November 15, 2016

111616playgarden640The playground adjacent to the Abercrombie Building will be closed for several months as it undergoes major renovations to create a new outdoor environment for our patients, families and staff.

Scheduled to be completed in spring 2017, this area will be entirely renovated to create a new “play garden” that includes multiple seating areas with shade structures, play equipment and new furnishings. The first three to four weeks will be the most disruptive with removal of existing structures and concrete. Facilities Project Management will need your team’s assistance to inform patients, families and staff about the noise that they will hear during this time.

The schedule below identifies the key activities that will occur during the next several weeks.

November 14 to Monday, December 12: Bellows will take over the construction site and block the “thru lane” on the Concourse drive.

  • Demo will include removal of concrete which may result in loud noise in this area for approximately three to four weeks. Complimentary ear plugs will be available for Valet staff and patients / visitors who will be in the area. This work will occur during normal business hours.
  • Lane closure has been coordinated with Valet and additional Valet staff will be in place to ensure vehicles are removed quickly from the concourse.
  • Signs have already been installed to direct pedestrian traffic.

December 12 plus four months: Bellows will begin to build back the area. Lane closures will be coordinated on an as-needed basis to allow for key deliveries and concrete pours.

The entire renovation project could take up to four months to complete.

For questions or concerns about this project, please contact Rene Hoelker at Ext. 4-2370.

November 1, 2016

11216cancercenterdocsinside640Texas Children’s Cancer Center Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine will lead a statewide effort to understand the causes of childhood cancer through development of the Adolescent and Childhood Cancer Epidemiology and Susceptibility Service for Texas, or ACCESS-Texas, with support from a $6 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

“Much progress has been made in the treatment of childhood cancer, but in most cases we still don’t know why children get cancer,” said Dr. Michael Scheurer, Texas Children’s Cancer Center and ACCESS-Texas director and associate professor of pediatrics – hematology/oncology at Baylor. “The vast majority occur with no recognizable cause.”

ACCESS-Texas will focus on identifying genetic risk factors and gene-environment interactions that may lead to susceptibility to cancer among children and adolescents. A diverse population of children newly diagnosed with cancer and their parents will be enrolled in the program at eight childhood cancer treatment centers across the state: Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor, Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, UT Southwestern/Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Vannie Cook Children’s Cancer Clinic in McAllen and Texas Tech University children’s hospitals in Lubbock, Amarillo and El Paso.

“It is our mission to find a cure for all children with cancer, and ACCESS-Texas will help us understand why certain children get cancer, a critical step in finding cures,” said Dr. David Poplack, director of Texas Children’s Cancer Center, professor of pediatrics at Baylor, and deputy director of Baylor’s Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The program will include data collection through a risk-factor questionnaire of patients and their parents focusing on sociodemographics, lifestyle, clinical risk factors, family history of cancer and other diseases, environmental and occupational exposures and maternal and infant diet. In addition, blood and saliva samples will be collected along with key clinical and follow-up data, including tumor pathology and staging and molecular characterization of the tumor, treatment summaries and treatment toxicities and late-effects. All of these data and the biospecimens will be banked in a central repository accessible to researchers conducting family-based studies of genetic risk factors for childhood cancer and gene-environmental interaction studies.

Recent research has identified genetic risk factors for common childhood cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and neuroblastoma, but many other cancers have yet to be evaluated using a genome-wide approach. In addition, few gene-environment links that may lead to cancer susceptibility have been fully evaluated. A centralized facility that gives researchers access to the data to conduct large-scale research projects is a much needed resource in the state to advance current research, Scheurer said.

“The resources gathered through ACCESS-Texas would place Texas researchers in a better position to develop and lead international collaborations to explore novel risk factors for childhood cancers,” he said. “Once we more fully understand the causes of childhood cancers, we can then start to develop prevention strategies.”

“A major goal of our program is to understand the causes of childhood cancer, so we can detect the cancers earlier to make treatments more effective,” said Dr. James Amatruda, professor of pediatrics, internal medicine and molecular biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. “We’re excited to be collaborating with colleagues across the state through ACCESS-Texas.”

Enrollment of Hispanic patients and families also is an important aspect of the program. “This is a highly vulnerable population,” Scheurer said. “Hispanics generally have higher rates of cancer and worse outcomes, and the opportunity to collect data and conduct research that may help us understand the reasons for this is very important.”

