August 27, 2018

Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and two of its surgeons recently received superior patient care designations from the Surgical Review Corporation, which develops and administers best-in-class accreditation programs for surgeons, hospitals and freestanding outpatient facilities throughout the world.

After a rigorous review process, the SRC accredited the Pavilion for Women as a Center of Excellence for Minimally Invasive Gynecology and two of its surgeons – Dr. David Zepeda and Dr. Xiaoming Guan – as Surgeons of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology.

The Pavilion for Women is now one of three hospitals in Houston and one of five in Texas with the Center of Excellence designation.

“Earning this accreditation signifies our ability to consistently deliver the safest, high-quality care to our patients,” said Nakeisha Archer, director of perioperative services for the Pavilion for Women. “Our program fosters quality improvement in surgery, and commitment to this process has focused our team on exceeding clinical benchmarks and guidelines. Most importantly, our commitment to excellence will improve the health and well-being of our patients. We are so proud to be leaders in quality care for women.”

Minimally invasive gynecologic surgery includes hysteroscopic, laparoscopic and/or vaginal procedures such as hysterectomies, fibroid removals and myomectomy excisions. Surgeons at the Pavilion for Women did almost 500 minimally invasive surgeries in 2017 and are on track to do more this year.

Karen Rosser recently had a minimally invasive procedure done with Zepeda and said her experience with the surgeon and the Pavilion for Women was incredible.

“I felt comfortable every step of the way,” said Rosser, who suffered chronic pain for years due to adenomyosis. “I never flinched at moving forward with surgery and am confident I received the best care.”

Zepeda said he is proud of the designations and believes they distinguish the Pavilion for Women as a leader in minimally invasive surgery.

“SRC’s accreditation program recognizes surgeons and facilities that demonstrate an unparalleled commitment and ability to consistently deliver safe, effective, evidence-based care,” he said. “This has always been our focus at the Pavilion for Women and always will be.”

Guan agreed and said he hopes patients looking for quality care can now be even more assured that the Pavilion for Women is the place to be knowing we have met rigorous standards for delivering high-quality perioperative and long-term follow-up care.

More about the surgeons

Dr. David Zepeda was born and raised in Houston and attended The University of Texas at Austin. Zepeda received his medical degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center in 1974. He completed obstetrics and gynecology residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1978. Zepeda maintains an academic appointment as clinical associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is involved in residency and medical student education. He’s recognized in the Texas Medical Center for his expertise in gynecologic surgery, including pelvic reconstruction, DaVinci Robotic Surgery and advanced laparoscopic and hysteroscopic procedures. He is board-certified by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and has voluntarily recertified numerous times. He has been awarded the Distinguished Surgeon of the Year in Houston and has been voted among the Best Doctors of America. In addition to teaching, Zepeda has been involved with National Scientific Meetings in Ob/Gyn and has published on laparoscopic surgery. He is actively involved in continuing medical education through the medical center and national meetings in the specialty as well as numerous professional societies.

Dr. Xiaoming Guan
Dr. Xiaoming Guan is the Section Chief and Fellowship Director of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Texas Children’s and is an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Guan earned his medical degree at Fujian Medical College, Fuzhou in Fujian, China. He completed his Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital, a Mount Sinai School of Medicine affiliated hospital, in Paterson, NJ, followed by a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Guan brings extensive experience in treating complex and challenging cases of endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and pelvic masses. He is a leader in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery and a pioneer in the use of state-of-the-art robotic single-site technology and traditional single site and transvaginal Natural Orifice Endoscopy Surgery (NOTES) for advanced pelvic surgery. He also applies single-site or NOTES surgical technique in treatments of cervical incompetence with abdominal cerclage, urinary incontinence with sling, and pelvic organ prolapse with sacrocolpopexy. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology and he is the author of numerous more than 40 publications.

More about SRC
Established in 2003, SRC is an internationally recognized patient safety organization dedicated to recognizing and refining surgical care. SRC is the leading administrator of quality improvement and accreditation programs for surgeons and hospitals worldwide. SRC’s proven methodology, known as the “Cycle of Excellence,” results in quantifiable and unparalleled improvement in the outcomes, patient safety and costs across surgical specialties. To measure improvement and develop best practices, SRC offers a multispecialty outcomes database that is the world’s largest repository of clinical patient data for minimally invasive gynecologic and bariatric surgery.

Texas Diversity Magazine recently announced its inaugural Houston Power 50 award recipients, and Texas Children’s Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown and Vice President and Associate Chief Nursing Officer Jackie Ward were among those honored.

