May 9, 2018

From the time Colton Makow was born, he faced an uphill battle. He spent his first 61 days of life in Texas Children’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and while there, was told by doctors that his kidneys were damaged from lack of oxygen and that he one day would need a transplant.

Devastated by the news, Colton’s mother, Julie Makow, knew she would do everything she could to save her son, including giving him one of her kidneys if that’s what it took to keep him alive.

“I always thought, if given the chance, that’s going to be the one thing I can do to make it better,” Julie said. “I knew I was going to be a part of that, and that I would be the first one tested to be a match.”

Julie got her chance to see if she was a viable donor candidate when doctors told her and Colton, then 6 years old, that it was time to make a move toward getting a kidney transplant. After the test, Julie was told she was a perfect match and that she could donate one of her kidneys to her son.

In February, Dr. Christine O’Mahony, surgical director of kidney transplantation at Texas Children’s Hospital, performed the surgery. Texas Children’s performs about 30 kidney transplants a year. When the organ comes from a living donor, it typically lasts longer. For Colton, that means hopefully it will be a long time before he needs another transplant.

“He’ll have to go see the physicians a lot more frequently than he would if he were another kid, he’ll have to get labs, but his life will otherwise be the same,” O’Mahony said. “He can play sports, go to school and be just like everybody else.”

Kirti Bhakta, the transplant coordinator who worked with Colton and Julie, said she has witnessed the selfless sacrifices parents make for their children time and time again.

“It is truly heartwarming,” she said. “So many of our parents will do anything to give their children a better chance at a good life. Their actions are the epitome of unconditional love.”

Dr. Sarah Swartz, medical director of dialysis for Texas Children’s Hospital, also worked with Colton and Julie and said their story is perfect for Mother’s Day.

“Colton now has the chance to live a better life, thanks to his mom,” Swartz said. “What a beautiful reminder to him and others the power of a mother’s love as well as the difference an organ donor can make in someone’s life.”

Click here to learn more about how to become an organ donor and here to read a story by KHOU11 about the Makows.

May 8, 2018

When Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands opened its doors a little more than a year ago, leaders were excited about bringing our expertise closer to the homes of the many patients and families who had been making the trek to the Texas Children’s Hospital Medical Center campus for so long. Leaders knew the hospital would fulfill a need in North Houston and beyond, and based on the hospital’s reception during its first year, they were right.

Texas Children’s second stand-alone community hospital exceeded expectations during its first year, admitting more than 2,400 patients and completing 77,000 plus physician visits, more than 42,000 radiologic procedures and close to 31,000 therapy appointments. Surgical Services and the Emergency Center saw some of the highest patient volume completing 6,222 surgeries and special procedures, and 31,852 Emergency Center visits.

“These numbers prove The Woodlands and surrounding communities needed world-class pediatric health care close to home,” said Trent Johnson, Texas Children’s Hospital assistant vice president. “Every time we’ve been in touch with families and patients, they always have positive feedback and say how much having Texas Children’s close to home has changed their lives for the better.”

“Community members and leaders also have been very supportive of the hospital during its first year, offering help whenever and wherever needed, which tells me they are happy we are here,” Johnson said.

Another group that has expressed happiness and support for the new 550,000-square-foot facility is clinicians and staff.

“The team here in The Woodlands is doing a phenomenal job,” said Ketrese White, director of Patient Care Services. “You can still feel their energy and excitement about our new hospital.”

As the demand for care grows in the area, so will Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, White added. An additional 14 inpatient beds will become available at the beginning of next year, and leadership is continuously strategizing on how and where to expand and move forward.

“We are extremely pleased with how things are going in The Woodlands and are proud to be able to better serve our patients and families in the North Houston area and beyond,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, executive vice president. “We also are looking forward to the future, which we believe is very bright.”

Located off of I-45 in The Woodlands near CHI St. Luke’s and Methodist hospitals, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands serves children and families in The Woodlands, Kingwood, Conroe, Spring, Magnolia, Humble, Huntsville and beyond, and was built 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.

