The Employee Health and Wellness Team recently facilitated the 21-day H20 challenge to 4,935 employees, making it the largest organization-wide wellness challenge in Texas Children’s history.
Employees were asked to drink 64 ounces of water a day from July 20 – August 9. To provide encouragement, the Employee Health and Wellness Team provided participants with a water tracker, weekly educational and motivational emails, water discounts at various onsite cafeterias and a pre- and post-challenge survey.
The survey showed an increase from 9 percent to 35 percent of challenge participants who reported drinking 64 ounces of water per day and a decrease from 22 percent to 5 percent of challenge participants who reported drinking only 0-16 ounces of water per day.
Participant testimonials include:
“The challenge actually made it fun to drink water. In the Emergency Room we encouraged each other and even cheered each other when drinking water. It was just fun!”
“Leaders supported us in enrolling. That was nice. It showed they care!”
“The fun facts were motivational! Drinking water is something I knew I needed to do, but having support at work made it a reality.”
“The challenge caused our team morale to go way up!”
All participants who completed the post program survey will be given a 21-day H20 challenge water bottle. Bottles will be distributed September 2-9. Click here for more details.
Thirsty for more?
Texas Children’s videographer, Wally Crow, chronicled each week of his 21-day H20 challenge journey. Click the following links to review: Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3.
Thank you all for amplifying unity around this challenge! You can continue to rock the ripple effect by staying hydrated and encouraging your co-workers to do the same.
August 25, 2015
Texas Children’s Hospital recently unveiled its 2014 Annual Report, a commemorative publication that celebrates our remarkable contributions and historic milestones over the last 60 years.
Centering on the core elements of our mission – patient care, education and research – this 88-page book spotlights our early pioneers and shares the work and accomplishments that have made Texas Children’s such a stellar organization for more than six decades.
As you read through the report, you’ll find beautiful images and inspirational stories that chronicle our hospital’s humble beginnings and the illustrious history that continues to define us. The front and back cover feature a then and now photo of Texas Children’s first patient, Lamaina Leigh Van Wagner.
“Since 2014 coincided with Texas Children’s 60th birthday, our goal was to create an annual report that was memorable, impactful and inspiring,” said Annual Report Editor Rosanne Moore, a member of Texas Children’s Corporate Communications team. “Our efforts involved months of intensive research, creative writing and design and multiple rounds of edits to bring this project to fruition.”
The success of this monumental endeavor would not have been possible without the collaboration from our talented Creative Services team, who meticulously designed this masterpiece with a retro feel in mind.
“We used different color tones, vintage designs and characters to help readers navigate through different time periods in Texas Children’s 60-year history,” said Assistant Director of Creative Services Owen Sears. “All of the design elements came together perfectly to produce this top-notch commemorative publication.”
Click here to read a flip book version of Texas Children’s 2014 Annual Report.
August 18, 2015
Flanked by a group of former Texas Children’s Hospital patients and hundreds of supporters, Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace looked on as a 7-foot-tall Mexican White Oak tree was hoisted to the top of what will soon be Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.
“Go, go, go!” Wallace and the children cheered until the tree with was in place. “We did it!”
The tree hoisting was the highlight of an August 14 tree topping ceremony at the site of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. The milestone event marked the halfway point in the construction of the hospital, which will open its doors in 2017.
Adorned with promises made by Texas Children’s employees to The Woodlands community, the tree will remain atop the unfinished hospital for a week before being planted on facility grounds.
“All of you who are here today are here because you share our commitment, our promise, to provide the very best care when and where our families need it most,” Wallace said. “That is why we are topping out The Woodlands campus with this very special tree.”
Following the tree-topping ceremony, guests took shelter from the almost three-digit temperatures under a cooling tent, sipped lemonade and nibbled ice cream and popcorn. Some event goers got a tour of the construction site. The tours were led by Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands team members and crew from Tellespen Builders, the company that is leading the construction project.
“You coming out today means you join in our excitement about a project that will bring children the best pediatric hospital right to their community,” Tellespen CEO Howard Tellespen Jr. told the crowd. “You have helped fulfill our legacy of being part of something bigger than ourselves.”
Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands President Michelle Riley-Brown and Chief Medical Director Dr. Charles Hankins shared their excitement about what’s to come for the hospital and The Woodlands community during a BBQ lunch at tables set up on what will be the first floor of the hospital.
“At Texas Children’s, we are not only committed to meeting the needs of patients and families we serve, but we are committed to doing that in a way that works for them,” Riley-Brown said. “For so many, this means providing care close to home; that’s exactly why we are building Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.”