The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio is one site involved in the new program that cares for many Hispanic patients. “The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio is proud and excited to participate in this important statewide resource, the outcomes of which will greatly impact our understanding of children’s cancer,” said Dr. Vivienne Marshall, professor of pediatrics and director of clinical research at the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Clinical Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. “We serve a unique population that is often under-represented in national studies, so this is a significant opportunity to further advance knowledge that will benefit our children.”

ACCESS-Texas is built on a similar but smaller-scale program already in place at Texas Children’s Cancer Center that has resulted in significant research findings, including the first genome-wide assessment of maternal genetic effects among pediatric ALL patients and a study evaluating the role of gene-nutrient interactions on ALL risk.

October 25, 2016

102716towere640“It’s amazing how quickly the pediatric tower is being built,” said WenZheng Zhang, an administrative coordinator at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, as he observed the progress from his15th floor window at the Feigin Center. “It’s like watching ants use one LEGO block at a time to build the whole tower.”

Last December, the only visible sign of construction was the installation of the tower crane that was hoisted over the south end of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Nearly one year later, tremendous progress has been made on the pediatric tower’s 19-floor vertical expansion project.

“We’re thrilled to see all of the pieces coming together,” said Jill Pearsall, Texas Children’s assistant vice president of Facilities Planning and Development. “So far, we’ve completed 12 floors, added 17 new elevators, and we have begun installing our Texas granite exterior walls on the structure.”

Beyond these visible achievements, lots of progress is also being made inside the tower. Earlier this year, a series of simulation activities were conducted to ensure the final layout of the pediatric tower would be designed in a way that promotes the safest possible environments to care for our critically ill patients and their families.

In June, Dr. Jennifer Arnold’s simulation team and the CareFirst Quality, Service and Safety Project Team led by Dr. Angelo Giardino, Trudy Leidich and Maria Happe, successfully completed two pre-construction simulation-based design tests on the proposed layouts for the OR/MRI and the Cath Lab/MRI suites.

Inside a large warehouse mock up resembling the planned design of the operating room and adjacent MRI, a multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons, radiologists, nurses, respiratory therapists, anesthesiologists, patient families and other support staff participated in simulated patient care scenarios and provided their feedback. After OR/MRI simulations, the operating room was re-constructed as a Cath Lab and MRI.

“The design based simulations were invaluable,” said Janet Winebar, director of perioperative services at Texas Children’s. “With the Pediatric Tower, we are trying to create designs that drive efficiency and safety for our patient care, not just recreate our existing OR suites. Having actual spaces to simulate that care helped us to test our thoughts for design. We found that some of our designs needed tweaking to make them work.”

Key recommendations that emerged from the simulations included reconfiguring the MRI control rooms in the Cath Lab and Neuro OR to improve patient visibility and team coordination, modifying room entry doors to prevent barriers to safe access and patient transport, and repositioning equipment for easy access for all providers.

Design teams will integrate the clinical recommendations from all simulation activities into the final interior design of the critical care tower.

Other recent progress updates include:

  • An activation kickoff was held on September 26 for all departments involved in the activation of the Pediatric Tower. The meeting attended by more than 90 participants from over 40 departments revisited the purpose of CareFirst, the initial planning/completed work on the pediatric tower and the next steps for activation.
  • The interior design and color concepts have been finalized for the pediatric tower’s public spaces. The tower’s designated building color will be gold/yellow and the interior design theme is “The Beauty of Texas.”
  • Voalte wireless antennas were added to four ORs. Voalte technology roll-out will be completed by the end of October.
  • Interior build out construction is scheduled to begin in December once the City of Houston issues a building permit.
  • A topping out celebration is scheduled for February 9, 2017, to mark the construction milestone of completing the tower’s structure.

If everything continues to progress on schedule, Texas Children’s pediatric tower is slated to be completed by 2018.

October 18, 2016

101816chronsurgeryad250Texas 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.

October 4, 2016

10416chroniclephilanthropyad250Texas 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.

Click here to visit the Promise website.

September 20, 2016

Before Dr. Howard Weiner accepted his new position as chief of neurosurgery, he knew that Texas Children’s Hospital was the place he wanted to be.

“When I visited Texas Children’s, I was literally blown away by this place,” said Weiner, who also serves as professor of neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine. “Speaking with the people here, hearing about the vision, the leadership, the direction, it was very infectious. This was where I needed to be for the next 15, 20 years of my career to do the things that I wanted to accomplish in pediatric neurosurgery for our patients.”

