September 7, 2016

9716singlevisitsurgery640Patients with simple surgery needs can now be seen in clinic by pediatric surgeons and have surgery on the same day at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. The hospital’s new Single-Visit Surgery program provides a convenient option for busy patient families and consists of a clinic appointment in the morning and, if necessary, an outpatient surgical procedure that same day.

“This program reduces the time and travel often necessary for families in need of pediatric surgery,” said pediatric surgeon Dr. Sohail Shah. “We are excited about being able to offer this highly accessible service to our patients and their families.”

Currently, patients who qualify for the program are children without a complicated medical history and who have the following conditions:

  • Umbilical hernia (3 years and older)
  • Inguinal hernia (12 months and older)
  • Hydrocele (12 months and older)
  • Epigastric hernia (any age)

“All of our lives are busy, and overscheduled parents are thrilled to accomplish what used to take two days in only one. The families who have to travel to Texas Children’s Hospital from far away are especially appreciative,” said Chief Surgical Officer at the West Campus Dr. Allen Milewicz. “All the members of our West Campus team came together – nurses, schedulers, finance, and administration, to – craft a process improvement that would result in a great patient experience.”

To schedule an appointment or if you have questions about the Single-Visit Surgery program, please contact the Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus Pediatric Surgery Clinic at Ext. 7-2250.

August 30, 2016

83116chronicleadGI250Texas Children’s is the honored sponsor for every Tuesday’s “Houston Legends” series. We will showcase the legendary care Texas Children’s has provided since 1954, and focus on milestone moments in our unique history. Also, a complementary website offers a more detailed look at our past, our story and our breakthroughs.

On the right is the Texas Children’s ad that is featured in this week’s Chronicle. Click the ad to visit our companion website at texaschildrens.org/legendarycare. The website will change weekly to complement the newspaper ad, which will be published in section A of the Chronicle on Tuesdays for the next several weeks. We also will spotlight this special feature weekly on Connect, so stay tuned to learn and share our rich history.

August 23, 2016

82416ChroniclePhilanthropycharityad250Texas Children’s is the honored sponsor for every Tuesday’s “Houston Legends” series. For more than 20 weeks, we will showcase the legendary care Texas Children’s has provided since 1954, and focus on milestone moments in our unique history. Also, a complementary website offers a more detailed look at our past, our story and our breakthroughs.

On the right is the Texas Children’s ad that is featured in this week’s Chronicle. Click the ad to visit our companion website at texaschildrens.org/legendarycare. The website will change weekly to complement the newspaper ad, which will be published in section A of the Chronicle on Tuesdays for the next several weeks. We also will spotlight this special feature weekly on Connect, so stay tuned to learn and share our rich history.

Click here to visit the Promise website.

82416minimobileclinicinsideRev640The Texas Children’s Mobile Clinic Program has expanded with the addition of the CARESQUAD, a bright yellow mini-mobile clinic generously donated to the hospital by The Jerold B. Katz Foundation.

The clinic will help carry out the mission of the Texas Children’s Mobile Clinic Program, which is to provide underserved children in the Houston area with comprehensive health care and preventive education. The smaller size of the new mobile clinic will allow caregivers to reach children and families who live in and around neighborhoods with limited parking and narrow streets.

“The addition of the CARESQUAD to the Mobile Clinic Program is going to make a huge difference in the lives of so many children and their families,” said Dr. Sanghamitra Misra, medical director of the Texas Children’s Mobile Clinic Program. “We are excited about getting the clinic on the road and are grateful to the Katz family for making the clinic possible.”

At a recent dedication of the CARESQUAD mini-mobile clinic, Evan H. Katz said his family is thrilled to unveil the clinic and is confident it will go a long way in helping area children receive basic health care.

“For our family, this gift is special,” Katz said. “It is close to our hearts because we realize that we are assisting families with that most necessary ingredient to a good life – health.”

In addition to the program’s newest addition, The Texas Children’s Mobile Clinic Program is composed of two clinics: the Superkids Mobile Clinic and the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. During the school year, the Super Kids Mobile Clinic travels primarily to Houston Independent School District schools, community centers and churches in the Southwest Gulfton area. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile travels primarily to HISD schools and community centers in the Southeast Hobby area. The CARESQUAD will be used all over the region, accessing places the clinics have not been able to reach before.

The clinics provide free vaccinations to those who qualify for the Texas Vaccines for Children program and also provide free well child visits, sick visits and hearing or vision screenings for uninsured children in the Houston area. In addition, both mobile clinics have pharmacies that are stocked with common medications that are provided free of charge to uninsured families. Providers can perform common laboratory tests and educate all patients coming through the clinic about the different insurance options available to them. In the summer, the clinics travel throughout the Houston area and surrounding areas to provide free vaccines to children before the school year starts.

