May 27, 2014

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New brand book shares power and architecture of Texas Children’s brand

You’ve just made the finishing touches to your department’s monthly newsletter, but you feel like it’s missing something. You’re thinking, “Maybe I should add the Texas Children’s logo.”

Or maybe you’re designing your unit’s Go Texan Day t-shirt, and you’ve cleverly come up with a graphic of a cowboy lassoing the Texas Children’s logo.

Intentions in both scenarios are good – you’re a Texas Children’s employee, and you want to show your pride and passion for the organization. But our red logomark is more than that familiar dot with the three arcs beneath it. The logomark is only part of the full logo. The Texas Children’s logo is the primary representative of our brand, and whether it’s on a billboard, a button or letterhead, it still serves to communicate who Texas Children’s is and what we stand for. That’s why it’s important that all staff and employees know how to treat the logos in our system and when and where they should – or should not – be used.

“A brand is who and what an organization represents to its key audiences,” said Amber Tabora, Texas Children’s vice president of Marketing and Public Relations. “An organization’s name and logo serve as shorthand for its brand – what the organization would like its audiences to think and feel about it. The stronger the brand, the easier it is for an audience to understand the organization and what it stands for.”

Marketing and Public Relations recently debuted the Texas Children’s Brand Book to help staff and employees harness that aforementioned pride and passion and direct it in a way that makes our brand even stronger. The new Brand Book defines the Texas Children’s brand, our audiences, our organizational structure and more to help staff and employees understand how all elements of the Texas Children’s brand – the logo, the images, the experience – reflect our organizational identity.

“The book explains the Texas Children’s ‘promise,’ our positions and pillars of support, our brand voice and language, brand imagery and how to become a brand ambassador,” said Lisa Yelenick, Texas Children’s director of Brand and Service Line Marketing. “As an employee, this is important information to be equipped with because our organization impacts the lives of children, women and their families every day. Each time we are with them, we are representing the Texas Children’s brand.”

Texas Children’s Brand Book is available online, and we encourage every employee to take a few minutes to learn about our brand and how to be a brand ambassador. To support the book’s contents, this summer, a series of videos will further demonstrate the power of the Texas Children’s brand and the responsibilities we all play as ambassadors.

“Our goal is to strengthen the Texas Children’s brand locally and globally,” Yelenick said. “By delivering strategic, consistent messages and exceptional experiences, we as an organization will support a brand that is increasingly powerful, meaningful and valuable.”

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Our beloved friend and colleague, Katy Wilkinson, passed away peacefully on May 13 at the age of 52 after a valiant struggle with ALS. She will be deeply missed by her husband, Wade, her daughter, Amanda, and her son, Clayton, as well as the many colleagues, friends, and patients in her Texas Children’s Hospital family.

Katy earned her Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy at Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas. This degree, together with her joy in working with children, landed her at Texas Children’s Hospital. She loved her work and her large second family of coworkers and patients. This love was reciprocated, and Katy was recently honored for 30 years of continued service at Texas Children’s. During her years at Texas Children’s, Katy was involved in many facets of leadership and patient care. She was highly involved with the Lung Transplant Team as well as working in a variety of areas including International Adoption and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Katy’s unending support and positive attitude earned the love and respect of the many therapists and students that she mentored over the years.

In her love for her family, Katy always found a way to make things happen. She served on the volunteer board for Amanda and Clayton’s school. She arranged her time off from work to allow her to be involved in school activities. Katy was an avid runner who loved reading and all of nature. Family time away from Houston took them snorkeling in Cozumel, hiking and skiing in Colorado, visiting all of nature’s wonders in Yellowstone or Rocky Mountain National Parks, and exploring Costa Rica. She had a special love of all animals. So much so, that they humorously called their home The Zoo.

Katy will be deeply missed and always remembered. In her honor, a memorial service will be held on at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, in the third-floor conference room of the Clinical Care Center. In lieu of traditional remembrances, Katy requested with gratitude that contributions in memory of her be directed to ALS at http://www.alsa.org/ and click on Donate.

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Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor of neuroscience, pediatrics, molecular and human genetics and neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and founding director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, was the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Medical Sciences degree at Yale University’s 2014 commencement ceremony this week. She was one of 12 individuals who was awarded an honorary degree for achieving distinction in her field.