On the cusp of Women’s History Month, the goal of the award program is to honor women in the C-Suite from top companies who are making an effort to do great work within their companies, departments and communities in the city of Houston.

Selection for this distinction was based on each individual’s contributions to business growth and strategic direction, proven record of innovation and accomplishments in their area of expertise, and their ability to serve as an active role model by mentoring the next generation of professionals in their industry. Each awardee was recognized for standing atop their field in several industries such as technology, health care, oil & gas, financial services, government and retail.

“The Inaugural 2018 Power 50 award honors a diverse range of executive leaders of the highest caliber,” said Dennis Kennedy, founder and chairman of the National Diversity Council. “Our team takes great pride in honoring this group of accomplished women that continue to push innovation in business and beyond.”

Click here to read the full article on the Texas Diversity Magazine website.

August 20, 2018

Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital (BIPAI) and several global partners recently celebrated the graduation of the first class of the East African Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program at Makerere University College of Health Sciences.

The East Africa Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Training Program is the result of cooperation and commitment between some of the most eminent institutions in Africa and on the world-stage in cancer care, medical education, health policy, and pediatric hematology and oncology. As part of the comprehensive Global HOPE (Hematology-Oncology Pediatric Excellence) initiative, which launched in February 2017, the two-year fellowship program is building a critical mass of pediatric hematology-oncology specialists to independently provide effective, evidence-based pediatric cancer and hematology care in the African setting.

In the United States, 80 percent of children with cancer survive. In sub-Saharan Africa, the overwhelming majority of pediatric patients do not. The mortality rate is estimated to be as high as 90 percent, meaning that thousands of children die from cancer across Africa each year, with the most common types of childhood cancers being blood cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma.

Most childhood cancers are treatable. However, up until this point, the main reason for the staggering death rate across Africa has been due to an inadequate health care infrastructure and a significant lack of expert physicians and other health care workers trained to treat children with cancer and blood disorders. With the ambitious efforts of Global HOPE to build medical capacity to diagnose and treat pediatric blood disorders and cancer in Africa, the impact is already evident in the higher numbers of children receiving care in Uganda, Botswana and Malawi.

“Traditionally, physicians in Africa have gone abroad to obtain higher specialist clinical training, and often do not return,” said Dr. David Poplack, director of Global HOPE and associate director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. “By training physicians through the fellowship program, we are increasing the number of pediatric hematology-oncology specialists who will be practicing in East Africa. This will improve the overall survival for children with cancer and blood diseases in the region.”

At the graduation ceremony, Poplack was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from Makerere University for his academic contribution in the field of science. Under his leadership for the last 25 years, Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers established itself as an internationally-recognized leader in the treatment and research of pediatric cancer and blood disorders. With a desire to expand care to areas of the world with limited resources, Poplack and his team have worked over the past decade to provide care to children in sub-Saharan Africa. With the inception of Global HOPE, access to care will only continue to increase with this training of pediatric hematology-oncology physicians through the fellowship program.

“This first class of graduates of the fellowship program represents an exponential increase in the number of pediatric oncologists in east Africa – and by extension – a huge increase in the number of children diagnosed with cancer who may now receive high quality treatment and the chance of recovery,” said John Damonti, president of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. “We congratulate the graduating physicians and are proud to support the creation of a sustainable, highly qualified team of oncology and hematology healthcare providers in southern and east Africa, to help change the health outcomes for children.”

Partners involved in the Global HOPE initiative include: The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uganda, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, East African Community, Uganda Cancer Institute, Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation- Uganda, Mulago National Referral Hospital and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation.

August 13, 2018

Creating viable, long-term health care solutions for children and mothers worldwide has always been a part of Texas Children’s mission. To further that charge, a new division has been created within the Department of Surgery – the Division of Global Surgery. The division will be led by Dr. Jed Nuchtern, who has been Texas Children’s chief of Pediatric Surgery since 2012.

“This is a wonderful new opportunity for Texas Children’s Hospital, the Department of Surgery and Dr. Nuchtern, said Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier. “Providing surgical expertise in underserved areas has been a great passion for Dr. Nuchtern, and he has traveled extensively bringing surgical care to children around the world. I would like to thank him for his continued commitment to patient care and surgical excellence.”

