November 23, 2021

Texas Children’s members, patients and their families can now more easily connect with social service programs in your city, state and across the nation with a new online tool that provides targeted information on resources like financial assistance, food pantries, medical care and more.

The Texas Children’s Family Resources website was launched in partnership with the findhelp.org organization to connect people seeking help with the appropriate organizations and services with dignity and ease. The platform allows individuals to simply enter their zip code and quickly find local and community-based resources, including free or reduced-cost food, goods, healthcare, work, housing, transportation, money, education and legal services. In addition, there are services available to provide assistance with day care costs.

“We’re excited to partner with the findhelp.org organization to offer this service to our members, patients and their families,” said Natalie Burns, assistant director, Population Health Programs for Texas Children’s Health Plan. “It saves valuable time taking the guesswork out of finding the right organizations and gives them peace of mind knowing they can more easily get the assistance they need.”

The Family Resources site can also be accessed by our Texas Children’s team members for multiple uses. Through Epic or single sign-on, team members can access information to help direct members, patients and their families to the resources and organizations they need. In addition, team members can take advantage of the services for themselves and their families through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or by following the instructions below.

To get started:

  1. Visit the website at txchfamilyresources.org
  2. Enter the zip code where resources are needed.
  3. Find a variety of local programs and services in the chosen area with contact information and details on eligibility, cost, next steps and more.

Brittany Dore shares how her preceptors molded her to become the nurse she is today. Her hope is to inspire nurses with the same kind of care and compassion she received. Read more

Simulation Centers play a vital role in the quality and safety of care delivered to patients. To be accredited takes discipline, excellence and leadership.

The Texas Children’s Simulation Center is succeeding in all areas and recently received full accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) across the following standards: core standards, teaching and education, research and system integration.

Our Center is certainly in rarefied air. The SSH has been accrediting simulation centers since 2010 and we are only the 220th accredited center in the nation, 13th in Texas and first in the Texas Medical Center!

“I’m so proud of our team for this achievement and thank all involved in making this a reality,” said Tarra Kerr, assistant vice president of Quality. “This would not have been possible without the outstanding leadership and passion Dr. Cara Doughty and Royanne Lichliter bring to work every day.”

In addition to the official accreditation, the team received high praise from the surveyors citing multiple areas of excellence.

Key observations included:

  • Team collegiality, communication and respect
  • Organizational and leadership support for simulation activities
  • High integration of simulation with quality and safety
  • Support for unit based space to perform “In Situ” simulations
  • Team support of the organizational and departmental mission to improve quality and safety
  • Strong partnerships between simulation center staff, unit based simulation instructors and associate medical directors

Congratulations to the Simulation Center!

Pictured above are the Simulation Education Specialists, the Medical Director of Simulation and the Assistant Director of Simulation. This is just a small part of the team that made this happen. This accreditation would not have been possible without the entire Quality Education and Simulation Team.

November 18, 2021

Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women opens a new community clinic location, bringing top tier women’s health care closer to patients who live in the Bay Area. Read more

With a beautiful backdrop of sunshine, Texas Children’s hosted a special private luncheon for patients, their families and employees on the 18th green at Memorial Park during the Wednesday Pro-Am of the Houston Open.

As part of a new three-year commitment as a Community-Partner sponsor for the PGA Tour stop, Texas Children’s also served as a Gate Day sponsor on Saturday and sponsor of the Houston Open Family Fun Zone, which included games and activities for children.

“All of us at Texas Children’s are honored and excited to be a part of the Houston Open,” said Mark A. Wallace, Texas Children’s President and CEO. “We are so proud of our partnership with the Astros Golf Foundation, and thank Jim (Crane) and his phenomenal team for putting together a wonderful event to keep this historic tradition alive for our community.”

The sponsorship provided plenty of signage and branding, as well as participation in the Wednesday Pro-Am where our very own Dr. Jim Versalovic, Matt Girotto, Trent Johnson and Dan Gollins took home the afternoon tournament. Way to go gentlemen! While the experience alone was reward enough, they each took home an Astros jersey with the Houston Open logo signed by Jim Crane.

The 2021 Houston Open was the third hosted and operated by the Astros Golf Foundation, which was formed in 2018 after Jim Crane agreed to take control of the long-standing tournament.

Through this sponsorship, Texas Children’s continued its support in the Houston community, raised money for local charities and showcased our expertise as national leaders in keeping families healthy, happy and growing.