August 16, 2016

81716ChronicleAdOrtho250Texas Children’s is the honored sponsor for every Tuesday’s “Houston Legends” series. We will showcase the legendary care Texas Children’s has provided since 1954, and focus on milestone moments in our unique history. Also, a complementary website offers a more detailed look at our past, our story and our breakthroughs.

On the right is the Texas Children’s ad that is featured in this week’s Chronicle. Click the ad to visit our companion website at texaschildrens.org/legendarycare. The website will change weekly to complement the newspaper ad, which will be published in section A of the Chronicle on Tuesdays for the next several weeks. We also will spotlight this special feature weekly on Connect, so stay tuned to learn and share our rich history.

81716adolescentsportsinside640Thirty years ago, Dr. Ralph D. Feigin recruited Dr. Albert Hergenroeder from Seattle to start an Adolescent Medicine & Sports Medicine Section at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital to address the growing need for quality, pediatric care of adolescent patients and young athletes with a variety of complex medical issues.

What began as a small section is now a burgeoning part of Texas Children’s Hospital with an ever-growing staff and a wide national reach. Each branch of the department conducts original research and sees more than ten thousand patients a year.

“We have accomplished a lot in the past three decades that have enabled us to put ourselves on the map as one of the best Adolescent Medicine & Sports Medicine programs in the country, and we are not slowing down,” Hergenroeder said. “The past few years have been filled with growth and expanded services, a trend we plan to continue for the foreseeable future.”

Sports Medicine

Sports Medicine specifically has undergone dramatic growth in the past couple of years adding four primary care physicians to the program’s existing three: Hergenroeder and Drs. Joe Chorley and Jorge Gomez. In addition to that, Texas Children’s Hospital has developed a robust sports physical therapy program. Led by Dr. Gabriel Brooks, the program has more than 30 sports medicine physical therapists located around the Houston area.

“Most of the conditions that we see in sports medicine don’t need surgery,” Hergenroeder said. “However, the vast majority need at least some physical therapy consultation. With the proper diagnosis, it is the sports specific physical therapy that helps them improve and makes it less likely they will be reinjured.”

The bulk of what the Sports Medicine program does is care for children, adolescents and young adults who are hurt while doing some sort of physical activity. The section’s staff also specializes in other sports related problems, such as concussions, the unique problems of the female athlete and the staff refers to their orthopedic surgical colleagues who have specific training in sports medicine and pediatric orthopedic issues to perform surgery when necessary. The primary care sports medicine and orthopedic physicians work as one team. Their goal is to get their patients back on the field, dance floor, or wherever they go to remain physically fit.

“We are a comprehensive sports medicine program, Hergenroeder said, and what makes us different from other sports medicine programs in the city is that we’re pediatric based. We understand the pediatric and adolescent athlete as we were trained as pediatricians and adolescent medicine physicians first, and specialized in sports medicine with an emphasis on the young athlete.”

Members of the team are located at Main and West campuses, and are in Texas Children’s Health Centers across the greater Houston area, including Sugar Land, Cy-Fair and The Woodlands.

Adolescent Medicine

The Adolescent Medicine program in the Adolescent Medicine & Sports Medicine Section is one of the best in the best in the country with a staff of five adolescent medicine physician specialists, three psychologists and a dietitian.

The staff takes care of complicated problems in adolescents and young adults such as eating disorders, obesity, chronic fatigue, polycystic ovarian syndrome and reproductive health issues. The division has an inpatient component, an outpatient clinic and is developing an intensive outpatient program that will act as a bridge between the two.

“Typically, we take care of the sickest, most medically fragile patients with eating disorders,” Hergenroeder said, adding that this division does research to advance the medical care of such complex issues. “We believe we are one of the best eating disorder programs in the U.S.”

Hergenroeder said he plans on continuing to grow this part of the section and that in five to 10 years he expects the program to continue to be one of the premier adolescent medicine programs in the country.

For more information about adolescent medicine click here and for more information about sports medicine click here.

August 9, 2016

81016anesthesiasurgery640Members of the Departments of Anesthesia and Surgery recently filled the Main OR in West Tower for the 2016 Anesthesia and Surgery Rodeo.

The annual training session gives department members a chance to get hands-on experience with the latest anesthesia and surgical equipment brought in by various medical vendors.

Some of the equipment tested during this year’s rodeo include:

  • AccuVein
  • aScope bronchoscope
  • ConMed
  • Crash Cart
  • Ethicon
  • Just Right 3mm Sealer
  • Legasure
  • Malignant Hypothermia
  • Sonosite X-Porte
  • Karl Storz
  • Surgical Airway Cart