This week on Mark Wallace’s blog, he looks back on the remarkable history and significant meaning behind Juneteenth. Read More
June 16, 2023
June 7, 2023
Thursdays in The Woodlands are Wellness Walk days thanks to a group of Ambulatory Well-Being Heroes. Needing a mental break during the workday, these team members get outside and get moving. “While we get in our steps and enjoy the fresh air, we have the opportunity to meet team members from different areas and disciplines,” explained Yvonne Barham, Ambulatory Clinics Manager. “It is a regularly scheduled event on my calendar, and I look forward to it every Thursday.” Even therapy dog Cohen joins in on the fun sometimes!
These kinds of simple habits are more powerful than you’d expect. In addition to boosting your mood and strengthening your immune system, physical activities like walking and stretching can help reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. Walking with friends or co-workers also helps to facilitate connection and can lead to lesser rates of depression and anxiety.
To help you prioritize your physical well-being and create long-lasting habits, onsite fitness classes are back at all campuses. Employees can once again take toning and yoga classes right here in the hospital.
“The afternoon fitness classes are a great fit for me because of the convenience,” said Mariah Yannerella, Financial & Special Projects Coordinator. “Before walking back to my car or catching the shuttle, I can pop into Feigin and work away the stress of the day!”
Family Services Specialist Karen Schwieterman also loves how the classes have given her the opportunity “to be more active and aware of how important it is to be living a healthy lifestyle.”
Want help starting a walking group of your own? Reach out to Workforce Well-being at wellbeing@texaschildrens.org for pointers on how to get started and nearby walking trails.
Health is wealth and Texas Children’s is here to invest in your physical well-being. Take a class or take a walk but take charge and start today.
May 30, 2023
Visiting a loved one undergoing treatment means everything to both the patient and their family and friends. Over the past few years, Texas Children’s had to adjust visitation guidelines to protect our patients, families and team members.
With the steady decrease of COVID-19 transmissions in the community, we’re ready to transition away from the COVID-19 visitation guidelines.
The new visitation guidelines went into effect Tuesday, May 30. They are available in English and Spanish. They were thoughtfully developed to provide our patients and their visitors the time and flexibility for meaningful interactions while prioritizing everyone’s safety and security.
They are also accessible on the Visitation Guidelines page on the COVID Command Site on Connect. Please familiarize yourself with these guidelines, so you can be prepared to assist our patients, their families and friends.
Appreciative colleague submitted the following Caught You Caring recognition for Practice Manager Nichole Campbell.
“Today while raining, Nichole walked all the patients and their families out to their vehicles with an umbrella. Although she got cold and wet not once did she complain!”
Caught You Caring
There are countless examples of how team members make an impact every day. Through our Caught You Caring recognition program, anyone (patients, families, colleagues, vendors, volunteers or visitors) can provide a kind word about someone who went the extra mile. Even the smallest act of kindness can brighten someone’s day. Click here to submit a recognition for a colleague. The recipient and their leader will receive an email notification. Since its inception in 2015, there have been more than 30,000 recognitions submitted.
May 26, 2023
On May 24, 2022, 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary, forever changing the fabric of a small Texas city.
“Texas Children’s Hospital is only a few hours away from Uvalde…these are our neighbors,” said President and CEO Mark A. Wallace on that tragic day. “[We’re] ready and willing to support the children, parents, families, teachers and administrators of Uvalde in any way we can.”
Texas Children’s immediately reached out to offer assistance and support through centralized state agencies. Led by our psychology and psychiatry teams, we forged a partnership with Community Health Development, Inc. (CHDI), a comprehensive community-based health center in Uvalde.
“Through this partnership with CHDI and city leaders, we developed a three-part plan,” explained Dr. Karin Price, chief of psychology at Texas Children’s. “We started by supporting the Uvalde community after other emergency services (including crisis mental health support) left the area…and since then have been focused on providing trauma-focused behavioral health care and integrating into the community to build trust.”
