austin, keep an eye out for our next Town Hall in May.

You can also learn more about our Austin expansion on Connect.

As we build our bright future Tomorrow, Together, we will continue to offer and improve our best-in-class patient care, service for our members and elite programs for our workforce. We’re already off to an amazing start for the year as the three Texas Children’s Hospital Surgery PA Fellowship Programs become the first and only pediatric-focused programs to receive national accreditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Prior to this recognition, there were only seven Clinical Postgraduate PA programs in the U.S. to have received accreditation. What an incredible achievement!

“The PA Fellowship Programs have factored enormously into the growth of our surgical APP program and have raised our profile across the country,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, surgeon-in-chief and chair of the Department of Surgery and medical director for the Surgical PA Fellowship Programs. “These accreditations will certainly make our PA Fellowship Programs some of the most sought-after opportunities for recent graduates and experienced generalists interested in specialization. We are incredibly proud of how this program has evolved over the last decade.”

The newly accredited programs are:

  • Texas Children’s Hospital Surgery Physician Assistant Fellowship Program
  • Texas Children’s Hospital Orthopedic Physician Assistant Fellowship Program
  • Texas Children’s Hospital Community Surgery Physician Assistant Fellowship Program

“These programs are truly one of a kind,” said Jordan Rodriguez, chief administrative officer for the PA Fellowship Program. “It is such an honor to see each class of fellows arrive and grow not only as clinicians but as well-rounded providers. The opportunities they get to experience throughout the year amazes me, and I am so happy we can proudly say we are accredited.”

New applicants can be assured that Texas Children’s provides a well-rounded education program to prepare them with a strong foundation of skills for the future. The programs can accept a combined 10 fellows each year to learn the ins and outs and to work in each surgical subspecialty. It is a unique opportunity that most providers never experience.

“The medical knowledge and interpersonal skills our PA fellows develop during their training becomes invaluable as they progress in their career,” said Kris Marsack, director of Surgery APPs and academic director for the Surgical PA Fellowship Programs.

The accreditation could not have been possible without the dedication and tireless efforts of the planning committee who worked for the better part of a year completing applications, planning in person and virtual site visits. Amazing team effort by the accreditation planning committee members below.

  • Dr. Larry Hollier, Medical Director
  • Kristina Marsack, PA-C, Academic Director
  • Ryan Krasnosky, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, DrPH Assistant Director
  • Jackie Broda, PA-C, Program Director
  • Jordan Rodriguez, Chief Administrative Officer
  • Magda Gonzalez, Program Coordinator
April 1, 2022

We’re celebrating the tireless and important contributions of Texas Children’s doctors. Today and every day, thank you for your sacrifice, courage and love.

This week on Mark Wallace’s blog, he invites Dr. Larry H. Hollier Jr. to share a word of encouragement as we celebrate National Doctors’ Day. Read More

March 30, 2022

“I help make a difference. This past year has been a difficult year for many people, but having a job like mine makes me see things from a different perspective.” Read Seher’s story. Read More

What’s the solution for resupplying one of the items that is fundamental for delivering dialysis for our patients when the product is backordered due to supply chain issues caused by COVID? “There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, you have to get creative and think outside of the box if you are going to survive in health care supply chain during COVID,” said Eric Swaim, Director of Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain Analytics.

According to Swaim, when reordering dialysis acid in January, his team learned our vendor had a COVID outbreak in their Dallas distribution center and would not be able to fulfill our order at that time. Not wanting to accept “no” as an answer, Swaim and his team worked with the vendor to find an alternate solution for restocking our supply of the product in time to avoid any disruptions for our patients receiving dialysis.

The vendor moved fulfillment of the order to an alternate distribution center in Los Lunas, New Mexico, sold the acid in drums instead of the one gallon jugs we normally purchase, and allowed Texas Children’s to pick up the order with our own truck.

To ensure zero issues in picking up and transporting this high priority delivery, the Supply Chain team received updates from the driver every four to five hours during transit from Houston to New Mexico and back to Texas Children’s Renal Center.

“Our clinicians are thankful for the resourcefulness and resilience of our Supply Chain partners,” said Jae Frazier, Director of Renal and Apheresis Services. “Without them, we would have had to make clinical decisions with direct impacts to our patients’ dialysis care and overall health.”

According to Frazier, countless citywide and nationwide dialysis facilities have been affected by a shortage of this critical supply component for life-saving, life-sustaining dialysis care and many centers have had to decrease services provided to dialysis patients. Swaim added that pre-COVID, only five percent of products were on some sort of backorder. Now his team are seeing 30-40 percent on backorder.

Planning ahead in a challenging supply environment

Since this experience, the Supply Chain team has been partnering more closely with the Renal clinical team and with the vendor during weekly calls to monitor supply. Along with this consistent communication, the clinicians are conserving the product, and two more trucks were sent to the same New Mexico distribution center to pick up our allocation of dialysis acid, which provided the Renal Center with over 30 days’ worth of supply.

“This regular communication has allowed us to remain nimble in our approach to managing this critical supply shortage,” said Frazier. “Our conservation efforts, although precipitated by the shortage, will become part of our ongoing commitment to providing cost-effective care.”

The teams’ extra efforts have put Texas Children’s in a good position to survive this backorder through June, and their continued partnership will ensure limited to no disruption for our patients, according to Swaim. One of his main takeaways is that vendors want to help us be successful, but if they say they can’t supply something it’s best to challenge it by asking the tough questions or proposing off the wall solutions in order to get the product you need.

As the first therapy dog ever at Texas Children’s, lovable Elsa and her animal-assisted therapy coordinator Sarah Herbek made the Pawsitive Play Program a welcome reality for thousands of patients and their families.

POST YOUR WELL WISHES ON SPECIAL YAMMER PAGE

Now is your chance to shower Elsa and Sarah with thanks and well-wishes before they retire and leave Texas Children’s on April 8!

Just CLICK HERE to post kind words and sweet memories to the Yammer page dedicated to their farewell – photos and videos included.

If you’re not familiar with Yammer or have not used the platform before, it’s easy to get started! Simply follow these steps to leave your goodbye note:

  • Below the images, click “Conversations” and you’ll see your picture alongside a prompt to “Start a discussion” or “Share thoughts, ideas or updates.”
  • Click in that space to type your message and/or upload attachments, photos or a video using the icons below the message box. You can even record a video from your phone and upload it to the page.
  • Once you’re done, press “Post” and your message will appear in the feed.
  • You can also like or comment on other posts that interest you.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to HR Communications. Let’s fill up the feed and send Elsa and Sarah off with lots of love and support from all their furriends at Texas Children’s!

Be sure to also check back on Connect in the coming days for a detailed story and special tribute to Elsa and Sarah.