Dr. Michael Speer, Neonatology faculty (center), congratulates Drs. Athis Arunachalam and Jonathan Davies, third-year fellows, the 18th annual Arnold J. Rudolph Memorial Grand Rounds award recipients. The award recognizes third-year fellows in neonatal-perinatal medicine for outstanding teaching, patient care, scientific inquiry and professional integrity.
A new, on-site ReadyCam© broadcast studio has opened at Texas Children’s which will allow doctors, nurses, scientists, researchers and patient families to appear live on broadcast news programs. Experts from the hospital will be able to report and comment on breaking health care news and stream webcasts directly from Texas Children’s main campus, while reaching news outlets throughout the country.
“We are really excited to have this studio,” said Christy Brunton, director of public relations at Texas Children’s. “It’s going to allow us to give the public direct access to our experts, allowing them to comment on the stories that our patients need to hear and understand.”
The broadcast studio located in the Clinical Care Center will allow the hospital to easily transmit high quality audio and video to any news outlet. The launch of the studio corresponded to a coordinated satellite news feed and press conference featuring Dr. Jennifer Arnold, neonatologist at Texas Children’s Newborn Center and director of Texas Children’s Simulation Center, who discussed her recent cancer diagnosis, unique care and current prognosis. An interview with Arnold was made available via satellite. A number of local and regional news stations utilized the footage to report on Arnold’s story.
Those interested in learning more about the press conference and announcement from Arnold can read about it in the Houston Chronicle article and KHOU television segment.
This successful first use of the ReadyCam© broadcast studio is only one example of ways the studio can be utilized. Brunton anticipates it will be a valuable resource during a health care crisis or emergency, when media outlets will need access to top experts for commentary. It also will be an easy way to share inspirational patient stories.
“For the past several years it has been a key goal of ours to make it easier for the media to access our experts,” said Brunton. “We have some of the best kept secrets right here at our hospital and this gives us the chance to showcase our physicians and nurses.”
In addition to promoting the good work taking place at Texas Children’s, and to allow our experts to be valuable resources to the media, the ReadyCam© may be used to stream live video to conferences, depending on the technical capabilities of the conference. To take a virtual tour of the new broadcast studio, click here.
Anyone who is available to comment on breaking news, has an incredible patient story, or is interested in learning more about using the studio, should contact the PR department by calling Ext. 4-2099 and paging the media person on call.
The 2nd Annual Texas Children’s Family Fun Run, in partnership with the Houston Marathon Foundation, will be Saturday, April 5. The race will begin and end at our very own Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, with a specially designed 3K and 1K race for children and families of all abilities (wheelchairs and strollers are welcome).
After the race, there will be a Family Fun Zone complete with food and refreshments generously donated by H-E-B, activities, games and more. The race will begin at 9 a.m., with post-race activities running through noon.
Texas Children’s Family Fun Run will be open to entire families throughout our community, enabling us to reach an even broader audience. Texas Children’s will provide participants with a fun, unique training guide, developed by Dr. Al Hergenroeder, Dr. Joe Chorley, Roberta Anding and our sports medicine team. The supporting marketing and materials, as well as the race day activities, will all be great promotion for Texas Children’s entire system.
Come out and run (or walk) with us. To register, please visit www.texaschildrens.org/funrun.
Registration closes on Sunday, March 23, so don’t delay. Everyone’s involvement is welcome!
The Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital (BIPAI) recently announced its partnership with Chevron and the global health nonprofit AmeriCares by accepting a grant to address the gap in health care resources in Romania.
AmeriCares has been providing lifesaving anti-retroviral medications, anti-infectives and nutritional supplements to families receiving care at BIPAI’s Romanian NGO affiliate, the Baylor College of Medicine Black Sea Foundation, since 2004. Now, Chevron Romania has made a multi-year commitment to increase the availability of medications and medical supplies at selected public and private hospitals in Romania through AmeriCares and the Baylor College of Medicine Black Sea Foundation.
According to Michael Mizwa, chief operating officer of BIPAI, the partnership will provide support for our global health initiatives, specifically for care, treatment and capacity building in Romania. Funds will be allotted to help bolster our inventory of medical and pharmaceutical supplies to specific hospitals and clinics serving disenfranchised populations in Romania.