Through Global Health programs, Texas Children’s collaborates with international governments and health organizations to share its expertise and best practices, with a strong focus on sustainability. This collaboration includes providing surgical training and direct care and treatment in many underserved nations, such as Argentina, Haiti, Malawi, Mexico, Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda. Due to lack of resources, facilities, education and support, surgical interventions thought of as routine here in the United States, such as repairing a broken bone or simply suturing a wound, are difficult to perform and thus much less common in these countries. A more complicated procedure like a C-section becomes altogether life-threatening.

The creation of the new Division of Global Surgery will help Texas Children’s forge new partnerships, offer providers opportunities for exposure, and facilitate care and capacity building to improve the lives of children and women across the globe, beginning in sub-Saharan Africa.

Leveraging resources, infrastructure and successful global medical programs already in place in the region – including Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) Network, Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers’ Global HOPE (Hematology Oncology Pediatric Excellence), and existing efforts by the Department of OB/GYN – Nuchtern and his team will first focus on surgical care for pediatric cancer patients, 50 percent of which require some form of surgical intervention, to increase surgical capacity. Ultimately, the approach will have the combined effect of improving care of children with cancer as well as those suffering from other pediatric surgical diseases.

“While the initial focus is on cancer surgery, our approach is to help build capacity in children’s surgery overall,” Nuchtern said. “Our goal is to marshal all of the talent and energy of Texas Children’s department of surgery toward the goal of serving children throughout the world.”

Preliminary objectives include identifying individuals interested in participating, working with partners to develop the infrastructure necessary to provide quality care, and organizing a special group tasked with developing training opportunities, a central focus of this initiative. Building on successes and lessons learned, and through continued collaboration with Global HOPE, the long-term vision includes a surgical facility for women and children in Lilongwe, Malawi, expansion of care capacity in Central America, and, ultimately, recognition for Texas Children’s as a leader in global surgical outreach.

“We’re one family, and this is a team effort that requires substantial perioperative support from nursing, anesthesia, pediatrics, radiology and pathology,” Hollier said. “Dr. Nuchtern and the new Division of Global Surgery will coordinate with all hospital services to ensure that Texas Children’s is well-represented when going abroad and that these children and women receive the best possible care.”

Nuchtern will retain his duties as chief of Pediatric Surgery until a successor is found. A national search is currently underway. Pediatric Surgery at Texas Children’s has grown to include outstanding programs in surgical oncology, surgical critical care, colorectal and pelvic health, and basic science research. The GI Surgery program has consistently been recognized as one of the top five children’s hospital programs for GI & GI Surgery in U.S. News & World Report. Under Nuchtern’s leadership, the division also has received national and international acclaim for the separation of conjoined twins’ cases and many cutting-edge fetal surgeries. Additionally, the Trauma program was re-designated as a Level I trauma center and has expanded educational offerings to the state and region.

Thanks to the more than 10 years of dedication and hard work of neonatologists and neonatal nutrition experts at Texas Children’s, Boston Children’s and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) hospitals, premature babies with liver disease now have better access to a potentially lifesaving drug.

On July 27, the FDA approved Omegaven®, an omega-3 fatty-acid-rich lipid solution made from fish oil for use in babies suffering from Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis (PNAC). For over a decade, Texas Children’s and Boston Children’s have been giving Omegaven® to NICU babies with this disease under compassionate use protocols.

Nearly 20 percent of babies in the NICU develop intestinal failure and are dependent on artificial nutrition (total parenteral nutrition or TPN). Of these infants 25 percent to 50 percent of them develop PNAC, a dreaded complication resulting in long term damage to the liver. Prior to the use of Omegaven®, nearly 50 percent of these babies with PNAC developed liver failure and died, or needed a liver transplant. However, since the use of Omegaven®, 85 percent of infants with PNAC have survived long term, rarely needing a liver transplant.

Being first-hand witnesses to this remarkably improved outcome, neonatologists at Texas Children’s long advocated for the approval of Omegaven. Extensive patient data demonstrating the beneficial effects of Omegaven® on the babies with PNAC from Texas Children’s, Boston Children’s and UCLA formed a crucial part of the new drug approval application submitted to the FDA. Now that Omegaven® is approved by the FDA for use in babies with PNAC, hospitals across the country will have access to it, saving many lives.

“This is a game changer,” said neonatologist Dr. Muralidhar Premkumar. “I am very confident that Omegaven’s approval by the FDA will tremendously improve the outcomes of infants with intestinal failure.”

Program Director of Neonatal Nutrition Dr. Amy Hair agreed and said the approval is “huge, and will most definitely save babies’ lives.”