The hospital will serve children and families in the Woodlands, Kingwood, Conroe, Spring, Magnolia, Humble, Huntsville and beyond, and will build on a decade’s worth of relationships Texas Children’s has built in the community through our primary and sub-specialty care at Texas Children’s Pediatrics locations and the Texas Children’s Health Center The Woodlands.
The hospital will complete that picture, offering services in more than 20 areas of specialty care at a facility with 32 acute care beds, four operating rooms, 10 radiology rooms with 2 MRI’s, an emergency center with 22 patient rooms, a helipad, 1,000 free parking spaces and, by the end of 2017, an intensive care unit with 12 beds. Opening in 2016, the hospital also will include an outpatient facility with 74 exam rooms, 23 subspecialty clinics and a Texas Children’s Pediatrics Primary Care Clinic.
Hankins said he and The Woodlands team already have hired several top-notch physicians in hematology-oncology, endocrinology, neurology, otolaryngology and sports medicine, and that they are continuing to recruit the best and the brightest from across the world to serve patients at The Woodlands campus.
“As a resident of The Woodlands, you will have your very own community hospital right here in your own backyard,” he said. “Patients at The Woodlands campus will receive the same high quality care as those at Main Campus without having to drive more than 30 miles.”
July 28, 2015
Dr. Parth Mehta’s favorite picture is one with five young children sitting around a small table putting together a puzzle. The kids, most of them bald, are smiling for the camera as their doctor snaps the photo. They’re cancer patients in a Texas Children’s clinic in Botswana and of the five, four have survived. While even one death is devastating, just a few years ago, none of them would have received the appropriate treatment. Most would have died without ever being diagnosed. Eight years ago, Mehta, now the director of Texas Children’s Global Oncology Programs, was the first pediatric oncologist in Botswana. When he arrived at the Princess Marina Hospital, only 22 cases of pediatric cancer had ever been diagnosed there. Today, more than 200 patients are under the care of Texas Children’s physicians in the same facility, and over the last eight years, more than 450 children with blood disorders and cancer have been treated.
“There is a population of 2 million people in Botswana and the challenge was quite overwhelming,” Mehta said, “Children died from diseases with a 95 percent cure rate in America because the drugs were not consistently available and no one really knew how to take care of these patients.”
Mehta started the first organized international effort in sub-Saharan Africa by Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, the largest pediatric cancer institute in the U.S. Under the vision of Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline, Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine had already established several centers to care for children with AIDS in Africa. Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative helped secure the Texas Children’s name in these regions and Dr. David Poplack, director of Texas Children’s Cancer & Hematology Centers, was determined to make a long-term effort to help kids with cancer and blood disorders in these countries.
“Our role has been to put ‘medical boots’ on the ground,” said Poplack. “We send physicians and nurses and we use our staff to train our local counterparts in the treatment of these diseases. Our real aim is to provide the intellectual capital to train the appropriate individuals who will carry the work forward.”
That’s the key to the sustainability of these programs. About 80 percent of pediatric cancer cases are in developing countries where the survival rate is less than 40 percent. In countries like the U.S., it’s approximately 80 percent. While Texas Children’s treats patients from all over the U.S. and 26 different countries, for those in Africa, just bringing their child to a clinic in a nearby town is a difficult task. Dr. Gladstone Airewele who grew up in Nigeria knows about these problems. Airewele is the director of the Global Hematology Programs at Texas Children’s Cancer & Hematology Centers. For many of his patients, saving a life is as easy as a pin prick to collect blood for newborn screening to detect sickle cell disease.
“It’s very gratifying to see children come to the clinic, get great care and do much better than they ordinarily would if it weren’t for this program,” Airewele said.
Airewele said the long-term plan is to help with a broad range of hematologic diseases including bleeding disorders, bone marrow failure, and hemoglobin disorders.
“In a few years, I hope to see leaders of pediatric blood disorders all over Africa who are affiliated with Texas Children’s but are local physicians in those countries,” Airewele said. “People who have been trained and are training others, so these diagnoses are no longer a death sentence for these children.”
Texas Children’s international cancer & hematology initiative is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa with programs in Uganda, Botswana, Malawi, and Angola. Poplack and his team plan to expand the program to other regions. For now, a group of physicians at Texas Children’s are on call as consultants to BIPAI physicians who need answers about hematological and cancer-related diagnoses. Mehta and Airewele make frequent visits to the designated cancer clinics to pursue potential growth in our programs. For Mehta, the five young patients in that old photograph are a reminder of why this work is so pertinent.
