March 6, 2018

Texas Children’s Kangaroo Crew recently received the Texas Department of State Health Services Texas Emergency Medical Services Air Medical Service Award. The award is given annually to an air medical service team in Texas that demonstrates the highest standards in providing patient care and leads the way in innovation and commitment to advancing that care every day.

The Kangaroo Crew demonstrated this resilient commitment at their annual safety training at Hobby Airport. Team members participated in simulated emergencies that may occur in the field.

“We don’t like to talk about it, but it’s something we have to train for and discuss in case of an emergency,” said Kangaroo Crew Education Coordinator Jennifer Bee.

Texas Children’s created the Kangaroo Crew over 30 years ago to transport critically ill babies and children to Texas Children’s Hospital from all over the nation and Central America for high level care. The team’s annual safety training focuses on extensive preparation activities that allow them to agilely care for patients on and off of the ground. The Kangaroo Crew partners with Hobby Airport, Seven Bar Aviation, and Wilson Air to stage the event, which highlights Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, and tactics for responding during aircraft and ambulance transports.

Texas Children’s Mission Control plays a major role in the Kangaroo Crew’s swift transportation process. The initial call for a transport comes through Mission Control to the dispatchers. A charge nurse and physician help assess the need, and a transport team is dispatched immediately. Prior to the creation of Mission Control last year, the transport process averaged about 50-60 minutes.

“Now that Mission Control is part of that process, we’ve decreased our transport time by almost 50 percent,” Bee said. “We’re down to like less than 30 minutes, which is a significant change for our team. We’re getting out the door to the patients much faster.”

Efficiency is an important part of the process when dealing with critically ill patients. However, it is also imperative to perform each step precisely to avoid mistakes. Hence, the annual training.

“You want to stay calm and collected so that way you’re not tripping over stuff,” said Seven Bar Aviation Captain Kyle Neill. “Being more methodical about it versus just trying to get out as soon as possible, is a better practice. That way you can get the patient, unhook their lines and get out the door safely.”

Despite the immense pressure of the job, the goal of the intense training is to educate and strengthen the team. Bee said she makes sure the training is also a bonding experience.

“I try to throw a team building activity in there, which helps because we are constantly on the go when we are here at the hospital,” she said. “It’s kind of a small family. Everybody understands the importance of everyone’s role.”

The Kangaroo Crew employs nearly a hundred employees with a wide range of backgrounds.

“It is imperative that we train as a multi-disciplinary team – with pilots, transport team members and simulated patients – for high-risk-low-frequency events and prepare for every situation,” said Dr. Jeanine Graf, Kangaroo Crew Medical Director. “I am proud to be associated with a consistently high performing team that prioritizes safety in our simulation training.”

Texas Children’s Kangaroo Crew is the only pediatric intensive care transport service in the region that offers such a high level of expertise on each transport.

“As we look forward to the opening of Legacy Tower, we will be ready to provide access to all of our critically ill patients who call on us for service,” Graf said.

Click here or more information about the Kangaroo Crew.

February 27, 2018

The American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) announced that Dr. Tiffany Nguyen, is among the 204 physicians and 43 PhD/Masters-level health clinicians who have become the first medical professionals globally, to be certified as Diplomates of the ABLM/American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine.

The ABLM was formed in November, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee, by a group of visionary physicians who saw the need to: educate physicians and allied health professionals about Lifestyle Medicine; set a common standard/language for Lifestyle Medicine protocols globally; differentiate between evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine professionals and non-evidence based Lifestyle Medicine practitioners; set a global Lifestyle Medicine benchmark; and attract health insurance funding for evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine by requiring that any fund receivers be formally certified.

“Gone are the days of diagnosing the ill, prescribing the pill and sending the bill, which has worked so well in combating communicable disease, but is hopelessly inadequate in the fight against chronic disease,” said ABLM Executive Director Stephan Herzog. “Nourishment, movement, resilience and social connectedness will become the focal point of physicians in addressing the underlying causes of chronic disease, with increasing numbers of medical schools starting to train their students in the principles of lifestyle medicine.”

Each clinician took an exam October 26 in Tucson, AZ, following the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s 2017 conference.

“For the patient, having health care providers not only look at the symptoms, but also at the underlying cause of disease,” said ACLM President George Guthrie. “It will help them take charge of their health and prevent, arrest and reverse chronic disease, thus returning years to their life and life to their years.”

Dr. Nguyen practices at the Texas Children’s Pediatrics Kingwood location, where she continues to uphold the core values of ALBM as well as Texas Children’s.

The U.S. Department of State announced that Dr. Peter Hotez has been appointed as a representative to the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation Board of Governors. Hotez is a world renowned expert in neglected tropical diseases, the most common diseases affecting the poor. He is also the Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics.

The foundation promotes scientific cooperation between the United States and Israel by supporting collaborative research projects in a wide area of basic and applied scientific fields for peaceful and non-profit purposes.

“I’m excited to be re-engaged in science diplomacy in the Middle East,” Hotez said. “From my time as U.S. Science Envoy and now with the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, I have found that our nation has extraordinary capacity to reach out and promote science and technology across the globe.”

The Foundation also supports workshops and travel grants for young scientists. Since it was established, they have awarded over $600 million to more than 4,500 research projects that have resulted in significant advances in many scientific fields.

Hotez previously served as U.S. Science Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, focusing his work on Saudi Arabia and Morocco. This is just one of the many honors that Hotez has received, and he plans to continue innovating and inspiring through his work within Texas Children’s and internationally.

Cardiologists with Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program recently received The American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) new Adult Congenital Heart Disease certification. The ABIM certification is designed to recognize the qualifications of physicians who are specialists in the care of a wide range of adult patients with congenital heart disease.

