August 15, 2017

Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Scott McKay was recently named a recipient of the 2017 Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) /Sociedad LatinoAmericana de Orthopedia Y Traumatologia Infantil (SLAOTI) Traveling Fellowship Award to South America.

McKay, alongside two other pediatric orthopedic surgeons, will spend the first two weeks of October in Argentina and Chile visiting and learning new techniques and exchanging ideas with their South American counterparts. The surgeons will end their trip in Brazil at the POSNA/SLAOTI meeting.

McKay, who specializes in injuries to the pediatric/adolescent athlete, was awarded the travel grant in March.

POSNA is a non-profit professional organization of over 1,200 surgeons, physicians and allied health members who are passionately dedicated to advancing musculoskeletal care for children and adolescents through education, research, quality, safety and value initiatives, advocacy, and global outreach to children in underserved areas.

The POSNA/SLAOTI annual traveling fellowship to South America allows three POSNA members a year to travel abroad and three members of an alliance society to tour in North America annually.

The Cardiology Patient Care Unit (CPCU) on 15 West Tower recently achieved a remarkable milestone – they reached 365 days and counting with zero central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI).

Since their last CLABSI on July 14, 2016, the CPCU team has worked diligently to follow the CLABSI and hygiene bundles to provide high quality care to the numerous patients they see daily with central line catheters.

Last fall, nurses collaborated with their infection control partners in education and vascular access to implement a massive educational initiative that trained more than 2,000 nurses across the organization on several key skills in central line care. By providing central line care support and education, the CPCU has been able to address concerns early before they potentially manifest into a bloodstream infection.

Congratulations to the CPCU team for their continued commitment to helping Texas Children’s cultivate an environment for safe patient care. The unit celebrated this huge accomplishment with a breakfast.

Dr. Milton Finegold (left), chief emeritus, Department of Texas Children’s Pathology and Mary Jo Andre (far right), chief nursing officer, congratulates Finegold Award recipients Christopher Willoughby, (from left), son of Robbye Willoughby, West Campus Emergency Center; Amelia Boettiger, daughter of Michele Boettiger, patient care manager, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Alexie-Joy De La Cruz, daughter of Arlene De La Cruz, education coordinator, Diagnostic Imaging; and Cayla Morris, daughter of Sondra Morris, assistant clinical director, West Campus.

Finegold established the scholarship in 1980 in memory of his wife, Joan, a nurse, to help the children of Texas Children’s registered nurses fulfill their educational goals. The applicant (registered nurse) must be an employee of Texas Children’s for a minimum of two years on or before May 1 of the year of application. Since the first scholarship was awarded in 1985, more than 90 children have benefited from the Joan M. Finegold Scholarship.

Dr. Rebecca Schultz, a member of Texas Children’s Epilepsy team in Pediatric Neurology was recently named the 2017 recipient of the Association of Child Neurology Nurses (ACNN) Excellence in Child Neurology Practitioner Award.

This prestigious award recognizes and honors the nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant who, as a member of the ACNN, has rendered distinguished service within the profession of child neurology nursing.

Schultz is one who demonstrates, through strength of character and competence, a commitment to the care of children with neurological disorders and their families. She is acknowledged by her peers as one who exhibits qualities of compassion, resourcefulness, leadership, knowledge, communication and inspiration.

August 8, 2017

Megnon Stewart, MSN, RN, education specialist for Nursing Professional Development at Texas Children’s, was recently named the 2017 Star Search winner at the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD) national conference.

Each year, ANPD holds a Star Search competition at the annual convention to encourage aspiring speakers to compete for an opportunity to present a concurrent session at the next annual convention.

Each participant had 10 minutes to give a brief presentation that was judged by members of the ANPD Convention Content Planning Committee (CPC) and the audience. The CPC score constitutes 75 percent of the total score and the audience score constitutes 25 percent of the total. The participant who receives the highest score is invited to present a 60-minute concurrent session at the 2018 Annual Convention in Orlando, FL, and receives one complimentary convention registration.

Congratulations to Megnon for representing Texas Children’s with this prestigious award.

August 1, 2017

Richelle Fleischer will be joining Texas Children’s as our new Senior Vice President of Revenue Cycle effective August 14, 2017.

Richelle is a Certified Public Accountant, with a Master’s of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and is a Virginia native. She started her career in public accounting and healthcare consulting. She has held executive leadership roles in both finance and revenue cycle with several multi-billion dollar health systems including the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and, most recently, Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“We are thrilled to have Richelle on our team,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Weldon Gage. “She brings a deep level of knowledge and expertise in the revenue cycle and has strong leadership experience with large, multi-hospital systems. She will be a tremendous asset for Texas Children’s as we continue to grow, and as the revenue cycle functions become more complex and demanding.”

The hospital is very fortunate that last October, Bill Hilton agreed to come back to Texas Children’s to serve as Senior Vice President of Revenue Cycle on an interim basis. Since then, the Revenue Cycle team has had some outstanding successes. Bill brought his wealth of experience and ensured the team had a steady, seasoned leader during an important period of transition. With Richelle joining the Revenue Cycle in a few short weeks, Texas Children’s wishes Bill and his family all the best as he returns to his retirement, and is grateful for his service to Texas Children’s and the families we care for.

Texas Children’s thanks Bill for his invaluable service, and also congratulates Richelle on her new leadership role at Texas Children’s.

Texas Children’s is proud to announce Dr. James Riviello as associate section head for Epilepsy, Neurophysiology and Neurocritical Care in the section of Neurology and Developmental Neuroscience.

Riviello’s clinical interests include seizures, convulsions, medically refractory epilepsy and the evaluation of children for epilepsy surgery and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. He also has a special interest in the evaluation and management of the epileptic encephalopathies, especially Landau-Kleffner Syndrome and electrical status epilepticus of sleep.

Riviello, who also serves as professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Tufts University. He completed his residency in pediatrics and subsequently his fellowship training in Child Neurology at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Riviello also had additional training in anesthesiology at Temple University Hospital.

Riviello is a member of several professional organizations including the Child Neurology Society, American Academy of Neurology, American Clinical Neurophysiology Society and Neurocritical Care Society. He served as chair of the Child Neurology Section of American Academy of Neurology and is a founding member of the Pediatric Status Epilepticus Research Group.

As associate section head, Riviello’s responsibilities will include the administration and development of programs within epilepsy, neurophysiology and neurocritical care.