December 19, 2017

Dr. Jordan Orange, professor of pediatrics and chief of the section of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology at Baylor College of Medicine, and the director of the Center for Human Immunobiology at Texas Children’s, is the recipient of the 2018 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST).

Each year, the O’Donnell Awards recognize rising Texas researchers who are addressing the essential role that science and technology play in society, and whose work meets the highest standards of exemplary professional performance, creativity and resourcefulness.

As a trailblazing innovator in modern medicine, Orange was recognized for his accomplishments in defining a new class of diseases, natural killer cell deficiencies. These diseases take place when the body’s built-in defenses against infections, pathogens and cancer are defective and prevent the body from being able to adequately fight back. His work has uncovered immune deficiencies and identified secrets of these disorders to improve diagnosis and treatment for patients, particularly children.

“Learning more about how natural killer cells work could have an important role in the therapy of some of the most vexing medical conditions that we face,” said Dr. Mark W. Kline, chair of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital. “The potential of his work is just now beginning to manifest.”

“The TAMEST Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards showcase the best and brightest among Texas researchers,” says TAMEST President Gordon England. “Their work is helping to advance science and open new pathways to discovery. We’re proud to recognize Dr. Jordan Orange for his achievements.”

Orange will be presented with this award at a special dinner and reception at the TAMEST annual conference on Thursday, January 11, in League City.

Representatives from the Otolaryngology, Pulmonology, Audiology, and Speech, Language and Learning groups at Texas Children’s Hospital presented and attended the 2017 SENTAC (Society for ENT Advances in Children) Annual Meeting in Toronto.

Otolaryngologist Dr. Carol Liu, former fellow Dr. Annabelle Tay Sok Yan, resident Dr. Tanner Fullmer, Sr. Audiologist Barbara Novak, and medical student Mark Michael gave presentations during the conference.

Dr. Rodrigo Silva and Dr. Tony Hughes from Otolaryngology served as session moderators and Dr. Shailendra Das from Pulmonary was a panelist.

Barbara Novak received the 2017 SENTAC Quality Care Award for the highest scoring abstract at the conference.

At the conclusion of the conference, Texas Children’s Dr. Deepak Mehta received the SENTAC President’s Bell to ring as he assumed the SENTAC presidency for 2018.

The Texas Children’s contingent also attended an event at the Hockey Hall of Fame and had a group photo taken with the Stanley Cup. The 2018 Annual Meeting will be held in Houston with Texas Children’s as the host site.

December 13, 2017

Dr. Carla Davis has been appointed the new head of the Section of Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology and Chief of the Allergy/Immunology Service in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Jordan Orange, who currently holds this position, will be leaving Texas Children’s to become the new Chair of Columbia University’s Department of Pediatrics. Until his departure in the Spring 2018, Orange will work closely with Davis to ensure a smooth transition of leadership.

Davis earned an M.D. degree from Duke University Medical School in 1997. She completed pediatric residency training at Baylor and Texas Children’s, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in Allergy and Immunology (2001-2003) and HIV/AIDS Clinical Research (2000-2001 and 2003-2004). She joined the Baylor faculty as an assistant professor in 2005 and was promoted to associate professor in 2015. Davis is certified by both the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. She is an internationally recognized authority and investigator in the field of food allergies.

“Under Dr. Davis’ leadership, I have no doubt that our outstanding programs in Immunology, Allergy and Rheumatology will continue to flourish,” said Texas Children’s Physician-in-Chief Mark W. Kline. “Please join me in thanking Dr. Davis for her willingness to take on this important leadership role.”

December 12, 2017

A lot happens behind the scenes before patients are wheeled into the operating room at Texas Children’s Hospital to undergo surgery. Technicians disinfect the OR from top to bottom and a team of people with the Sterile Processing Department clean, prepare, assemble and sterilize surgical instruments for patient care.

At Texas Children’s Main OR in the Medical Center, the sterile processing team handles instruments for close to 80 procedures a day Monday through Friday and around 15 procedures on the weekends. The procedures can require anywhere from two to 12 sets of instruments each with a numerous amount of single instruments.

The team processes more than 17,000 instruments a day. To be able to handle this and keep up with the demands there are 3,200 plus sets of instruments. Sterilization of the instrument sets can be accomplished by steam, hydrogen peroxide, or ethylene oxide. Each requires special quality assurance monitoring and designated time for completion.

