June 24, 2019

After nearly 30 years at Texas Children’s, Xavier George is just as devoted to patient care as he was when he first stepped foot in the hospital. As a patient care assistant (PCA) George is the first person to see the patients in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) at the Medical Center Campus. The majority of his time at Texas Children’s he has been the comforting part of the patient’s experience, easing any apprehensions they may have before procedures.

“It’s so fantastic to work for Texas Children’s,” George said. “All of my hard worker and the reasons that I continue to come to work, day after day and year after year, is for the children.”

George’s compassion and experience with the children helps decrease anxiety of the parents and guardians as well.

“We have been coming here for two years now and every time we come, Xavier is kind, compassionate, friendly, and upbeat,” the parent of a patient said. “I cannot say enough nice things about him, he’s so great!”

George has the ability to work in many roles in PACU. He is able to work the waiting room and pre-op and PACU secretary. His flexibility makes it so much easier for everyone on the department to do their job.

“Xavier demonstrates teamwork and compassion towards coworker’s on a daily basis,” Perioperative Nursing Manager Beth Jones said. “He works well with the pre-op team to ensure positive experience for our patients. He steps in wherever he is needed to ensure a positive work environment. He will do all of this with a positive attitude. It is great having him on my team.”

June 18, 2019

The results of the 2019 U.S. News & World Report survey of Best Children’s Hospitals are in, and Texas Children’s Hospital is again among the best in the nation!

This year, Texas Children’s tied for third place among all children’s hospitals nationally, a ranking no other pediatric hospital in the state has ever achieved.

In addition, for the first time, Texas Children’s is ranked in the top 10 in each of the U.S. News & World Report-recognized pediatric sub-specialties. Six of our sub-specialties were ranked in the top 3 – two are ranked #1, two are ranked #2, and another two are ranked #3.

“We should all be very proud of this remarkable accomplishment,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace. “It is because of our One Amazing Team and each team member’s steadfast commitment to quality and excellence that we were able to reach this achievement. Thank you for your dedication to Texas Children’s Hospital and to the patients and families we serve.”

Some highlights of the 13th annual Best Children’s Hospitals rankings for Texas Children’s include:

  • Cardiology and Congenital Heart Surgery is again ranked #1 in the nation, due in part to our increasing the number of RNs in the PICU with more than two years of experience, and exceeding thresholds in four-year combined risk-adjusted operative mortality.
  • Pulmonology, which first debuted in the top spot in the 2016 rankings, is again ranked #1 in the nation. We decreased the percentage of patients readmitted to the hospital to address asthma-related symptoms, and exceeded thresholds in structure metrics, such as mean LOS for asthma patients.
  • Nephrology moved up a spot and is now ranked #2 in the nation, with a significant decrease in hemodialysis catheter associated BSI and an improvement in children younger than 5 years of age receiving hemodialysis.
  • Gastroenterology & GI surgery rose to #2 in the nation from #4, achieving successful Kasai procedures in biliary atresia patients and improving the percentage of patients experiencing prednisone-free admission.
  • Cancer is #3 in the nation, up from #6. We increased the five-year survival of patients with neuroblastoma and increased the percentage of patients who received intravenous treatment antibiotics within an hour of triage.
  • Neurology and Neurosurgery remained at #3 in the nation, showing a significant improvement in 30-day unplanned return to the operating room for craniotomy and a decrease in readmission within 30 days of surgery for Chiari decompression patients.

Our entire list of rankings includes:

#1 Cardiology and Congenital Heart Surgery
#1 Pulmonology
#2 Gastroenterology and GI surgery
#2 Nephrology
#3 Neurology and Neurosurgery
#3 Cancer
#6 Urology
#7 (tie) Neonatology
#8 Diabetes and Endocrinology
#10 Orthopedics

Overall, Texas Children’s exceeded nursing intensity thresholds, made significant improvement in ICU CLABSI rates and exceeded thresholds for hospital acquired pressure injuries.

U.S. News & World Report introduced the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings in 2007 to help families of children with rare or life-threatening illnesses find the best medical care available. The rankings are the most comprehensive source of quality-related information on U.S. pediatric hospitals.

The U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals rankings rely on clinical data and on an annual survey of pediatric specialists. The rankings methodology factors in patient outcomes, such as mortality and infection rates, as well as available clinical resources and compliance with best practices.

“The results also reflect the efforts of our team and their unwavering focus on the U.S. News survey,” Wallace said. “Compiling and refining our data is a continuous process and, with the support of our medical staff, in-chiefs, service chiefs, as well as Mark Mullarkey, Trudy Leidich, Elizabeth Pham and the entire Quality team, we have made significant strides this past year.”

This year’s rankings will be published in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals 2020” guidebook, available in stores mid-September or online at usnews.com/childrenshospitals. You can learn more about Texas Children’s rankings here.