Prior to joining Texas Children’s neurosurgery team, Weiner received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. During his residency, he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at New York University. Following residency, Weiner was awarded the Van Wagenen Fellowship by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons to study brain development in Paris. He also completed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at New York University Langone Medical Center, where his career continued for a total of nearly 27 years altogether.

With nearly three decades of experience in the field, Weiner shares his enthusiasm for the future of Texas Children’s neurosurgery program and the opportunity to work alongside a neurosurgery team that he describes as an “incredible team of innovators.”

“If you take every one on the faculty in neurosurgery here at Texas Children’s, everyone is driving their individual sub-specialty area,” Weiner said. “We are using minimally invasive approaches, like laser ablation, to treat epileptic brain lesions and brain tumors. Our teams are developing new techniques in fetal surgery to treat hydrocephalus and we are leading the way in defining neurosurgical clinical outcomes and best practices that are essential to growing a successful craniofacial surgery program to serve our patients and their families at Texas Children’s for many years to come.”

Weiner’s plan is to continue transforming Texas Children’s into the premier pediatric neurosurgical program in the country by providing innovative, high-quality patient care and focusing on multidisciplinary collaboration and teamwork. While overseeing the growth of Texas Children’s neurosurgery program, he is cultivating a rich environment for faculty members to develop their subspecialty interest and propel their clinical and scientific discoveries to the next level.

“We are well on our way as a division of neurosurgery and as an institution to be the destination for high-quality, world-class innovative and especially attentive care for children,” Weiner said. “That is really my vision for neurosurgery. We will be the leaders in training the next generation of leaders in our field.”

Ranked No. 2 nationally in neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report, Texas Children’s neurosurgery program is among the largest and most experienced pediatric neurosurgery units in the U.S., performing more than 950 surgeries annually for a broad range of pediatric neurosurgical disorders.

For more information about Texas Children’s neurosurgery program, click here.

92116westcampusorexpansion640With scissors in hand, leaders at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus proudly cut a red ribbon draped across the entrance to the hospital’s newly expanded perioperative suite.

The September 15 ribbon cutting unveiled four new operating rooms, a new procedure room, three new call rooms as well as a new doctor’s lounge, kitchen and break area. The expansion brings the total number of operating rooms at West Campus to eight and doubles the total number of procedure rooms – places where minor outpatient procedures occur.

The call rooms, doctor’s lounge, and enlarged staff kitchen and break area didn’t exist before the expansion and, according to Chief Surgical Officer at the West Campus Dr. Allen Milewicz, will help set the stage for expanded perioperative capabilities at West Campus.

“This expansion will allow us to do longer, more complex surgeries,” Milewicz said. “It also will help us increase the scope of services we offer.”

Two growth areas of interest are orthopedics and dental, Milewicz added. The demand for such procedures is increasing in the West Houston area because families and area providers are eager to take advantage of the broad range of pediatric expertise that only a dedicated children’s hospital can provide. West Campus wants to be able to continue to accommodate that demand and grow with it.

Trauma is another area of potential growth, Milewicz said. Currently, West Campus does not see a large amount of trauma cases but wants to develop this service in the future. Having a fully equipped perioperative suite will allow the West Campus surgical team to treat such patients in the best manner possible.

“The scope of what community hospitals are being asked to do is growing,” Milewicz said. “We want to accommodate that growth and meet the demands of our patients and their families.”

West Campus Vice President Matt Schaefer agreed and said the expansion of the perioperative suite is not about new rooms or space but about West Campus’ ability to improve lives.

“A little more than five years ago, we stood in this same place with our first surgical patient and cut the ribbon to our perioperative suite,” Schaefer said. “Since then, we have met the surgical needs of more than 20,000 children. The expansion increases our ability to reach more children.”

Schaefer added that the recent expansion of the Perioperative Suite is part of a $50 million capital improvement effort that will help expand West Campus’ capacity and capability. To date the following projects have been completed:

  • Additional office and administrative support space for dedicated physicians and providers
  • An 18-bed expansion of the hospital’s acute care capacity, including an eight-bed special isolation unit designed for children with highly contagious infectious diseases.
  • Conversion of offices within ambulatory clinics into additional exam rooms to increase outpatient subspecialty access
  • A dedicated suite for Interventional Radiology services

The following projects are still in the works:

  • A new 14 exam room clinic for Neurology, Renal & Dermatology
  • Build-out of the final inpatient shell floor to accommodate 22 PICU beds