Designed with a “spirit of the woods” theme to incorporate the lush, woodsy landscape that surrounds it, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands offers an open and inviting setting for patients, families and staff alike.

Just inside the main entrance is a grand staircase that simulates a tree house, giving the area a safe, central location for children and families visiting Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. As you travel throughout the campus, there are images of leaves on the ceiling, rivers on the floor and trees and 1,700 pieces of art created by children in The Woodlands community on the walls.

Some features of the facility include:

  • more than 20 areas of specialty care
  • 32 acute care beds
  • four operating rooms
  • 12 radiology rooms with two MRIs
  • Emergency Center with 25 patient rooms
  • helipad
  • more than 1,300 free parking spaces
  • 28 critical care rooms (14 NICU and 14 PICU)
  • neurophysiology sleep lab
  • EEG laboratory
  • state-of-the-art infusion center
  • dining area
  • family library
  • chapel
  • playrooms on every floor
  • state-of-the-art motion analysis lab

The hospital’s unique design recently earned a Houston Business Journal Landmark Award, which recognizes outstanding real estate projects in the Greater Houston area. Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands was recognized in the medical category.

The inpatient facility is connected to the six-floor, 210,000-square-foot Outpatient Building, which opened in October 2016 and houses more than 20 areas of specialized care including Cardiology, Sports Medicine, Neurology and Hematology/Oncology.

The Outpatient Building is a convenient, kid-friendly environment for families seeking the best pediatric care for their children. A state-of-the-art sports physical therapy gym is on the first floor, check-in and check-out stations resembling a child’s club house are at the entrance of each clinic, and spacious exam rooms and provider work stations line many of the building’s halls.

For more information about Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, click here.

From our three hospital campuses to our health centers, urgent care and pediatric practices, Texas Children’s continues to focus its efforts on enhancing patient access. Since implementing solutions for the first two waves of specialties over the last two months, patient families are noticing a positive difference.

For Christina Williams, being able to schedule her 13-year-old son’s clinical appointment 21 days sooner than the originally scheduled appointment has been nothing but a game changer for her.

“I scheduled my son for an appointment in April to see an allergist at Texas Children’s Health Center in Sugar Land,” Williams said. “When I logged on to MyChart, I received an instant notification about an available opening in the Wallace Tower clinic and I quickly accepted it. This process is quick, easy and convenient, and it’s great knowing that I can be notified on MyChart as soon as an opening becomes available.”

First launched on March 19 with two subspecialties – Allergy and Immunology, and Baylor College of Medicine OB/GYN – MyChart’s electronic waitlist feature automatically offers patients and their families on the waitlist earlier appointments once their MyChart account has been activated.

Since the new feature went live for these two subspecialties in mid-March, there have been multiple offers accepted to help families get earlier clinical appointments. Below are the results as of April 30:

  • Combined acceptance rate of 8.2 percent for Allergy and Immunology, and Baylor OB/GYN with average day improvement of 56 days
  • Acceptance rate of 7.4 percent for Allergy and Immunology with average day improvement of 54 days
  • Acceptance rate of 10.7 percent for Baylor OB/GYN with average day improvement of 64 days.

The remaining Wave 1 specialties along with Wave 2 will go live with this new feature on May 21. These subspecialties are Orthopedics, Rheumatology, Nephrology, Neurology, Adolescent/Sports Medicine, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Pediatric Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthodontics, Plastic Surgery, Urology and Cardiology.

MyChart Instant Activation

While the nation was glued to the NCAA’s March Madness college basketball tournament, Texas Children’s remained focused on scoring patient access points during MyChart Madness.

On March 19, clinic staff at Mark Wallace Tower participated in a collaborative, 5-week MyChart Madness competition to increase MyChart activation rates across the hospital system, resulting in more patients and their families taking advantage of the benefits of this online patient portal.

MyChart Instant Activation essentially pushes a text or email notification to patient families that allows them to sign up for a MyChart account via phone instead of having to use a computer to sign up.