June 17, 2019

Dr. Huda Zoghbi, world-renowned neuroscientist and director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, was recently honored for her groundbreaking contributions in pediatrics, neuroscience and genetic research by the BrightFocus® Foundation and by the American Pediatric Society (APS).

The BrightFocus Foundation presented Zoghbi with the Pioneer in Genetics award at their An Evening of BrightFocus gala in Washington, D.C. that brought together more than 350 guests from the scientific, philanthropic, private and public sectors. The award recognized Zoghbi’s collaborative cross-species genetic studies that could one day lead to actionable therapies for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

BrightFocus funds research activities worldwide aimed at ending Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration and glaucoma, and provides resources – including research updates, facts and data, inspiring stories and advice from recognized experts – for those affected by these life-altering diseases.

In an interview with event host, MSNBC anchor Richard Lui, Zoghbi discussed how the research that’s being done on rare diseases could potentially translate to more common illnesses.

“We work on rare diseases and try to find treatments for them, but what I’ve learned is that many of the principles that we apply to the study of rare diseases can be applied to more common disorders using a similar strategy,” she said. “Eventually, we hope that the headway we make on these rare disorders could lead to treatments for millions in the long term.”

At the annual Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting, Zoghbi was named the 2019 Norman J. Siegel New Member Outstanding Science Award recipient by the American Pediatrics Society (APS), the oldest and most prestigious academic pediatric organization in North America. The award is presented each year to one new APS member for their considerable contribution to the advancement of pediatric science.

The PAS Meeting is the leading event for academic pediatric and child health research, and brings together thousands of pediatricians, researchers, academics and health care providers from around the world, and unites them in the mission to improve the health and well-being of children.

The APS is dedicated to the advancement of child health through the promotion of pediatric research, recognition of achievement and cultivation of excellence through advocacy, scholarship, education and leadership development. Admittance into the APS is via nomination. Members are recognized as academic leaders in pediatrics, and they continue to contribute to the overall progress of child health while inspiring the next generation of child health professionals.

Texas Children’s and academic partner Baylor College of Medicine were proud to have several faculty and staff inducted into the APS this year.

These included:
Dr. Carla Davis, chief of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology
Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald, chief medical officer of Pediatrics for Texas Children’s Health Plan
Dr. Jesus Vallejo, medical director of Texas Children’s International Patient Services
Dr. Kristy Murray, vice-chair for Research in the Section of Pediatrics at Baylor

Every day there is a different task and work space, but the quality of Kristi White’s patient care in always the same; extraordinary. As the charge respiratory therapist, White assumes the responsibility of assisting almost everyone whether it is relieving people for breaks, setting up equipment, or attending meetings. Despite the many busy days, she says that being successful is all about remaining confident and encouraging.

“It’s a positive and happy environment here. Even on their worst days, the kids don’t think of the negative things,” White said. Since the children are already so positive, we have to remain that way as well to keep the energy up.”

White is the epitome of positivity as she continues to be dedicated to making sure her patients and co-workers keep a smile on their faces as the head of the Respiratory Department’s Morale Committee. She is also a forward thinker and takes initiative when it comes to advancing a patient’s recovery.

“Kristi steps out of her role as a respiratory therapist all the time,” Respiratory Care Supervisor Lindsey Franks said. “She goes above and beyond for not only the people in our department, but for our patients as well. She is an amazing knowledgeable charge therapist who is always willing to go the extra mile.”

Franks recalled a time when Kristi first started at West Campus and had a patient who was on a home continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask. She was very concerned that the child was outgrowing the mask and knew it was something that needed to be accessed.

“Kristi took time out of her busy day to call the home health company, give them the patient’s name, serial number of mask, and inform them that the patient needs a mask refitting as soon as possible,” Franks said. “She is more than deserving of the Caught You Caring Award because to me, it is all about the little things.”

White’s innate ability to automatically adhere to the needs of patients regardless of what it is makes her stand out from others. She has no problem jumping into a full body Disney character costume to please a patient, or even come in early or stay late just to finish a project for the kids. She says that thinking outside of the box is such a regular action for her that she didn’t expect to be acknowledged for it, especially this time around.

“I actually laughed and I said, who nominated me for this?” White said amusingly. “I didn’t believe it, because in my mind I just do regular things that a pediatric respiratory therapist would do. However, that is the nature of this department, there is always a surprise and I am very appreciative of this particular one. The possibilities, opportunities, and experiences are endless here at Texas Children’s.”

June 10, 2019

Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women has been designated a level IV maternal care facility, the highest level of care available. The designation was finalized late last week and followed a rigorous site visit conducted by the EMS/Trauma Systems Office of the Texas Department of State Health Services. A level IV maternal care facility provides comprehensive care for pregnant and postpartum patients, from those with low-risk conditions up to and including the most complex medical, surgical and/or obstetrical conditions that present a high-risk of maternal morbidity or mortality.

