December 13, 2016

121416mainstreet640If you want to have fun this holiday season while supporting a good cause then Main Street America’s annual holiday event in Spring is just what you are looking for.

Called Lights of Hope, the event provides nine Houston-area charitable organizations one of the 12 Main Street America designer showcase homes to create a thematic outdoor lighting display.

Texas Children’s home was decorated by staff in The Woodlands and is themed “Presents Under the Tree.”

Mike Feigin, owner of Main Street America and son of the late Dr. Ralph Feigin, developed the charity idea three years ago with his wife Barbara after hosting the Christmas on Main Street event for five years. The couple believes it is important to support the organizations and hope the event raises awareness for them and the wonderful things they do for Houston and its surrounding areas.

The decorated homes are open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Saturday through December 17 at 18750 Interstate 45 N. in Spring, off Exit 66B. The community is invited to tour the homes and cast a vote with a $1 donation. All donations are given directly to each of the participating charities. Last year, the event raised $88,000 for 11 participating organizations.

In addition to being able to keep the donations, the charity with the most votes will receive a $10,000 check for the best outdoor light display, with the Lights of Hope award presented December 17 to the home with the most popular votes.

This year’s nine participating Montgomery County and Houston-area charities include: My Person Foundation, The Breast Center, New Danville, Bridgewood Farms, JDRF, Interfaith of The Woodlands, HOPE, American Heart Association and Texas Children’s Hospital.

If Texas Children’s wins, the $10,000 will be given to the Texas Children’s Hospital Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) to support childhood neurological research.

For more information about the Main Street America event and for an exclusive $5-off coupon, click here. If you can’t make it to the event but want to vote for the house decorated by Texas Children’s employees, click here. For every dollar donated, the Texas Children’s house will get a vote.

Thanks for your support!

November 22, 2016

“Our son was supposed to be born on Christmas Day but he decided Election Day was more fun,” said Whitney Kubik whose son was born six weeks early at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “I was honored that Kemp was chosen to be the first one to walk through the door. I am very excited because he gets to go home soon.”

In recognition of World Prematurity Day on November 17, Texas Children’s Newborn Center and the Pavilion for Women leadership unveiled a symbolic green doorway that represents the end of a family’s NICU journey and the beginning of a new chapter when they get to bring their baby home for the first time.

“Whether you’re in the NICU for two months or two years, it can be tough on families,” said Desiree Bradley, a NICU mom and member of Texas Children’s Newborn Family Advisory Committee. “We thought about different concepts and came up with the idea of a discharge door to mark this momentous milestone.”

Bradley and her Newborn Family Advisory Committee members Shannon Essex and Ane Alfred presented their design sketch to Texas Children’s Facilities Operations team who recreated what was in the hearts and minds of these mothers and children.

On World Prematurity Day, Texas Children’s was one of three hospitals nationwide that partnered with the March of Dimes to promote its national “Give Them Tomorrow” initiative to raise local, national and global awareness of prematurity, the number one cause of death for babies in the U.S. and around the world.

More than 380,000 cards and letters – one for each premature birth in the U.S. annually – were created by families across the country. With the help of representatives from the University of Houston men’s basketball team, stacks of inspirational cards were delivered to Texas Children’s NICU families in honor of this significant day.

“I’m very glad that we had patient families here, community representatives, our physicians and nursing leadership who came out to show their support,” said Chief of Neonatology Dr. Gautham Suresh. “Because it is only with partnerships amongst all the stakeholders that we can make a dent in the rate of prematurity and improve the outcomes of premature babies and their families.”

During this special occasion, Texas Children’s was named the top corporate sponsor of the 2017 March for Babies in Houston – the No.1 March for Babies in the country.

Cris Daskevich, senior vice president of the Pavilion for Women, will serve as the chair of the walk which rallies support from across the Houston community to combat prematurity. Michelle Riley-Brown, executive vice president and president of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, will be chairing the Montgomery County March for Babies event in May and Information Services Senior Vice President Myra Davis, Assistant Vice President of Women’s Services Ivett Shah and NICU Vice President Judy Swanson will co-lead the Texas Children’s system-wide campaign.

“We are proud to partner with the March of Dimes in these efforts and grateful for their many decades of support to Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine,” Daskevich said. “Over the last 10 years, the March of Dimes has provided more than $16 million in grants more than all other Houston area institutions combined.”