There are also operating rooms designated for cardiovascular cases, at Wallace Tower, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands that have their own sterile processing areas.

Click here to watch Channel 11 KHOU’s story about Texas Children’s sterile processing team.

Dr. Paul Sirbaugh, chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine since 2012, has been named chief medical officer for Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, effective January 2, 2018. Sirbaugh will succeed Dr. Charles Hankins, who will be joining CHRISTUS as system senior vice-president of pediatrics and president and chief medical officer of The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.

Sirbaugh brings a wealth of expertise and experience to this leadership role. In addition to a medical degree and board certification in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine, Sirbaugh earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from Rice University. He has served as the pediatric medical director for the City of Houston Emergency Medical Service for the past 22 years and is an extremely broad-based clinician, medical educator and clinical investigator. He currently serves as associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a proven leader of Dr. Sirbaugh’s impeccable character and abilities step into this important role,” said Texas Children’s Physician-In-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline. “We thank all of you, but especially our Woodlands-based faculty and staff, for joining us in congratulating Dr. Sirbaugh and welcoming him to The Woodlands community.”

For the fourth year, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus has been named one of the 10 top children’s hospitals in the nation by The Leapfrog Group, an independent hospital watchdog organization. The award recognizes achievements in patient safety and quality and is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive and exclusive honors an American hospital can receive.

“We are honored to again be recognized as a top performing children’s hospital by The Leapfrog Group,” said Michelle Riley-Brown president of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and executive vice president of Texas Children’s Hospital. “Our entire team of physicians, nurses and employees strive to provide a safe environment where we can deliver the highest quality care possible for our patients and their families. We applaud our team for their tireless work and the incredible care they provide for the children in our community every day.”

In the survey, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus received a Top Children’s Hospital distinction and was recognized nationally alongside 45 Top General Hospitals, 18 Top Rural Hospitals, 36 Top Teaching Hospitals and only nine other Top Children’s Hospitals.

“We are proud to recognize Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus as a 2017 Leapfrog Top Hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and Chief Executive Officer of Leapfrog. “This demonstrates extraordinary dedication to patients and the local community. The entire staff and board deserve praise for putting quality first and achieving results.”

The Leapfrog Group is an organization that provides the only national, public comparison of hospitals across safety, quality and efficiency dimensions. Performance across many areas of hospital care is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, maternity care, and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors.

To see the full list of institutions honored as 2017 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.

November 14, 2017

As we wrap up our Caught You Caring series on Connect, we share one more inspiring story of a Texas Children’s employee who demonstrates what it means to go above and beyond for her patients and their families.

For nearly eight years, Amanda Riddle has found it her life’s passion to take care of sick children. As a neurology nurse in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, she makes sure her patients have the best possible experience during their hospital stay as many of them are sometimes here for several months on the unit.

“I nominated Amanda for the Caught You Caring award because she truly embodies a caregiver,” said Elizabeth Davis, patient care manager in Neurology. “She lives the values and demonstrates true advocacy and empathy for patients, families and staff. She always greets patients and their families to see if they are having a great experience during their hospital stay, and she is willing to support her colleagues when they need a helping hand.”

Recently, Amanda noticed that one of the floor’s newer nurses was struggling with her current patient load. Amanda rushed in to help by performing blood draws and handling lab work so that her colleague could focus on her other patients with more urgent needs.

Her colleagues on the unit describe Amanda as a coworker who has a “passion for the work that she does which is impossible to miss. Whenever Amanda is on the unit, she will not let you be in the trenches alone.”

Launched in 2015, Texas Children’s Caught You Caring program is a systemwide program that recognizes employees for going above and beyond to provide compassion and kindness in the care of a patient, family or co-worker. Recently, Riddle was among more than a dozen employees who received a pair of tickets to watch the Houston Texans Play 60 game on October 1, after being recognized for his acts of kindness through this program.

Texas Children’s wants to continue to recognize those who take great pride in the work they do and encourages patients, families and employees to catch someone who is making a difference.

To nominate a colleague, Caught You Caring boxes and cards can be found across the Texas Children’s hospital system for patients and families to fill out. Employees can fill out a staff recognition.

For the past four weeks, Connect featured a series of Caught You Caring videos spotlighting several of our employees who have gone above and beyond their role in the care of our patients and their families.

In case you missed it, click on the links below to view the rest of the series.

Heather Eppleheimer
Joyce Enochs
Keith Thomas
Donald Wilkins