“This designation certifies that we offer the highest level of care for the most complex obstetric patients,” said Dr. Christina Davidson, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and chief quality officer at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “It speaks to the expertise of our clinical teams and the processes we have in place to ensure high-quality care and the positive outcomes we strive for.”

With the overall goal of reducing infant and maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States, the designation comes as the result of legislation passed in 2013 requiring Texas to establish and implement neonatal and maternal level of care designations by March 1, 2018. The intent of the legislation is to ensure both neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and maternal care facilities have the resources and expertise to provide high-quality, specialized patient care that leads to the best outcomes for mothers and babies.

Texas is one of the first states requiring maternal care facilities undergo a site visit to verify the level of care provided to patients meets the Maternal Levels of Care classifications as defined in the Texas Administrative Code. Completing the designation process is a requirement to receive Medicaid reimbursement for obstetrical care by August 31, 2020.

“This designation is the fruit of the work we perform daily. It is recognition by the Department of State Health Services of Texas Children’s commitment and investment to maternal health,” said Dr. Nan Ybarra, director of nursing for inpatient services at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “With over 6,200 deliveries annually, we are committed to serving women in our community and partnering with community hospitals to strengthen their maternal care processes and programs – our singular goal is to improve outcomes for pregnant women across Texas and beyond.”

Texas Children’s announced in January it opened one of the nation’s few intensive care units dedicated solely to obstetrical critical care. It is the only four-bed maternal ICU in the country staffed 24/7 by both pulmonary critical care and maternal-fetal care teams embedded in a hospital’s labor and delivery unit. This maternal ICU offers a specialized, private space for high-risk expectant and postpartum mothers with conditions such as sepsis, peripartum bleeding, placenta accreta, maternal heart disease and other serious conditions.

The hospital also has a nationally known placenta accreta spectrum program, where a team of experts provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for women with this potentially life-threatening pregnancy complication that occurs in approximately 1 in 1,000 to 2,000 pregnancies.

Additionally, in 2017, Texas Children’s obstetrics service partnered with the hospital’s Kangaroo Crew to create the Maternal Transport Service, further bolstering its reputation as a primary referral site for patients with high-risk pregnancies. The team, consisting of a Kangaroo Crew nurse, labor and delivery nurse, respiratory therapist, and EMT, can provide specialty care to mothers while enroute to the Pavilion for Women, helping the hospital’s community partners transport their sickest patients for the most optimal outcomes for mothers and babies.

“It’s crucial for women, especially those experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, to be educated about the level of obstetrical care available in the facility in which they plan to deliver,” said Dr. Michael Belfort, obstetrician/gynecologist-in-chief at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women.

The Department of Critical Care celebrated the remarkable legacy of Dr. Thomas Vargo during Pediatric Ground Rounds on May 24.

Texas Children’s founded the Thomas A. Vargo Visiting Professorship in honor of Vargo’s service as the first chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and the first full-time medical director of Texas Children’s pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), a position he accepted in 1979 at the personal request of legendary Physician-in-Chief, Dr. Ralph D. Feigin.

“The Visiting Professorship is a wonderful opportunity for us to honor Dr. Vargo and his great contributions to Critical Care and Cardiology at Texas Children’s and at the same time learn from and interact with the top experts in the field of pediatric critical care,” said Texas Children’s Chief of Critical Care Dr. Lara Shekerdemian. “I can only imagine what an undertaking it was to build a program at a time when pediatric intensive care was in its infancy and none of the resources we have today – human, technology or equipment – were available. Despite these challenges, Dr. Vargo persevered and laid the foundation for the wonderful service we are part of today.”

This year’s Visiting Professor was Dr. Peter Laussen, Chief of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Professor of Anaesthesia at the University of Toronto, the David and Stacey Cynamon Chair in Critical Medicine, and a globally recognized authority on cardiac critical care.

Over the past decade, Laussen has focused on systems and human engineering applied to critical care, and is the lead developer of a web-based data visualization platform that stores ICU data collected in real time from multiple sources, such as patient monitors, ventilators and lab systems. That data is then seamlessly synthesized in a manner that reduces the impact of human error in ICU decision-making processes.

In his presentation, “Boosting Signals and Seeing Patterns: Artificial Intelligence and Critical Care,” Laussen described the changing landscape of critical care medicine over the past 40 years. He also discussed the increasingly important relationship between critical care and technology, and specifically addressed the potential advantages of artificial intelligence and data science in critical care.

Technology and data utilization are already crucial aspects of care at Texas Children’s. Ultimately, we hope to have the ability to use sophisticated data platforms as decision support tools to enhance patient care and even to predict imminent deterioration.