November 1, 2016

Halloween was definitely not lost on the many sick children at Texas Children’s who had to miss school parties and trick or treating events due to doctor’s visits or hospital stays. Throughout the day and across the Texas Children’s system, there was a load of Halloween fun for patients and their families. Watch the video to get a glimpse of the fun everyone had at these unforgettable events.

At West Campus, the festivities began on October 28 when members of Texas Window Cleaning Co., Inc. dressed up as super heroes and cleaned the hospital’s windows while waving to children inside. The company has been cleaning the windows at Main Campus since 1957 and at West Campus since 2011.

“This is the third year the superheroes have brought their superpowers to West Campus, and we are grateful to them for doing so,” said Matt Schaefer, president of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. “Things like this are small and simple, but they can have a profound impact on our patients, families and visitors. After all, what better way to live out our vision than to look for ways to brighten the days of the patients who seek care on our campus.”

Festivities at West Campus and beyond continued on Monday with the West Campus Fall Festival and the Annual Halloween Spooktacular Patient’s Party on The Auxiliary Bridge in the Medical Center. Dressed in their Halloween best, employees handed out goodies to patients during the multi-hour long parties sponsored by Child Life at West Campus and the Patient Activity Team at Main Campus.

Ghosts, goblins and ghouls also were out in full force at other areas across the organization, including the new Outpatient Facility in The Woodlands, various Health Centers across the Houston area and many departments at Main Campus.

11216pscf640Purple Songs Can Fly celebrated its 10-year anniversary this month with the Journey to Hope gala at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. In addition to the beautiful seated dinner, guests enjoyed an inspiring performance of Purple Songs Can Fly’s original musical, Journey to Hope, starring six pediatric cancer patients/survivors who shared their incredible stories and songs of hope. Carol Herron, coordinator of the Periwinkle Arts In Medicine program at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, was the gala honoree and received praise for her continued dedication to bringing the arts to patients.

Purple Songs Can Fly is a unique program that provides a musical outlet for children being treated for cancer and blood disorders at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. In this program, which is the first of its kind, the children work with founder, Anita Kruse, and other professional composers to write and record their own songs. In an in-house studio at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, composers work with children and their siblings to write, record, and burn songs to disc within short session.

Click here to listen to a Purple Songs Can Fly song that Dr. Jennifer Arnold and Texas Children’s patient Peyton Richardson created about their cancer journey and the importance of always remaining positive.

11216getfitwithtoroinside250“Tomatoes! Bananas! Carrots!” yelled out the students at Galatas Elementary in Conroe, sharing their favorite fruit and vegetables.

Earlier this month, Texas Children’s Hospital leaders, TORO and Charles James II traveled to The Woodlands to teach the importance of getting fit and staying healthy with our ‘Get Fit with TORO’ event.

At the beginning of the program, each student received an activity book as well as a Texas Children’s beach ball, and five lucky students got the opportunity to answer trivia questions regarding health and fitness for a chance to win an official TORO T-shirt.

The event included a special talk by Senior Vice President Dan DiPrisco, a video conference hosted by Texans Voice Marc Vandermeer and featuring J.J. Watt, Kareem Jackson and two Houston Texans cheerleaders about the important of nutrition, exercise and playing 60 and two Houston Texans cheerleaders.

“I had an awesome time at Galatas Elementary,” James said. “Staying fit and healthy is very important to me, so I’m glad I was able to explain that importance to some great students.”

Kids also danced with TORO, answered nutrition/health related trivia questions for TORO prizes, etc.

Click here to see photos from the event below.

Want to nominate a school for this program? Click here to sign up!

October 25, 2016

102716starkidsinside350Three years ago, Jessica Coker of Willis, Texas, gave birth to her son, Christopher. Unbeknownst to Coker during her pregnancy, Christopher would be born with various medical issues. Christopher has apert (a cranio facial syndrome) and a heart murmur. He also relies on a trach and has, at times, needed a feeding tube.

After delivering her baby, the new mom was suddenly faced with needing to learn how to care for a child who would have very complex needs, as well as how to manage the comprehensive care he would need from more than two dozen specialists. Just in his first week of life, Christopher had 17 doctor’s appointments. As a newborn, Christopher was transferred to Texas Children’s and had a team of doctors here taking care of him, successfully treating some of his issues and managing others.

Today, the toddler still sees about 24 doctors at Texas Children’s and other medical facilities near his family’s home in Willis. He’s doing well, because he is receiving excellent care – and because his mother has created a system to manage and coordinate his complex care.

