September 29, 2020

The US Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, mandates that every ten years, the country must conduct a count of its population. Today, that count is done by the non-partisan, US Census Bureau for every state and our five US Territories.

Besides knowing how many people live in the United States and our territories, the census informs elected officials, health authorities, school boards, and civic leaders about the communities they serve and the needs of its residents. The 2020 Census will determine how over $800 billion in federal tax dollars gets allocated and apportions how many elected representatives we have in Congress and creates new districts for future office holders. The Census helps state and local leaders decide where schools and health clinics are built, what infrastructure and transportation projects should be prioritized, and informs us of the composition of US households across our great country. For these reasons and others, it is critically important that we all respond to this year’s census.

The average census response rate for the US is 88 percent, but as of early September 2020, Texas is behind this average at 85 percent. This lower response rate means Texas could forgo crucial funding and resources which could then be redirected to other states with a higher response rate.

Every member of our One Amazing Team should perform this civic duty and respond to the 2020 Census questionnaire before the September 30 deadline. We urge you to encourage your family and friends to do the same.

There are four easy ways to respond to the Census and it only takes two minutes to complete!
Secure Internet: For the first time this year, the Census will be available online.
https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond/responding-online.html
Respond by phone: The census phone lines are available at 1-800-923-8282.
https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond/responding-by-phone.html
A significant undercount would dramatically deprive our region of vital public and private resources for the next ten years! Go to https://www.2020census.gov now and get counted!

November 26, 2019

Dear Colleagues,

Last week, we hit another amazing milestone at Texas Children’s – a census record of 823 patients. That’s more than 800 children, women and families whose lives we have touched and for whom we are making a real difference. It’s a remarkable achievement and it’s one that makes me so proud of everything our organization has become.

Beyond that, this record has made me feel enormously grateful for each of you and for everything you contribute to Texas Children’s every single day. I know this census represents a lot of hours of compassionate care, hard work and dedication from many individuals, and I want you to know how much your efforts are appreciated. We truly are One Amazing Team because of you and because of the kindness you display for each and every one of our patients.

As we enter a season for giving thanks, I want to say thank you for the selfless support you bring to our mission. It truly does make all the difference.

All my best,

Mark A. Wallace

May 24, 2016

52516365days640On May 6, Texas Children’s celebrated an impressive milestone – 365 days and counting with zero acute care patient denials at Texas Children’s main campus and Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

“I am so proud that our teams pulled together to achieve a performance record of this kind,” said Texas Children’s Executive Vice President John Nickens. “This demonstrates the value of teamwork and commitment to creating a safe environment for patient care while ensuring every child has access to our services.”

From October to March, Texas Children’s typically experiences a seasonal surge in patient volumes, and during this busy time of the year, patient census has reached historic highs – at or beyond the hospital’s 671-bed capacity – resulting in many children being denied the opportunity to receive care at Texas Children’s.

Realizing that managing real-time capacity is crucial to predicting and planning for current and future demands, teams from across the organization embraced this opportunity to optimize patient flow across the system.

Click here to watch a patient flow video at Texas Children’s.

In FY 2015, Texas Children’s leaders, physicians, nurses and clinical and nonclinical support staff began working strategically to access the organization’s previous approach to patient flow decision-making. As a result, several innovative strategies were implemented and interdisciplinary roles dedicated to patient flow were created.

“We began thinking about patient flow as a system-level issue,” said Jennifer Sanders, clinical director of Patient Flow at Texas Children’s. “For example, we no longer approached the PICUs at Main Campus and West Campus as separate units. Instead, we monitored patient flow across the system, accessing the capacity between these units and other inpatient care units when deciding on the best place to send a child for care.”

Texas Children’s also changed the way it activated census alerts. Previously, census alerts were based on color codes – green, orange and red – with “red” indicating no beds were available. These triggers were based on the percentage of bed capacity filled but did not necessarily take into account daily admissions and discharges.

“When we moved to a single census alert, we were either on capacity alert or not,” said Jackie Ward, vice president of Nursing at Texas Children’s. “If we reached a point where our capacity was being challenged, we would activate census alert in order to mitigate not having any beds available. This improved process helped us proactively manage patient flow across the acute care areas of the hospital rather than be reactive.”

Mobilizing rotating teams of operational leaders and physicians focused on patient volume every day, a “real-time demand and capacity” process was also implemented to assess patient flow at three pivotal points during the day – 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. These 15-minute meetings helped leaders and staff more accurately forecast bed capacity, manage demand and capacity mismatches and resolve patient discharge barriers. The new role of chief resident of flow was also created to assist with eliminating medical barriers to discharge.

“We looked at how many patients were being admitted and discharged, the total capacity of the system, and focused on discharging patients, effectively, efficiently and with accountability,” said Dr. Michelle Lyn, medical director of Patient Flow at Texas Children’s. “We wanted to maximize team communication and we served as their support system on the back end.”

Coupled with these new processes, Texas Children’s successfully increased acute care capacity with the opening of the 10-bed Acute Care Holding Unit at West Tower in late December and the newly renovated 16-bed acute inpatient care unit at 5 North Abercrombie which opened on February 26.

“This was a huge collaborative team effort,” Sanders said. “From our administration to our nurses, providers, ancillary services, respiratory, and our facilities and environmental service teams, we worked together to ensure we deliver on our promise to make Texas Children’s the best possible place to give and receive care.”

To meet the growing number of children seeking our care in the future, Texas Children’s capacity will expand even more with the addition of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands – scheduled to open in 2017 – and our inpatient critical care Tower E at main campus which is currently under construction.