“Out of the 32 participating clinics at Wallace Tower, a total of 1,096 same-day activations were generated as a result of MyChart Madness,” said Rachel Norman Brock, manager of Ambulatory Clinics at Texas Children’s. “The Urology team was the winner of the MyChart Madness competition with 118 same-day activations.”

During the first week of instant activation across the Texas Children’s hospital system, there were 3,492 same-day activations, almost half of which resulted from instant activation. To date, Texas Children’s has a total of 6,974 same-day activations thanks to our collaborative team efforts to enhance patient access.

Other strategies to improve patient access

Championed by administrative and physician leaders from medical, surgical, and women’s service lines, the Improved Capacity & Improved Utilization workgroup has been focused on ensuring that providers have appointments in their schedules for our patients when it is most convenient for them to be seen.

By first evaluating appointment templates and aligning provider schedules to a standard four-hour clinic session definition to ensure patients receive the service and availability they need, the organization was able to add over 36,000 new patient appointments annually into the system through Waves 1, 2 and 3 of the project. The team looks forward to additional slots as Wave 4 goes live on June 1.

“To date, the workgroup has partnered with 28 specialties and over 600+ providers to create increased appointment availability, particularly for new patients that are currently facing long waits to be seen in our clinics,” said Grace Karon, project manager for Ambulatory Services at Texas Children’s. “With these new appointment slots, the team is proud to be helping our patients access the care that they need.”

May 1, 2018

Hope Elizabeth Richards, one of the formerly conjoined twin girls separated at Texas Children’s earlier this year, was discharged April 25 after spending 482 days in the hospital. Hope joined her sister, Anna Grace, who was discharged on March 2.

The Richards family is looking forward to returning to their North Texas home soon. They are grateful for all of the support and prayers they received throughout their daughters’ journey.

“This is the moment it all feels real,” said Jill Richards. “We are so excited for Hope to join Anna and her brothers at home. Our family is eternally thankful for the doctors, nurses, child life specialists, physical therapists and many others at Texas Children’s who took incredible care of our precious girls.”

On January 13, Anna and Hope were successfully separated by a multidisciplinary team of nearly 75 surgeons, anesthesiologists, cardiologists and nurses from eight specialties performed the seven-hour procedure. In preparation for separation, on November 6, 2017, Anna and Hope underwent surgery to place tissue expanders in order to allow their skin to grow and stretch.

The girls were born on December 29, 2016 at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, weighing a combined 9 lbs. 12 oz. Delivered via Cesarean-section at 35 weeks and five days gestation, Anna and Hope were conjoined at their chest and abdomen, through the length of their torso and shared the chest wall, pericardial sac (the lining of the heart), diaphragm and liver. In addition, they had a large blood vessel connecting their hearts. They were welcomed by their parents, Jill and Michael, and older brothers Collin and Seth.

The Richards family, learned Jill was carrying conjoined twins during a routine ultrasound. The family was then referred to Texas Children’s Fetal Center, where they underwent extensive prenatal imaging, multidisciplinary consultation and development of plans to achieve a safe delivery and postnatal care. They temporarily relocated to Houston in order to deliver at Texas Children’s and to be close to the girls during their hospital stay. For the past year, Anna and Hope have been cared for by a team of specialists in the level IV and level II neonatal intensive care units (NICU).

April 26, 2018

On April 24, Texas Children’s friends and supporters attended The Forum Luncheon highlighting the amazing work of the Texas Children’s Heart Center, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation for cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report.

Held at The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston, the program highlighted the story of Tenley Kennedy, who was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition when her mother, Kelly Kennedy, was 20 weeks pregnant.

Kelly said she’d never give up on her baby girl, and neither did the team at the Heart Center.

Two-year-old Tenley was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart. As a result of her disease, Tenley spent most of her life at Texas Children’s Hospital waiting for a heart transplant. On May 13, 2017, her day finally came. Tenley received a heart transplant. The little girl is now at home in Louisiana and thriving.

“Texas Children’s Hospital saved Tenley’s life, and we are forever indebted,” Kelly said.