Since being founded in 1996 by Dr. Mark W. Kline, BIPAI has grown into a network of state-of-the-art clinical centers in Romania and across southern and East Africa. BIPAI-affiliated organizations provide care and treatment to more than 180,000 HIV-infected children and their family members, which is believed to be more than any other program in the world. BIPAI is now part of Texas Children’s overall global health initiative, which includes the largest collection of pediatricians and pediatric specialists in the world.
With the new Chevron partnership, BIPAI and AmeriCares will expand the donation of medication and medical supplies to a network of qualified health care institutions across Romania, by increasing BIPAI-Romania’s capacity to manage larger quantities of donations on behalf of its own clinical center as well as additional health care institutions with identified resource needs throughout Romania.
“Our partnership with Chevron will take our humanitarian partnership to a higher level of expanded outreach across Romania,” said Tammy Allen, director of AmeriCares programs in Asia and Eurasia.
To date, AmeriCares has supported BIPAI-Romania’s health care programs with gift-in-kind donations valued at $41 million.
March 12 is Registered Dietitians Day, a day established by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to increase the awareness of the registered dietitian as the most valuable and credible source of scientifically based food and nutrition information and to recognize them for their commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives. Texas Children’s salutes its many dietitians and diet technicians as they impact the lives of patients throughout its system. The dietitians are clinicians, administrators, educators and researchers providing services in the hospitals, clinics, research facilities and community centers. They also are helping to promote the reputation and expertise of Texas Children’s with exciting accomplishments in the field of nutrition.
Here are a few of the highlights from 2013:
Texas Children’s acknowledges the many contributions of its nutrition team and the impact they have on the many programs and medical services at Texas Children’s.
Texas Children’s Advance Practice Providers hosted their first International Conference recently. It was a huge success with more than 130 attendees from across the world. The conference started with two days of pre-conference seminars focusing on pharmacology, skills labs and palliative care. The main conference included attendees and speakers from across the nation to equip advance practice providers with acute and subspecialty care knowledge, as well as to connect with experts for collaboration.
The mission of the Texas Children’s Hospital Advanced Practice Provider Conference (TCHAPP) was to empower advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants (PAs) through state of the art education, training, innovation, collaboration and professional development. The conference curriculum was diverse and allowed attendees to tailor their learning experience to their own unique practice needs.
There are always people who stand out. Who go the extra mile even without being asked. Who stay late to comfort a patient family. Who have a passion for the mission and give their all to ever part of their job. Texas Children’s is full of these employees. That’s what makes us such a special place to work and the best place to receive care.
West Campus leadership is looking for those people amongst us. They’re developing a plan to recognize and honor those individuals who excel in exhibiting the characteristics outlined in the Texas Children’s Hospital Guiding Principles, demonstrate excellent customer service attributes, and deliver the finest possible work to our patients and their families.
As West Campus continues to grow, it is very important to recognize employees who work diligently each day to provide that WOW! customer service experience, treats everyone they meet with courtesy and respect, and always exhibits trustworthiness in all aspects of their job.
This new award will be named “Best of the West” and will be presented quarterly to a deserving West Campus employee, contractor or provider.
Read the criteria and fill out the nomination form now!
You may fill out the electronic form online and submit it, or you may place paper nominations in one of five (5) ballot boxes located around the campus. Ballot boxes are located in the Human Resources suite, within the third-floor Chapel lobby area, outside the entrance to DOTS Kitchen, within the Main Lobby, and in the second-floor corridor nearest the Emergency Center entry area.
Recipients of the “Best of the West” award will receive:
1. Use of specialized parking spot for the quarter
2. A paver stone with their name inscribed on it installed on the West Campus grounds
3. Their picture and biography on the monitor mounted outside of the Conference Center leading to DOTS Kitchen, and
4. Coupons for a free meal at DOTS Kitchen and a free drink from The Coffee Spot.
This is an opportunity to recognize the dedication of the entire team that is making Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus the very “Best of the West!”