From the vibrant walls and new furniture to the artwork adorning the hallways and ceilings (so patients can see it when they are lying on a gurney), the new Radiology floor is an impressive sight. But the move to the 18th floor of West Tower is so much more than a cosmetic improvement. The project was part of the Care First initiative and was delayed due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team has eagerly awaited the chance for patients to take advantage of the new space and everything it has to offer.

“We’re very excited to offer our patients an elevated level of service with our new facilities and technology,” said Dr. Thierry Huisman, Radiologist-in-Chief. “We have procedures and treatments no one else in the medical center can provide, and we will continue to stay on the cutting edge when it comes to providing the best care for our patients.”

The new magnetic resonance guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) is the only one of its kind at both Texas Children’s Hospital and in The Texas Medical Center. It provides a much less invasive solution to remove tumors without radiation or surgery. In adults, it’s been used to reduce and even eliminate tremors.

The department will also house a Spectral CT scanner to offer much less invasive, yet superior molecular imaging with much lower radiation exposure to the patient. Plus, there are multiple large screen monitors in each room making it easier for the radiologist and treating physician/surgeon to communicate and view results in real-time.

The Siemens Myabi suite utilizes a full-scale CT scanner capable of moving between either IR room via rails built into the floor.

In addition, with the new space the number of PACU beds available increased from six to 16, nearly tripling the amount of patients Radiology can prep and recover. The existing space on the first floor will be used to expand the ER in the future.

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National Radiologic Technology week ran recently from Nov. 7-13 to commemorate the discovery of the X-ray and its contributions to the medical and health sciences. The discovery of the X-ray advanced medical science by helping the diagnosis of fractures, broken bones and other ailments impacting the skeleton. Thank you to all the radiologic technologists at Texas Children’s for your contributions and continued dedication to our mission.

November 16, 2021

Already well-known for achieving exceptional outcomes for our patients and their families while also fueling innovation in critical care, Texas Children’s ECMO program recently received a Platinum Level Center of Excellence designation by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), an international consortium of health care institutions, researchers and industry partners dedicated to furthering the excellence of ECMO care, education and research throughout the world.

ECMO stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, a life-sustaining treatment that circulates a patient’s blood through a machine that functions as both artificial heart and lung to support a patient’s own failing organs – providing days or weeks of valuable time for the heart and lungs to rest.

The Platinum Level Award for Excellence is the highest possible accreditation an ECMO Center can receive. Texas Children’s ECMO program was one of just 13 programs worldwide to reach the platinum level in 2021 after completing an intensive application process that drew on the insights and expertise of our dynamic and multidisciplinary team.

To date, ELSO has recognized only 34 Platinum Level Centers of Excellence worldwide.

“Within critical care, we consider ourselves a learning and adaptable organism, always looking to incorporate something new that can help us do better,” said Dr. Jim Thomas, who serves as ECMO Medical Director at Texas Children’s and has 30 years of experience in the discipline.

“This accreditation is from our peers in the field. They are looking at us and comparing us to what they know about all the other centers, and they say we are in the top tier,” he said. “That’s important to us and it should be important to our patients and families. If ECMO is a possibility, you want to know you are at one of the best.”

Thomas played a central role in putting together a successful application for accreditation and crafting the narrative that brought our multi-faceted ECMO program to life for readers and evaluators. In addition to superior outcomes, ELSO considered multiple dimensions, including processes, training, safety and the patient and family experience.

“Every three years they’re coming up with new things and we ask ourselves, ‘What’s the next set of goals?’” said Cole Burgman, ECLS Supervisor and certified cardiovascular perfusionist. “Our goal for our center was platinum and we worked hard to strive for it. It takes a massive group of intelligent people from all fields to help isolate each field and answer these questions to the fullest. We pool all our knowledge and put all our experiences together.”

After treating 50-60 patients each year, the ECMO team treated 90 patients in 2020 alone and more growth is anticipated, according to Lee Evey, director of Respiratory Care and ECMO Services.

Having access to a world-class ECMO service also improves the care provided by Texas Children’s transplant centers, intensive care units, top-ranked Heart Center and other critical care programs, such as pulmonary hypertension and neonatology. Children who would not have previously been considered ideal candidates are now routinely placed on ECMO as part of their treatment plans, and ECMO is being used to treat diseases that would have been unimaginable in the past.

Staying on the cutting edge and earning such a significant status is only possible because of our dedicated and highly trained ECMO professionals – particularly frontline team members like nurses and respiratory therapists who undergo additional specialized training to become ECMO specialists who focus on patients one at a time, minute after minute and hour by hour.

“If you know your child needs care, you can look on the Internet and see the best players in the country and the world,” Evey said. “Texas Children’s has a reputation and ECMO is one specific area that certainly enhances that reputation.”