“Medicine is not about borders,” Mehta said. “Medicine is not about cities and states. Cancer doesn’t just affect children in some places, and as a doctor who cares, not just treats, but cares for children with cancer, it’s almost axiomatic that one must take care of children everywhere.”
Once a week, Christie Hollins, an administrative assistant in the Department of Pathology, meets three of her coworkers at Palace Lanes for a fun night of bowling and comradery.
“We’ve been bowling together for five years and it’s great,” Hollins said of her team, Scared SpitLess. “We’ve grown as bowlers and as friends, and we thank Texas Children’s for making this happen.”
Like several other Texas Children’s employees, Hollins and her bowling team take advantage of the Total Rewards Program’s Team Sport Subsidy, which provides financial support for the registration fees of league team activities.
The organization will pay up to $600 per team per fiscal year as long as at least half of the team’s roster is comprised of Texas Children’s employees.
“Texas Children’s recognizes that fitness is important to the physical and mental health of its employees,” Benefits Specialist Kelly Mueller said. “Therefore, we encourage participation in organized, league athletic events such as softball, basketball, bowling, golf, etc.”
Racheal Proctor-Ezimako, a supervisor with Diagnostic Imaging, said she and her bowling team have used the sports subsidy for six years and that it allows them to offset the cost of a hobby they participate in once a week year round.
“I think it’s an amazing give back to our employees,” she said. “We get to bond outside work and that, to me, is very special.”
Hollins agreed and said with the assistance of the subsidy, each of her team members is able to just have fun bowling.
“As long as the subsidy is offered, I will continue to apply,” she said.
Mueller said Texas Children’s is happy to provide the subsidy as well as the myriad of other benefits offered to employees, including health, dental, retirement and pension.
“Texas Children’s offers a well-rounded benefits program that spans from health to financial to overall wellbeing,” she said. “We want our employees to be healthy and happy.”
Here are the sports subsidy basics and how to apply:
A written application must be submitted to Human Resources at least one month prior to the due date of the registration fee. The application must include a copy of the Texas Children’s registration form and a list of all team participants, including non-Texas Children’s players.
All team participants must sign and return the appropriate waiver form with the written application.
Texas Children’s financial support is provided for team registration only and does not cover fees or payment for coaches, uniforms, refreshments, etc.
The maximum annual registration payment is $600 per fiscal year per team. Payment will be issued directly to the sponsoring organization. Requests will be granted based on budgetary constraints.
The roster of any team sponsored by Texas Children’s must consist of at least 50 percent active employees of Texas Children’s.
Participation on an athletic team is voluntary, and is not related in any way to an employee’s job duties or employment status at Texas Children’s.
Each individual team member agrees to hold Texas Children’s, its officers, trustees, employees and agents harmless from any claims for damages resulting in participation in this program.
To apply for a sport subsidy, click here. To get more information about overall benefits at Texas Children’s click here.
Ronald Maxie from Supply Chain is the latest Texas Children’s Super Star employee. “What makes someone at Texas Children’s a super star is hard work, dedication and compassion for others,” said Maxie. Read more of Maxie’s interview, and find out how you can nominate a Super Star.
Q&A: Ronald Maxie, April 2015 Employee
Your name, title and department. How long have you worked here? Ronald Maxie, Supply Chain Tech II, 8 Years.
What month are you the Super Star for? April 2015
Tell us how you found out you won the Super Star Award. My management team told me.
What does it mean to be recognized for the hard work you do? I feel enlightened and grateful that my peers value my work ethic.
What do you think makes someone at Texas Children’s a Super Star? Hard work, dedication and compassion for others.
What is your motivation for going above and beyond every day at work? To contribute and participate in the mission of Texas Children’s Hospital.
What is the best thing about working at Texas Children’s? Being part of a GREAT dock staff that provides the BEST service to support staff, patients and their families.
Anything else you want to share? I would like to say to my Texas Children’s family that the pleasure has been all MINE!!
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to run on the floor of NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans? If so, you and your child now have a chance. All you have to do is sign up for the TORO’S Kids 1K on Sunday, September 20.
Presented by Texas Children’s Hospital, the stroller-friendly run/walk is for children 12 years old and younger. All race participants must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and will cross the finish line on the floor of NRG Stadium – all TORO’s Kids 1K participants also will receive medals.
The 1K event will be followed by the fifth annual Running of the Bulls 5K run/walk presented by H-E-B at NRG Stadium. The post-race party for both races will be held on the floor of NRG Stadium and will include opportunities to receive autographs from Houston Texans Cheerleaders, Ambassadors and TORO. In addition, race participants can enjoy free food and drinks, giveaways and live music.
For more information about the event or to sign up, click here.
