Tamara DuBose and Steven Kibodeaux describe how they are making history in their new roles as Nursing Retention Specialists. Read More
As we move toward creating our Tomorrow, Together, we look forward to the journey and listening to the thoughts and perspectives of our One Amazing Team. Following through on our commitment to put our people first, Culture Rounds was launched, beginning on Wednesday, March 16.
Culture Rounds progress
Executive teams rounded on 32 care areas over the past two weeks and have listened to 59 workforce members and 21 families. Our executives are learning with every minute they spend rounding! Here’s what they have to say…
“I’ve shared with many how grateful I am to be rounding. I appreciated the rounding more than I realized. As I reflect, it has been a very humbling experience and the timing was perfect. The past two years have created a distance and/or absence of what’s really happening with direct patient care. I can’t thank you enough for including me in the pilot program. I look forward to the weekly visits!!!” – Myra Davis, Senior Vice President
“Hearing about patient, family and staff experiences directly from them is exactly what Culture Rounding is about. It is so great to communicate face-to-face and tell them that their voice matters!” – Bert Gumeringer, Senior Vice President
“Hearing directly from the front line team members what they are experiencing is so valuable. We have heard feedback from parents about how amazing our care team members are and how thankful they are for TCH. And when we are hearing concerns, we are able to discuss quickly with leaders and strategize ways to correct quickly.” – Mark Mullarkey, Executive Vice President
Our executives are looking forward to rounding on your teams and hearing your insights about making Texas Children’s even stronger and building a better Tomorrow, Together.
For more information on executive culture rounds and quality, safety and patient experience, contact Quality Specialist Kandice Bledsaw via e-mail.
March 29, 2022
After launching with a 2% pay increase and additional week of PTO for all team members, Texas Children’s journey into Tomorrow, Together is still unfolding with bold action that supports and celebrates our people.
Texas Children’s Tomorrow, Together is an investment in our One Amazing Team and the careers you’re building with our organization. Our commitment is to make sure you feel hopeful about the path forward – a path we’re forging by listening to your voices and acting on your needs.
To trace every step of our journey so far, visit ourtomorrowtogether.org. Here are a few recent highlights:
In March, eligible team members received the second payout of our 1-2-3 Retention Program, which rewards our employees for their loyalty and resilience. The first bonus payment came in September 2020, and a third is set for September 2021.
Leading up to the second payout, we hosted a series of celebrations across the organization to express gratitude for all our team members have accomplished during this season. You can relive the fun of our Tomorrow, Together popcorn parties with this video.
To keep Texas Children’s signature spirit flowing, leaders hosted additional celebrations at the team and department level. Check out the photo gallery below to see how the good times rolled at our campus and practice locations!
For a personalized statement that details exactly how this investment has impacted you directly, check out the My Tomorrow, Together app here.
Share your thoughts!
We want to know what you’re most excited about as we head into our Tomorrow, Together. Click here to participate in our latest Waggl before the survey closes on March 31.
March 25, 2022
In recognition of Certified Nurses Day on March 19, Robbye Willoughby reflects upon why she chose to obtain her professional nursing certification. Read More
March 23, 2022
Close out Women’s History Month with new insight and fresh inspiration from women leaders at Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine! Click here to register to attend.
From our first COVID test in March 2020, Texas Children’s reached the remarkable milestone of administering, analyzing and reporting 500,000 COVID tests on Feb 9, 2022. This is a significant number for a pediatric hospital, according to Chief of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of Pathology Informatics, Dr. Ila Singh. As of March 16, 531,735 patients have been tested, with 50,362 patients testing positive.
In December 2019, well before what was then called the Wuhan Coronavirus was detected in the U.S., Dr. Singh, together with Dr. James Dunn, Medical Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories and Pathologist-in-Chief Dr. James Versalovic began to develop a viral diagnostic test. Texas Children’s was one of the first hospitals in the Medical Center to offer COVID-19 testing starting in March of 2020. Sarah Montenegro, Transition Care Program Assistant Vice President and members of the COVID-19 Testing Taskforce were able to coordinate and begin operating eight testing sites to serve Texas Children’s employees, as well as patient testing centers on units.
Navigating this new set of circumstances alongside the rest of the world brought new challenges and a new level of cooperation. Staff with expertise in Oncology testing offered their services for COVID testing, which needs a similar skill set. Along with realigning and adding lab, nursing and other staff in multiple areas to handle additional responsibilities came unforeseen challenges to troubleshoot and resolve, such as supply chain shortages and disruptions. “We had to use all the tools in our toolbox to make sure we could meet testing needs and provide accurate results in a timely manner,” said Dr. Dunn.
Numerous considerations were taken into account for planning how, where and when to offer testing; how to record, analyze, report and act on results; guidelines for visitors; and protocols for quarantining and returning to work following a positive test.
“We developed new protocols that we continue to use to help make environments safe for patients and employees,” said Dr. Singh. “Testing our patients and practicing vigilant safety protocols allowed us to keep our hospitals and clinics open and continue to provide medical procedures.”
Since that time, testing technology has evolved, allowing Texas Children’s to offer rapid tests that provide results in less than two hours, and tests that can diagnose COVID-19, as well as Influenza and other respiratory infections. Tests that look for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were developed to help in the diagnosis of Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in Children (MIS-C) and to determine if someone developed immunity following vaccination.
“It takes a village to execute our COVID operations,” said Dr. Singh. As she explained, many people are involved in testing, from those stationed at drive-through sites, who collect specimens, to the lab personnel who analyze specimens and report results, to pathologists who provide test interpretation, to informaticists who use testing and patient data to create reports that are used by hospital executives for making informed decisions about hospital operations. These reports are shared with local, state and federal organizations to help generate the COVID data maps that we have gotten used to seeing in newspapers.
As the Senior Project Manager for the Austin expansion (previously Director of Austin Regional Operations), Bobbie will be instrumental in setting up the culture for our Austin expansion. Learn more about her story and the Austin expansion. Read more