“We currently have great access to care,” Coker said. “I can call doctors directly, and they do a fantastic job when I need them the most. It’s a team approach that we’ve worked hard to establish.”

Coker’s fortunate to have figured out a system to manage her son’s care. Learning to advocate for and manage the care of children with complex medical needs is often critical to their ability to thrive and realize a decent quality of life. Beginning November 1, STAR Kids will provide the support these families need, and Texas Children’s Health Plan is leading the way. Last year, the Health Plan was selected by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission as one of three managed care organizations offering the STAR Kids plan in Harris, Jefferson and Northeast service areas.

“The STAR Kids contract allows the Health Plan to increase its reach to about 40,000 new children and teens in 54 counties,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace. “These children see multiple specialists and therapists, and many receive home care services. They typically see at least one physician every week.

“Coordination and management of care is essential for these children. It helps prevent children with significant intellectual development disabilities or complex medical problems from falling through the gaps and provides a structure where their progress can be followed throughout the system.”

While many of the children transitioning into STAR Kids already are Texas Children’s patients, we expect thousands more to become part of the Texas Children’s system through enrollment in STAR Kids. In preparation for this patient volume, the Health Plan has already hired nearly 300 care coordinators.

“It is the strong partnership between the care coordinators and the families that will make this feel different even for the families already in the system,” said Texas Children’s Vice President Diane Scardino. “These care coordinators are registered nurses and certified social workers who will bring much needed support to families who are managing care for their children in what can sometimes be an incredibly complex system.

“They will visit with families, assess their children’s needs and develop care plans to address those needs. Texas Children’s will provide the resources around care coordination and home based services, creating a much more robust system of care for them.”

STAR Kids’ new care model is a huge step in supporting the unique needs of patients and their families, and improving their access to health care services, while also reducing preventable events or unnecessary visits to the hospital or care provider. There are about 180,000 children across Texas eligible for the STAR Kids program, with about 40,000 expected to be enrolled in Texas Children’s Health Plan.

“Texas Children’s is proud to be a part of this program that will mean so much to help so many families throughout Texas,” Wallace said. “This program and the work we will do to help ensure these families’ needs are met and that their children receive the best possible care speaks to our mission. This is what Texas Children’s has always done.”

Information about STAR Kids

FAQs about STAR Kids and Texas Children’s involvement
STAR Kids information on Texas Children’s Health Plan website
Texas Health and Human Services website

October 18, 2016

101916easeapp640At Texas Children’s Hospital we understand it’s hard to be a patient and that sometimes it’s even harder to be a loved one of those in our care, especially if they are undergoing surgery.

To help alleviate the anxiety of those sitting in the waiting room while their family member is on one of our operating tables, Texas Children’s Hospital is providing a resource that gives parents and/or guardians real-time status reports from the operating team.

Those updates come in the form of a HIPAA complaint text via an app called EASE or Electronic Access to Surgical Events. EASE allows doctors and nurses to securely communicate with families about their loved one from the surgery suite. Messages disappear within 45 seconds and nothing is saved on any device to insure private information stays that way.

“This application allows our families to leave the waiting room while their child is in surgery but still feel connected to their child’s doctors and nurses, and secure in the knowledge that a member of the OR team can contact them anytime it’s necessary,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, associate surgeon-in-chief for clinical affairs.

Currently, EASE is being used in the West Tower Main OR, the Clinical Care Tower OR and the Pavilion for Women OR. It will soon be used in the West Campus OR and will be available in the Woodlands OR when the community hospital opens next year.

The response from our patients since the application was introduced at Texas Children’s Hospital late last year has been overwhelmingly positive, Hollier said, adding that a nice feature of EASE is the feedback the application provides. At the end of every session, a customizable survey is generated allowing Texas Children’s Hospital to collect valuable patient satisfaction data.

Data collected so far on our patient families shows almost all users had a positive experience. The following comments are from people who used the application in one of our OR waiting rooms:

  • “This program was very nice. Just knowing what is going on really put me at ease.”
  • “Love this program! As a grandmother, it was an added bonus to keep us updated.”
  • “Wonderful way of keeping in touch. The pictures were truly a blessing.”

Director of Perioperative Services Janet Winebar said she is thrilled Texas Children’s Hospital is using EASE to better communicate with our families. She said the application increases their overall experience with the hospital by creating transparency and improving the doctor-patient relationship. It also decreases anxiety, which impacts the overall process for everyone involved.