Zoghbi, who also is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, is best known for her pioneering work on Rett syndrome, a genetic neurological disease that affects young girls (males with the condition usually die in infancy). Girls born with the disease develop normally for one or two years, but then begin to show progressive loss of motor skills, speech and other cognitive abilities.

“As a pediatric neurologist, your compassion for your patients led you to the laboratory and a career as a neuroscientist and geneticist, seeking answers to the mysteries of neurological disease,” said Yale University president Peter Salovey as Zoghbi received her degree. “You have discovered the cause of Rett syndrome, a rare and severe form of autism, and of a neurologic disorder that results in degeneration of the cerebellum. Your work has helped explain brain development and function and offers hope of finding cures for debilitating conditions. You are a role model for conducting translational research – always looking for ways to apply science to understanding disease. You are a leader in the scientific community, and we are pleased to name you Doctor of Medical Sciences.”

May 20, 2014

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For Chief Nursing Officer Lori Armstrong the NICU is a special place. It’s where she began her career 29 years ago and where she learned the skills she now uses as a leader for the nursing team of nearly 2,500. Armstrong, who joined Texas Children’s a little more than two years ago, has already changed the face of nursing here through the reinvention of the nursing staff, advocating for more front-line managers, a reinvigorated system for retention and nurse development as well as more full time positions to focus on patient and family-centered care and improve outcomes. Her hard work and dedication was recently highlighted as she accepted the Dr. Jennifer L. Howse Award for Excellence in NICU Leadership at the annual NICU Leadership Forum in Florida.

“I am honored to have even been considered worthy of this nomination,” said Armstrong. “To be selected is overwhelming, humbling and the greatest honor of my career.

Click here to jump to the photo gallery of Lori’s journey in nursing and messages from her nursing staff

The Dr. Jennifer L. Howse Award for Excellence in NICU Leadership is dedicated to the president of the March of Dimes Foundation whose leadership and vision have helped promote research, programs and partnerships that benefit the health of babies in the NICU. Each year the award is given to a recipient who has demonstrated the vision and courage of a strong leader, has wielded significant influence within and beyond the NICU walls and leads with care and compassion for patients, families, colleagues and staff. Armstrong’s nomination letters came from three colleagues both here and outside of Texas Children’s who shared their personal letters about what Armstrong’s enthusiasm and leadership has meant.

52114armstrongawardinside640“Lori’s passion for neonatal care, leadership, and the profession of nursing make her the perfect applicant for this award,” said Shannon Holland, a former NICU leader. “Her enthusiasm for excellent family centered care and passion for continuous learning and growth are inspirational.”

The award recipient is judged on three characteristics which are highlighted by Dr. Howse including Leader Sight, Leader Care and Leader Courage. For Armstrong, each of those areas is an important part of the nursing leadership here at Texas Children’s. Armstrong explains Leader sight as the tremendous responsibility of leaders whose sight and vision for nursing galvanizes the staff, the leadership team and the physician partners which ultimately impacts the health of babies. Leader care is something she learned from a former patient family.

“A parent once told me of his amazing definition of nurses,” said Armstrong. “He defined nurses as people who care and then care some more.”

Armstrong’s definition of courage is about finding your voice and the ability to use it when caring for patients who are too small to speak, too sick to speak and too scared to speak.

Her biggest message to not only the nursing leaders but her entire nursing staff is about their contribution to the organization and the lives of the children that are cared for here.

“I want them to know that there is an inseparable link between your sight, your care and your courage and the outcomes of the tiny infants in your care.”

Howse Excellence in NICU Leadership Award

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Dr. Huda Zoghbi, founding director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital, has established a special fund to help young scientists launch their independent research careers.

When Zoghbi started her career 30 years ago, it was easier to pursue bold ideas. “It wasn’t as hard to get funding, and we didn’t feel the same pressures young scientists face today, Zoghbi said. “I had no research experience when I decided to learn genetics, but Dr. Arthur Beaudet took me into his lab anyway. That would be very hard to do today.”

Zoghbi, who also is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of molecular and human genetics, neurology, neuroscience and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, wants to support the next generation of budding scientists by giving them “room to pursue creative ideas as they’re beginning to launch careers.”