Over the past decade, liver transplants have decreased nearly 25 percent nationwide in babies with PNAC, mainly as a result of improved multi-disciplinary care of infants with intestinal failure and the use of safer lipid solutions such as Omegaven®. Texas Children’s Newborn Center sees about 25 to 30 babies with the PNAC a year. None of these babies in the past five years have needed a liver transplant.

Charlie and Henry Fitzpatrick were two of those babies. The now 4-year-old twin boys were born prematurely at Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women and spent six months in the NICU. During their stay, both infants suffered from PNAC and were treated with Omegaven®. Since then, both their liver disease and intestinal failure have resolved. Charlie and Henry are now happy healthy preschoolers.

The twins’ mother, Aly Fitzpatrick, said Omegaven® played a big part in saving her children’s lives and that she is pleased to hear that the FDA approved the drug for use in babies like hers.

“The approval opens up a world of possibilities for these babies,” she said. “Now, more hospitals can embrace this without having to join a research study.”

Because of their experience with the drug, Texas Children’s is uniquely positioned to educate staff at other hospitals about the benefits of Omegaven® and train them on how to use it.

“It gives me great pride and satisfaction that we were part of this successful effort,” Premkumar said. “I would like to thank our dieticians, physicians, NNPs, pharmacists, nurses and of course, the babies and their families who supported us in this endeavor.”

Premkumar added that none of this would have happened if Dr. Steven Abrams and Keli Hawthorne, both former Texas Children’s staff, had not brought this project to the hospital.

On August 8, Texas Children’s Nursing Professional Development and the Shared Governance Interdisciplinary Education Council hosted Professional Day at Texas Children’s Medical Center Campus, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

More than 500 participants attended the conference across the hospital’s three campuses – 360 at Medical Center Campus, 78 at West Campus and 128 at The Woodlands. The conference is designed to promote the enhancement of quality care and patient outcomes through evidence-based practice in the areas of pediatrics and obstetrics. The full day event included a pre-conference session, 80 podium and poster presentations, exhibitors, food and lots of fun and prizes.

“For the first time this year, the annual conference was open to the public,” said Amanda Garey, Nursing Professional Development specialist who was integral to the organization of this event. “Traditionally, Professional Day had been primarily a nursing event, but this year we expanded the event to include clinical staff from multiple disciplines who play a critical role in quality patient care and outcomes.”

Chief Nursing Officer Mary Jo Andre presented the keynote address which was shared to the community sites via telehealth platform. All of the conference speakers were acknowledged as subject matter experts in their fields and delivered the content based on latest trends and evidence. In total, 38 exhibitors and professional organizations supported this conference, which provides a platform for colleagues to collaborate, network, share knowledge and make professional connections.

“I really enjoyed the different speakers and learning more about the hospital and the different roles that people have here and the different ways I can learn from them,” said Regem Biyo, a labor and delivery nurse at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women.

The event awarded contact hours for CNE/CME/Social Work/Respiratory Therapy. Amanda Garey and Jill Stonesifer were the event leaders at the Medical Center Campus. The event at West Campus and the Woodlands Campus was organized by Lauren Ivanhoe and Deborah Lee respectively.

View a photo gallery below of Professional Day at Texas Children’s.

If you missed this year’s Professional Day, make sure you mark your calendars for the next conference slated for September 19, 2019.

Dr. Nidhy Varghese has been named the new director of our Pulmonary Hypertension Program. Varghese took over for Dr. George Mallory who helped lead the program to national prominence.

“I am honored to be named to this prestigious leadership position,” Varghese said. “We are one of the few pulmonary hypertension programs in the United States dedicated to treating children. I am excited to expand our groundbreaking pulmonary programs and medical advances.”

In 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranked Texas Children’s Pulmonology as the best program in the country for children with lung diseases. Established in 2001, the pulmonary hypertension program is one of only a handful of pediatric hospitals nationally – and the only one in the southwest – to be named an accredited care center by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. The program has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of infants, children and teens with this rare condition.

The Pulmonary Medicine team specializes in the evaluation and treatment of complex, chronic and rare pulmonary disorders and offers services to treat children dealing with a variety of pulmonary issues. As part of its accreditation, Texas Children’s will also contribute to a national patient registry which will track diagnostic and treatment patterns and patient outcomes to help establish best practices in patient care.

Varghese will succeed Mallory in leading Texas Children’s program. During his tenure, Mallory helped the program earn national accreditation. He also served on the editorial Board of Pediatric Pulmonology for over 25 years. Mallory will continue to dedicate his time and expertise to the programs and the Pulmonology Section at Texas Children’s.

Click here to learn more about the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at Texas Children’s.