We have two bilingual behavioral health clinicians on-site at CHDI in Uvalde for two full days every other week, also offering telehealth services to interested families during off-site weeks. Last year, we participated in a community-based wellness fair to share children’s books and information with parents/caregivers on developmentally expected responses to trauma and signs to look out for in children who might need professional help. Two more fairs are planned for this summer, and Texas Children’s has been invited as a key participant.
Since August 2022, a team of child psychiatrists from Texas Children’s have also provided psychiatric care to the community through CHDI. “Initially, the psychiatrists were travelling weekly to Uvalde,” said Dr. Kirti Saxena, chief of psychiatry at Texas Children’s. “Since January, we have provided a combination of virtual and weekly on-site care…and our mind-body interventionist has been facilitating on-site and virtual mind-body practices to the staff of CHDI, which have been well-received.”
Texas Children’s will continue to work with CHDI to develop a sustainable plan for offering comprehensive behavioral health care to the Uvalde community using local and regional resources.
First anniversaries are often the hardest to endure. Please join us in thanking our Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine team members who are committed to supporting Uvalde families through this unthinkable time of grief and loss.
Need support? You are not alone. The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is confidential and designed to support all Texas Children’s employees and eligible dependents with experienced, licensed and credentialed professionals. If you or someone you know is struggling, please contact EAP at 832-824-3327 or EAP@texaschildrens.org.
Every year, we welcome a new group of interns through Texas Children’s Health Plan’s partnership with Project SEARCH. The program offers young adults with disabilities the opportunity to learn valuable work skills to set them on a path to career success.
As we near graduation for this year’s interns, for Antoine Howard and Deveante Williams, the journey is just beginning as they have secured full-time positions at Texas Children’s. They were both commended and recognized for their superior efforts in attendance, dedication and determination to successfully perform their essential duties. They are currently onboarding and will begin work as unit support assistants in the Facilities department upon graduating from Project SEARCH.
“Project SEARCH taught me I can achieve whatever is placed in front of me,” said Williams. “Sometimes the job seemed hard, but Project SEARCH gave me confidence I needed to work harder to complete my tasks. I will miss every part of the program, but I am thankful that I was offered a job doing something that I’m good at.”
All program participants are immersed in the workplace during the nine-month program and have the same expectations on them as current employees. They work with a team, including a TCHP business liaison, Houston ISD instructor and teacher’s assistant, skills trainer, and local and state agencies to create an employment goal. Guided by department mentors, all interns participate in three internships as they explore a variety of career paths.
Howard and Williams, along with Tommy Dorsey, Mallane Livingston and Spencer Guhl rotated through different areas of the business, including TCHP Centers for Children & Women, Medical Affairs, Administration, and TCH Facilities, Gift Shop and Autism Center. They assisted with administrative duties, such as scanning, sorting, filing, MyChart registration, patient wayfinding, retail tasks within TCH gift shops and data entry.
“The best part of Project SEARCH is witnessing each intern’s progress throughout their internship. We get to assist young adults navigate their first steps into the workforce and individually guide each student to identify their career goals and endless possibilities,” said Shamera Beckham, education and training coordinator, Medical Affairs, TCHP. “Interns not only walk away with employability skills, but leave with increased social skills, self-esteem, independence and confidence.”
The Project SEARCH partnership began at TCHP in 2016 as part of an ongoing cultural competency strategy. We aim to create a healthier future for people with disabilities in our global community by leading in education, care coordination and advocacy through partnerships. The program gives our system access to a new, diverse group of talent with skills that match our labor needs, while also bridging the employment gap for individuals with disabilities.
The program continues to expand across the system, with Texas Children’s Pediatrics and Specialty Clinics scheduled for the 2023-24 school year. If your department is interested in supporting an intern, please contact Shamera Beckham.
May 25, 2023
PFW perioperative leader takes the helm of professional organization dedicated to safe surgery, sharing insights from her journey to presidency. Read more