Program Director Dr. Wayne Franklin, Associate Program Director Dr. Peter Ermis and Cardiac Rhythm Specialist Dr. Wilson Lam earned the certification after passing the exam, available only to qualified ABIM and/or American Board of Pediatrics diplomates who have completed required training in cardiovascular disease or pediatric cardiology.

“We are excited about all three of our ACHD cardiologists becoming certified,” said Sarah McMaster, director of ambulatory services and clinical business operations for the Heart Center’s Cardiology Department. “It is in alignment with our perspective that Texas Children’s is the best place for patients with congenital heart disease, even adults, to receive care.”

Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program earned Comprehensive Care Center accreditation from the Adult Congenital Heart Association this past fall. Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program is the first in Texas to receive this esteemed designation. Our program also now has the most ACHD board-certified cardiologists than any institution in Texas.

Click here to read more about our Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program and the providers who received the ABIM certification.

February 20, 2018

Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace recently enjoyed an intimate surprise celebration in the building that bears his name. Last week, a few leaders, staff members and Texas Children’s ukulele choir joined him for the unveiling of a new plaque, which officially dedicates the building in his honor.

“Thank you so very much for this,” Wallace said to the choir and the small crowd. “I’m deeply honored by this special moment with all of you.”

As Wallace approached the bridge, he was surprised by a small crowd and the ukulele choir, which sang an original song that music therapists Marial Biard and Alex Brickley composed about Wallace’s legacy of leadership.

Acts of leadership create tidal waves of growth.
Pledging your life to accelerate healthcare.
You’re an exemplar of this oath.

Those are just a few lyrics from the ukulele choir’s song, The Texas Children’s Way. Brickley, who co-leads the choir with Biard, said The Texas Children’s Way is the lyrical epitome of Wallace’s vision for the hospital.

“We wanted to make sure we used Texas Children’s core values in the lyrics,” Brickley said. “We knew we wanted to incorporate those because that’s what Mark Wallace said leadership is about and that’s what Texas Children’s stands for.”

The choir includes employees of all professions and allows them a break during the day to step away from work, relax, and learn music. The choir performs for our patients and is often requested for employee events.

The newly unveiled plaque hangs at the end of The Auxiliary Bridge near the third-floor entrance to Wallace Tower. Previously, Texas Children’s 16-floor clinical building had been the Clinical Care Tower. In March, Texas Children’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the building Mark A. Wallace Tower in honor of our long-time President and CEO.

Wallace took the reins of Texas Children’s Hospital in 1989, and under his leadership, Texas Children’s has become the largest and most comprehensive pediatric and women’s health care organization in the nation. Although obviously surprised by the small celebration, Wallace immediately offered a few words of aspiration and a promise.

“Even though we’ve done a lot in these last several years together, the best is yet to come,” Wallace said.

Special thanks to the ukulele choir members who performed at Mr. Wallace’s plaque unveiling:
Saharay Alamos-Almeida
Marial Biard
Alix Brickley
Ashby Gleditsch
Amanda Harris
Caley Johns
David Kolacny
Nick Ryan Magdoza
Danh K Nguyen
Halle Nick
Hannah Nilsen
Ashley Wood

The Clinical Research Center/Research Resources Office presented the Clinical Research Award for First Quarter 2018 to Dr. Daniel Leung, associate professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition where he serves as Director of Clinical Research.

This award was established by the Clinical Research Center in collaboration with the Research Resources Office to recognize and honor individual contributions to protecting the best interest of the research subjects and compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

Leung’s research activities in the CRC focus on caring for children with a variety of liver disorders. He is an active investigator in the NIH-supported CFLD and ChiLDReN Networks which study cholestatic and cystic fibrosis-related liver disease and led the recently completed Cystic Fibrosis Foundation sponsored multi-center Baby Observational Nutritional Study (BONUS). Leung also oversees the Viral Hepatitis Program at Texas Children’s Hospital which offers cutting edge antiviral therapies through several clinical trials to children throughout the state who have Hepatitis B and C. Virtually all these patients are seen for study treatment and long-term follow up with the support of CRC staff. With the new pipeline of oral direct acting antivirals (DAAs) against hepatitis C, children with chronic HCV can now be cured in as short as 12 weeks with minimal to no side effects. Leung credits the outstanding nursing staff in the CRC and research coordinators through the RRO as “true co-laborers in helping cure and eradicate viral hepatitis in children and breaking the vicious cycle of these viruses.”

Elizabeth Ellen “Betsy” Parish, journalist and author of Texas Children’s history book, Legacy: 50 Years of Loving Care, Texas Children’s Hospital, 1954-2004, died at her home on Tuesday, February 13. At 71, she left behind a legacy of her own with her passion for documenting and preserving the history of health care in Houston.

Parish is a native Houstonian, earning a college degree in Journalism from the University of Houston. She used her journalistic skills to become a newspaper columnist and public relations executive, eventually being acknowledged as “Houston’s hot media personality.”

Upon writing Legacy for our hospital, she was given the opportunity to produce historic literature for other medical institutions. She co-authored Houston Hearts: A History of Cardiovascular Surgery and Medicine and The Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, published in 2014, as well as, Reflections – Houston Methodist Hospital, published in 2016.

Most recently, she edited Tributes, a compilation of previously published articles regarding Dr. Michael DeBakey, which was published in 2017.

Texas Children’s is appreciative of her contribution to the documentation of our hospital’s story, and we will continue to remember her as her name lives on the cover and throughout our history book.

A memorial service in celebration of the life of Elizabeth Ellen Parish is to be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Friday, the 23rd of March, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston.

In lieu of flowers and customary remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed to The Betsy Parish Fund, c/o The Parish School, 11001 Hammerly Blvd., Houston, TX 77043.