Another example of how we’re using data is in Texas Children’s Mission Control, where we have real-time tracking of our transport ambulances and plane. That simple ability lets us better estimate ETAs and redirect teams for emergencies. Our teams also have access to real-time census data that allows them to know our bed capacity and how best to direct patients to the closest ICU.

A recent scenario when this technology made a lifesaving difference happened in August 2018. Mission Control received a call from a surgery center north of Houston, where a child suffered a lacerated carotid artery during a routine outpatient procedure. The Kangaroo Crew team at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands was dispatched to the patient, while a second team was sent from the Texas Medical Center with emergency blood. Mission Control coordinated a precise meeting between the two teams to hand off the blood and was in constant communication with our emergency center, ENT surgeons and others to meet the child on arrival. Prior to launching Mission Control, with its sophisticated technology and communication tools, this would not have been possible.

About Dr. Thomas A. Vargo

Dr. Tom Vargo was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California. He received his bachelor’s degree from George Pepperdine College and his medical degree from UCLA. He trained in pediatrics in Madison, Wisconsin, where he met his wife, Connie. The two have been married since 1964 and have three children.

After spending two years in the United States Air Force in Florida, Vargo joined Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s in 1968 to train in Cardiology with Drs. Dan McNamara and Denton Cooley. Vargo has remained in Houston since, serving as a professor of Pediatrics at Baylor. In that time, he laid the foundation for Texas Children’s world-class Critical Care service, which now has 80 attending physicians, 40 advanced practice providers, 10 physician instructors and 20 fellows, admitting more than 7,000 patients annually to the critical care units at our Texas Medical Center campus, West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

The highlight of Vargo’s career has been the education and training of students and residents. He has been a long-time member and chair of various medical school student and resident physician advisory committees. His lectures were always popular with the medical students and he has mentored numerous fellows and faculty. For more than 40 years, he has been the training program director of four different residency programs at Baylor – in pediatrics, pediatric cardiology, critical care medicine and the post-graduate year 1 residency. Vargo was a founding member and president of the Society of Pediatric Cardiology Training Program Directors. He has received multiple teaching awards from medical students and residents at Baylor, including the Pediatrics Department’s lifetime teaching award.

Texas Children’s own Joselin Martinez, senior administrative coordinator to the Pediatric Department of Neurosurgery, was recently honored at The Admin Awards® Gala at the Houston Post Oak Hotel on May 22.

Sometimes referred to as the “Academy Awards for Admins,” The Admin Awards® is the first and only public recognition program of its kind in the nation that specifically honors the achievements, dedication and importance of administrative professionals. Individuals are recognized across several categories – such as Office Management, Company Loyalty, Spirit and Rookie of the Year – at celebrations in seven U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Houston. The winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges from a pool of hundreds of nominees.

Martinez received the Administrative Excellence in Healthcare Award, presented to an individual who effectively serves and exhibits excellence in the health care industry.

“I was very happy and excited to have been nominated and my application selected from hundreds of applications in the Houston area,” said Martinez. “I never thought I would make it to the final round of nominees, let alone be the winner! To receive such an award with my name engraved in it, and the amazing company that I work for meant so much.”

She was nominated by Texas Children’s Director of Neurosurgery Oncology Dr. Guillermo Aldave, Chief of Neurosurgery Dr. Howard Weiner and Epilepsy program coordinator, Georgina Cedillo.

“Ms. Martinez is outstanding in every way and I could not carry out the many critical functions of my job without the continuous, tremendous expertise she brings to our team every day,” said Weiner. “I am struck by her ambition, drive, intelligence, independence and the manner with which she carries herself – always with great courtesy and a pleasant demeanor, despite the stressful nature of her work. She is clearly headed for greater heights of success.”

In addition to numerous support responsibilities, Martinez also serves as academic coordinator for the Division of Neurosurgery’s resident and fellowship program.

“Joselin is one of the reasons why our department is so highly regarded among other institutions, especially when it comes to her performance as direct coordinator for the academic part of our residency and fellowship program,” said Aldave. “We consistently receive positive feedback from applicants from all over the country about how efficiently and well-organized their time at Texas Children’s is. Joselin is responsible for that incredible first impression.”

Martinez is also is a current member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and an active member of the Medical Group Management Association. She holds a dual master’s degree in Healthcare and Business Administration, as well as certifications in medical office management and Lean Six Sigma.

“My work in the department of Neurosurgery has been nothing but fulfilling in every way,” Martinez said. “Texas Children’s Hospital opened the opportunity for me to be a part of a tremendously focused team that values each and every one of their staff. Being a part of this team has been nothing but spectacular in every way, and I am motivated now more than ever to be the best I can be for Texas Children’s Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery.”