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

More than 528 employees and staff with a total 10,150 combined years of Texas Children’s service were honored last week at our 30th Annual Employee Recognition Celebration.

On February 20, veteran employees poured into the Bayou City Event Center just before noon, to celebrate the core of Texas Children’s past, present and future. The event recognized our long-time honorees and award recipients for their continued commitment to the mission of Texas Children’s.

“This is one of my favorite events,” said Human Resources Senior Vice President Linda Aldred. ”I love being here with you, I love chatting it up with you, and I particularly love celebrating you.”

Lavish decorations filled the large ballroom, and a delectable three-course meal was served. Entertainment included music from the past 40 years, but the crowd favorite was a photo booth that broke the ice as everyone took pictures, mixed and mingled.

Our very own ukulele choir kicked off the program, grabbing the crowd’s attention as they sang their original song, The Texas Children’s Way. Texas Children’s Board of Trustees member Willie Alexander, and Radiologist-in-Chief Dr. George Bisset delivered inspiring speeches and congratulated each employee as he or she crossed the stage to receive recognition for15 to 45 years of service.

In addition to long-time honorees, the ceremony recognized recipients of the Best of the West, Mark A. Wallace Catalyst Leadership, Smiles and Super Star awards.

“You’ve turned our values into actions,” Aldred said, driving home how much employees contribute to Texas Children’s success of being the top children’s hospital in Texas and one of the best in the country. “A lot of organizations have values, but they don’t make them the core of who they are. All of you have done this for us.”

When asked, employees’ collective perception of Texas Children’s culture is simply unity. Many agree with Texas Children’s current longest working employee of 45 years, Dorothy Botley, who said her job is her “home away from home.”

“I’ve worked in many departments, and it’s all the same,” Botley said. “It’s like being in a family, because everybody looks out for everybody.”

The annual event was a day to celebrate accomplishments and honor those who have carried out the values and the mission of Texas Children’s to ensure we meet the health care needs of our patients and their families.

“Your infinite passion will always have our infinite gratitude,” Aldred said as she brought the program to a close. “We will never take that for granted and will always take the time to recognize and celebrate it. So with that said, I plan on seeing you all back in 5 years!”

Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees!

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

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.”

February 6, 2018

Texas Children’s Pediatrics acquired its first practice site in 1995. Two decades later, 50 more have been added and as of December 2017, all practices, hold the highest Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

NCQA Recognition Programs allow employers, patients and consumers to make quality informed health care decisions. This prestigious distinction celebrates patient care organizations that have demonstrated a strong commitment to improving quality care for their patients.

“NCQA has become the gold standard for quality of care amongst primary care physicians around the country,” said Dr. Stanley Spinner, Texas Children’s Pediatrics chief medical officer and vice president.

All 51 of the Texas Children’s Pediatrics practice sites submitted documented evidence to demonstrate data requirements for the distinction. All clinics are structured to follow the six required PCMH 2014 Standards:

  • Patient Centered Access
  • Team Based Care
  • Population Health Management
  • Care Management and Support
  • Care Coordination and Care Transitions
  • Performance Measurement and Quality Improvement

“Achieving this high level of quality of care has led to improved outcomes, often at a lower cost,” Spinner said. “Texas Children’s Pediatrics is extremely proud of the work that has been done throughout all levels of our organization during the past three years. This offers us a distinct advantage in our current managed care market.”

To date, Texas Children’s Pediatrics has achieved three successful cycles of PCMH Level III recognition, signifying organizational commitment to excellence by working together at every level across the system.

“This is an opportunity for our organization to show and prove that we only want the best care for our patients and their families,” said Natasha Fields, Texas Children’s Pediatrics Nanes Practice Manager. “Moving forward I believe it will continue to display our dedication, passion and integrity for all. It’s a special occasion and we all should celebrate.”