March 13, 2018

Texas Children’s marked the beginning of an exciting chapter in its history Thursday when President and CEO Mark A. Wallace joined other organization leaders in celebrating the opening of Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate – the first Texas Children’s location in Austin.

“It’s great to be in Austin,” Wallace said during a private ribbon cutting ceremony for clinical staff and Texas Children’s leaders. “We can’t wait to serve the children, women and families of the greater Austin area.”

View event photos below.

Texas Children’s leaders announced in June their plan to open a pediatric-focused urgent care in Austin, with the goal of supplementing the great health care options already available to the community and improve access to care, at nights and on weekends, in a convenient location. Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate at 4477 South Lamar Blvd. is modeled after other Texas Children’s urgent care facilities, all of which are located in the Greater Houston area and offer high-quality, efficient and affordable pediatric care at a convenient location.

Open Monday through Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m., Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate is staffed by board certified pediatricians who diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments, illnesses and conditions, including: asthma, strep throat, fever, minor burns, influenza, ear infections, allergic reactions and more. Procedures to be provided include: antibiotic injections, breathing treatments, fracture care and splinting, IV (intravenous) fluids, lab services, laceration repair and X-rays onsite.

“As we all know, children are not simply tiny adults; their medical care, as well as the tools and equipment used, should be designed specifically to meet their needs,” said Dr. Lisa Gaw, lead physician at Westgate. “This is why it is important children are seen and treated by the experts trained to care for them. We are proud to have created a place local pediatricians and caregivers can feel confident sending their children knowing they will be well cared for by experts specially trained in treating kids.”

Texas Children’s opened its first urgent care facility in 2014 and has since seen tremendous success in getting pediatric patients where they need to be to receive the proper treatment for their illness or injury, decreasing the number of low-acuity cases at Texas Children’s emergency rooms.

In addition to opening Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate, Texas Children’s plans to open additional pediatric urgent care clinics, primary care pediatric practices, pediatric specialty care locations and maternal-fetal medicine practices across Austin over the next five years.

“This opening is the first step in a thoughtful plan Texas Children’s has in place to bring pediatric-focused care to Austin in a way that will help us serve the state of Texas even more successfully,” said Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown, who leads Texas Children’s community and outpatient strategy. “We aspire to collaborate with the many established pediatric providers in the region to help support the growing Austin market, and see our growth in the area as an extension of our mission to ensure women and children have access to exceptional health care close to home.”

To learn more about Texas Children’s efforts in Austin, click here, and to find out more about Texas Children’s Urgent Care, click here.

February 27, 2018

With the opening of its first urgent care clinic in Austin just one week away and plans rapidly progressing to open its first specialty care location in October, Texas Children’s recently hosted two town hall meetings at main campus to share more details with interested employees about available positions and how they can apply, transfer and relocate to the capital city.

Additional town hall meetings on the Austin expansion will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Monday, March 19, in the conference center at West Campus and from noon to 1 p.m., Friday, March 23, in the conference center at The Woodlands. Health Center and Specialty Care Center employees can participate in the town halls from their local conference rooms via telemedicine.

“Our employees at Texas Children’s are our strength,” said David Wykes, director of Employee Relations and HR Community. “That’s why we really encourage the internal transfer option. You know the organization, and you know our great culture that we want to translate to Austin.”

Texas Children’s will launch its specialty care services in a two-floor, 51,000-square-foot facility in north-central Austin, with 400,000 pediatric lives located within a 30-minute drive. There will be 17 providers representing 11 medical and surgical sub-specialties to start, as well as x-ray, ultrasound and neurology, pulmonary and cardiology testing.

Nearly 40 specialty care positions will open throughout this fiscal year – from outpatient staff RNs, ambulatory service representatives and medical assistants, to certified ophthalmic technicians, radiology and ultrasound specialists, ECHO sonographers, a social worker, clinical dietician and more. A full list of available positions can be found in the Town Hall section on the new Austin page on the Careers website, along with answers to frequently asked questions and other resources. All job openings will be posted internally before being announced to external candidates, giving Texas Children’s employees the first opportunity to apply.

To be considered for internal transfer, employees must meet the eligibility requirements detailed in the Internal Transfer Policy and fulfill the minimum qualifications for their desired position. Relocation assistance will be offered to employees to provide additional support for their move to Austin, and those selected for transfer will enjoy the same benefits packages, compensation model and salary structure as they have at Texas Children’s locations in Houston and Harris County.

Vice President Ivett Shah told town hall attendees that employees interested in transferring to Austin must be flexible enough to handle the changes that will come as Texas Children’s continues to evolve and expand in the new market. Several additional urgent care clinics, specialty care locations, primary care practices and maternal-fetal medicine practices are slated to open across the city over the next five years.

“The demands of patients and families in Austin are different than those we have in Houston, so we have to look at new and creative ways of delivering care,” Shah said. “We want our employees, staff, physicians and patients in Austin to feel they are part of the Texas Children’s system. We want them to feel connected.”

For more information, visit the Austin careers page; attend the town hall meetings scheduled in March at The Woodlands and West Campus; or contact attend the town hall meetings scheduled in March at The Woodlands and West Campus; or contact Bobbie Jehle at 936-267-5823.

January 23, 2018

To prepare for the opening of Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate in Austin, Texas Children’s has opened a Welcome Center adjacent to the future urgent care site on the south side of Austin. The Welcome Center is being used for human resources and philanthropy. It also will serve as a means to create brand awareness for Texas Children’s in the Austin community.

The new office, located at 4477 South Lamar Blvd., opened January 8 and is primarily being used to recruit future employees and on-board staff. The space will not be used for clinical services.

“We are very excited to have this new office in Austin,” said Texas Children’s Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown. “It marks our entrance into the fastest growing city in America with a pediatric population of almost a half a million.”

Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate is scheduled to open in March and will be modeled after Texas Children’s other urgent care facilities, all of which are located in the Greater Houston area and offer high-quality, efficient and affordable pediatric care at a convenient location.

Open Monday through Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m., the clinic will be staffed by board certified pediatricians who diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments, illnesses and conditions, including: asthma, strep throat, fever, minor burns, influenza, ear infections, allergic reactions and more. Procedures to be provided include: antibiotic injections, breathing treatments, fracture care and splinting, IV (intravenous) fluids, lab services, laceration repair and X-rays onsite.

“Oftentimes, families turn to an emergency center after hours, on weekends or perhaps even during the day, when a significant event occurs with their child,” said Kay Tittle, president of Texas Children’s Urgent Care. “Though the emergency center is the right place for some incidents or ailments, the majority of the time minor illnesses can and should be treated at a pediatric urgent care facility.”

Texas Children’s opened its first urgent care facility in 2014 and has since seen tremendous success in getting pediatric patients where they need to be to receive the proper treatment for their illness or injury, decreasing the number of low-acuity cases at Texas Children’s emergency rooms.

In addition to opening Texas Children’s Urgent Care Westgate, Texas Children’s plans to open additional pediatric urgent care clinics, primary care pediatric practices, pediatric specialty care locations and maternal-fetal medicine practices across Austin over the next five years.

“Making sure women and children have access to exceptional health care close to home is why we have hospitals in Katy and The Woodlands and nearly 80 Texas Children’s primary care and urgent care practices, specialty care centers, maternal-fetal medicine clinics and other health care locations throughout Greater Houston,” Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace said. “And that is why we are bringing Texas Children’s to Austin, Texas.”

Click here to read Wallace’s blog post about why Texas Children’s is moving into Austin.