“The transition to independence is the most difficult period in a young scientist’s career,” Zoghbi said. “This kind of funding gives them a measure of freedom and signals our faith in their abilities to carve out their own niche.”

To accomplish this mission, Zoghbi has created a special fund at the NRI, one of the world’s first basic research institutes dedicated to childhood neurological diseases. The fund will provide one year of support to postdoctoral fellows who want to test bold hypotheses that would not be supported by conventional grants. When Zoghbi learned recently that she’d won the 2014 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, she decided immediately that she would add the $250,000 prize to the fund.

“This is a very prestigious award, and we are so fortunate that one of our own received this prize for her work to help advance our understanding of birth defects,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace. “But we are even more honored and excited that this prize is being donated by Dr. Zoghbi as a generous gift to the NRI to help young scientists.”

Zoghbi’s gratitude and desire to give back is driven particularly by three individuals who had a profound impact on her career.

“Dr. Ralph Feigin recruited me to the pediatric residency program at Baylor College of Medicine and taught me clinical scholarship,” she said. “He also became a second father to me. Dr. Marvin Fishman was such an exemplary clinician that I was inspired to become a pediatric neurologist, where I met the patients who changed the course of my career. When I decided I wanted to pursue basic research, Dr. Beaudet, one of the finest geneticists in the country, took me into his lab and taught me how to be a scientist.”

Zoghbi hopes that with support from this fund, combined with hard work and protected space for intellectual freedom, many young scientists will enjoy similar success.

Click here for more information on the 2014 March of Dimes Award.

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St. Joseph’s Women’s Medical Center in downtown Houston recently cut the ribbon on its newly renovated neonatal intensive care unit. The renovations were a result of a partnership agreement with Texas Children’s Hospital which extends our neonatal care to the downtown hospital. The project cleared the way for state of the art support devices critical for the care of medically fragile infants. Just as important, it improved the environment for the patient and families in ways that have been shown to improve outcomes for critically ill infants.

“This partnership is critical to our overall regional strategy of ensuring the best care is available within reach for babies not just at Texas Children’s Hospital, but across the area,” said Dr. Stephen Welty, chief of neonatology. “We work closely with excellent nurseries in the community to promote the same quality and care standards followed in our level IV NICU.”

Texas Children’s provides St. Joseph’s with administrative and clinical support, giving patients access to the latest treatments available in neonatal and pediatric care, state-of-the-art equipment and pediatric sub specialists. That includes cardiology, neurology, infectious disease, ophthalmology and more.

St. Joseph’s is the seventh hospital in the Greater Houston community affiliated with our NICU. The others include Methodist West Houston Hospital, Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, Methodist San Jacinto Hospital, The Methodist Hospital, St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital at the Vintage. The partnerships also mean in the relatively rare circumstances when level IV care is necessary, the patients will be transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital.

“At Texas Children’s Hospital, our mission to build a healthy community of children begins at the very start of life,” said Cris Daskevich, senior vice president of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “Our relationship with St. Joseph’s allows us to partner in providing exceptional neonatal care to the premature and critically-ill infants that need it most, so that babies can have the best possible outcomes.”

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The Texas Department of State Health Services announced that Dr. Julie Boom, director of the Immunization Project at Texas Children’s and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, has been named Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Childhood Immunization Champion for Texas. This annual award, given by the CDC Foundation and the CDC, honors exemplary childhood immunization advocates across the 50 U.S. states, eight U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States, and the District of Columbia.

Recipients of the Childhood Immunization Champions award are individuals who work tirelessly to improve the health and lives of young children by ensuring that immunization is a priority. Boom was nominated by her peers, and selected as a Champion among health care professionals, community advocates, and other immunization leaders for making a significant contribution to public health in Texas through her work in children’s immunization.

When Boom was a medical resident, she treated a 3-year-old girl who died of meningitis. This experience inspired her to devote her career to promoting immunization through education, research, and the development of improved immunization technology and practices. Boom led the development of an automated software tool that forecasts what vaccines each child will need and when, according to the recommended schedule. To remind parents about the importance of vaccines, she helped create Vaccine-Preventable Disease: The Forgotten Story, a book featuring 20 families affected by vaccine-preventable illnesses.