April 24, 2018

Just 12 short months ago, Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, and leaders in Botswana, Uganda and Malawi, announced a $100 million initiative to create an innovative pediatric hematology-oncology treatment network in sub-Saharan Africa.

Called Global HOPE (Hematology-Oncology Pediatric Excellence), the aim of the initiative is to build long-term capacity to treat and dramatically improve the prognosis of children with cancer and blood disorders in sub-Saharan Africa where the overwhelming majority of pediatric cancer and hematology patients do not survive. The mortality rate is estimated to be as high as 90 percent, in large part 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.

Global HOPE already is making great strides to change these outcomes and the reasons behind them. Since its creation in February 2017, more than 1,000 patients have been treated, 369 health care professionals have been trained, eight physician fellows have enrolled in the first Pediatric Hematology Oncology Fellowship Program in East Africa and seven cancer awareness and survivor events in Botswana, Uganda and Malawi have been organized.

“We’re very excited by the progress in a relatively short amount of time,” said Dr. David Poplack, director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. “Capacity building takes time. This may mean we exceed our original expectations.”

Initially, Global HOPE leaders envisioned treating 5,000 patients in the first five years, but the expectation assumed the numbers would ramp up as the program did. A similar situation occurred in 2003 after the largest pediatric HIV treatment network in the world was created by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative and the Governments of Botswana, Uganda and Malawi. The network has leveraged existing experience, infrastructure, and public/private partnerships to train 52,000 health care professionals and provide care for nearly 300,000 children with HIV and their families in sub-Saharan Africa, lowering the mortality rate for these children to 1.2 percent.

“The success we’ve had in radically changing the course of pediatric HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is due in large part to the tremendous support provided by the country governments, health care providers on the ground and donors who have made our work possible,” said Dr. Mark W. Kline, president and founder of BIPAI, physician-in-chief of Texas Children’s Hospital and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. “We are very pleased by the progress Global HOPE already has made in building a self-sustaining infrastructure that changes the tide of these childhood diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Global HOPE is building on the work Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers and its partners have been providing children with cancer and blood disorders in Africa for a decade. Through the partnership, Global HOPE is active in three countries and has 51 faculty and staff working in Texas Children’s global sites.

These sites, called Centers of Excellence, are being expanded in Botswana, Malawi and Uganda, and aim to serve as regional hubs for pediatric hematology/oncology programs. Progress also is being made on implementing standard treatment protocols and clinical practice guidelines to ensure quality pediatric hematology/oncology care and services are provided across the cancer care continuum, and positively impact overall pediatric health services.

To develop local leaders in Africa in the pediatric hematology/oncology field, Global HOPE has established the first Hematology/Oncology Fellowship in East Africa in Uganda. This two-year fellowship is accredited by the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council and incorporates online training, live lectures, rotations from sub-specialists to provide training on-site, and professional development opportunities, including attending scientific conferences and participating in leadership seminars.

“This fellowship is one of the most important things we are doing in Africa,” Poplack said. “It is the formal educational program that enables us to build medical capacity to diagnose and treat pediatric blood disorders and cancer.”

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is committing $50 million over five years to fund the training of health care providers as well as clinical infrastructure and operations. Global HOPE will raise an additional $50 million for the initiative.

Read these blogs to learn more about Global HOPE:

Global HOPE supports parent-led advocacy group in Uganda

How a blueprint for treating HIV/AIDS is helping address childhood cancer in Africa

All kids with cancer deserve a fighting chance

On April 17, Texas Children’s Hospital launched the new podcast series “Outcomes.” The seven-part series captures just a few of the remarkable stories that occur inside the walls of our hospital every day. Join patient families and Texas Children’s experts on their journey to save lives.

New episodes will be released every Tuesday and will feature patient stories and physician commentary from Texas Children’s Heart Center, Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Neuroscience Center, Texas Children’s Fetal Center, Vaccine, the Vascular Anomalies Center, and more.

Subscribe now at texaschildrens.org/podcasts or where ever you get your podcasts like iTunes, Spotify, and Soundcloud.

Contact brand@texaschildrens.org with questions or comments.