See what your IS department has been up to this last year in this special thank you tribute video celebrating National Health IT Week. Health IT Week focuses on the progress we’ve made in fulfilling the promise of health care technology in creating a positive impact on health care at Texas Children’s. Drop a thank you in the comments.
For this week of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we feature upcoming speakers and annual training. Read more
As part of Texas Children’s commitment to supporting our team members in being Healthy + Strong, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Well-Being are ramping up the focus on mindfulness this month and providing new resources to help you manage stress and anxiety.
The EAP and Well-Being teams greeted employees arriving to work with new self-care badge cards on October 12. The cards feature, a self-care exercise and encouraging words on one side, and a listing of Texas Children’s Mental Health resources on the other.
Missed the distribution day? You can still get your self-care badge card! Contact the well-being team at wellbeing@texaschildrens.org for assistance. Click here to download the self-care practice cards and other mindfulness resources.
Melt your stress way with a one of the new massage chairs now located across the Medical Center, Health Plan, The Woodlands and West Campus. To find the massage chair closest to you, click here for a complete list of locations.
For those working remotely and in the Urgent Care centers, email wellbeing@texaschildrens.org for a chance to win a massage gift card. More massage opportunities will be coming throughout the year so stay tuned for some more resources in self-care.
With about 30,000 children across Texas in foster care – and 8,000 in Harris County alone – Texas Children’s Foster Care Clinic has played an important role in supporting and caring for this particularly vulnerable population since it opened in 2017.
“In collaboration with our physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, and many other partners, we are able to support our foster families with medical and mental health assessments, care coordination, and assessments for signs of abuse/neglect,” wrote Dr. Rachael Keefe in a blog post recently featured on Texas Children’s website.
The post also includes a testimonial from Diane Kaulen, a senior community initiative coordinator for Public Health Pediatrics at Texas Children’s, who shares what inspired her family to open their home to a child who didn’t have a family.
“Every day, I have two goals with my son,” Kaulen said. “Did I do the best I could to make a connection with him, and did I continue to show up for him? No matter how challenging the day is, if I can say yes to those two questions, I feel like I did my best for him, for my other children, my family and myself.”
For more on our Foster Care Clinic, check out the blog.
Goblins, ghosts and ghouls, oh my! As you know, we conducted the Waggl survey to hear directly from you on how Texas Children’s can be even better, and many of you asked to bring back our fun traditions.
The pandemic has prevented a complete return, but as part of our Tomorrow, Together initiative, we’re excited to launch a spooky Halloween Spirit Week starting Monday, October 25. Please click here for the full schedule.
You are invited to make this year’s Halloween a festive and fun experience for our patients and team members by wearing appropriate Halloween costumes or spirit attire. Please follow these guidelines below.
If you don’t have Halloween gear, please stop by any of the campus gift shops and receive a 25 percent discount on any Halloween merchandise when you present a red or blue badge.
To participate in Friday’s costume contest for a chance to win prizes, click here to submit your photos to HR Communications.
As our new Pediatrician-in-Chief, Dr. Catherine Gordon has her sights set on solidifying Texas Children’s position as a global leader in children’s health. Read more
Texas Children’s Chief of Psychology Dr. Karin Price delivered key testimony this month to the Texas House Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety about the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on children and adolescents across the state.
Price appeared before the committee in Austin on October 4 alongside witnesses from the Meadows Institute, UT Health and the Health and Human Services Commission. Working with Texas Children’s own Government Relations team, she coordinated and prepared testimony that highlighted the increase in patients presenting with behavioral health needs throughout the pandemic.
Hospital data shows that from 2019 through this year, the number of patients coming to Texas Children’s Emergency Center locations for behavioral health crises grew from less than 100 patients monthly to more than 400 per month.
Price noted in her testimony to the committee that this growth in patient behavioral health crises is particularly concerning given the severe gaps in Texas in mental health care along the entire of continuum care in terms of access, capacity and workforce availability – from early intervention and detection, through crisis intervention and stabilization.
Price also reinforced Texas Children’s goal to keep children out of crisis, living safely at home with their families and not returning to our Emergency Centers for treatment.
“We at Texas Children’s know children and adolescents are incredibly resilient, and as we all continue to experience major disruptions in our everyday lives and routines, we will continue our work now to help mitigate the lasting effects of COVID-19 on our children,” she said.
