June 27, 2017

Nearly two years ago, Kate Hurlbut, a nurse practitioner for Texas Children’s Pediatrics, and her husband Phillip, mourned the loss of their 7-week-old twin daughter, Ella, who was cared for at Texas Children’s Newborn Center.

Ella developed a widespread bacterial infection when she was five weeks old and fought hard for two weeks but passed away in September 2015. Their twin daughter, Anna, stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for 83 days before going home to be with her family and 3-year-old brother Luke.

Since Ella’s passing, Hurlbut says one thing that has helped her and her husband find healing is providing support to other grieving NICU families going through similar situations.

“As thankful as we are for the care we received when Ella passed, it also made us realize the need for a more private environment for parents to be able to say goodbye to their babies,” Kate said. “So, when the opportunity presented itself to raise money to open a bereavement room for the Pavilion NICU in Ella’s memory, we felt like this was our opportunity to improve bereavement care for other grieving families.”

Thanks to the Hurlbuts fundraising efforts, their vision soon became a reality. On June 22, the Butterfly Room in the NICU at the Pavilion for Women was dedicated during a special ceremony attended by more than 80 people including NICU leadership, staff and NICU families. Speakers at the dedication ceremony included the Hurlbuts, Chief of Neonatology Dr. Gauthum Suresh, NICU Nursing Director Heather Cherry and NICU Vice President Judy Swanson.

Just as the Hurlbuts envisioned, the bereavement room is designed like a nursery with a crib, comfortable seating for the family and a special private place for families to take as much time as they need to say goodbye to their baby.

“We are incredibly grateful we have been able to raise the funds for this room thanks to the generosity of our friends, family, co-workers and our community,” Kate said. “We hope this room will bring peace and comfort to other bereaved families for many years to come.”

May 3, 2017

On April 23, more than 30,000 people from across the Greater Houston community laced up to participate in the 2017 March for Babies walk at the University of Houston, including more than 850 Texas Children’s employees, patients and their families who all share the same passion for improving the health of babies.

This year, Texas Children’s contributed $125,000 as the Premier sponsor of the 4.5-mile walk and our employees have personally raised more than $93,000 to date to support the March of Dimes. Baylor College of Medicine, Greater Houston Anesthesiology and Morrison partnered with Texas Children’s and sponsored snacks and dessert, water, t-shirts, a tent and disc jockey.

Several months prior to the March for Babies walk, departments and units from across the organization formed their own teams to help raise money and rally support around this worthy cause. Creative teams across the organization hosted barbecues, designed and sold t-shirts, held bake sales, arranged bike tours and even paid to give their leaders a pie in the face to raise money and awareness. Each of the 60 teams raised an average of $1,900 all of which helped Texas Children’s exceed this year’s fundraising goal of $120,000.

“It was great to see everyone come together and support one another to give every baby a fighting chance,” said Cris Daskevich, senior vice president at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “Since 1984, Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine have received more than $16 million from the March of Dimes to support research to prevent birth defects and prematurity. Our long-term partnership has helped significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for some of our most fragile babies – giving hope to patients and families when there once was none.”

Texas Children’s employee Leanne O’Brien and her husband, Kiran, were Houston’s 2017 Ambassador Family for the March of Dimes. Their twins, Remy and Ronan, were cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at Texas Children’s for four and a half months.

April 25, 2017

The Bad Pants Open, an annual golf tournament raising funds for the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Texas Children’s Hospital, celebrated an exciting milestone recently with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the new, 14-bed NICU at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

A $1 million donation from The Bad Pants Open was the catalyst for the NICU at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, which will care for premature and critically-ill babies, closer to home for residents of The Woodlands.

During the ribbon-cutting event, members of The Bad Pants Open committee had the honor of meeting the first patients of the Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands NICU, twins Emma and Lillian and their mother, Rebecca Vadala.

One of Houston’s most colorful golf tournaments, The Bad Pants Open is celebrating 20 years of raising critical funds, totaling over $6 million, to support needs of premature and sick newborn babies and their families at Texas Children’s Hospital. Presented by RBC Wealth Management and Capital Markets, this light-hearted annual golf tournament at The Clubs of Kingwood on Thursday, October 12, is chaired by Vice President of Texas Aromatics Rob Cooksey.

Texas Children’s Hospital, together with Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, house the nation’s largest level IV NICU, caring for more than 2,500 infants each year. The NICU at Texas Children’s provides all services that critically-ill or premature babies might need, including on-site neonatologists available 24/7, the highest level of respiratory support, advanced imaging, pediatric surgery, pediatric anesthesiology and more.

April 11, 2017

We’ve all heard the saying, “Hard work pays off.”

That old adage certainly rings true for Texas Children’s Newborn Center leadership and staff. On April 7, Texas Children’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) became the first hospital in the state to achieve Level IV NICU designation by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

“As a Level IV NICU, our neonatal team has the resources and expertise to deliver the highest level of care available for premature and critically ill newborns,” said Texas Children’s Chief of Neonatology Dr. Gautham Suresh. “This designation helps ensure our neonates, who require highly specialized resources and 24/7 multidisciplinary care, are treated in the right level of NICU to achieve the most optimal outcomes.”

The designation process comes as a result of legislation passed in 2013 requiring Texas to establish and implement neonatal and maternal level of care designations by March 1, 2018. Texas is one of the first states requiring NICUs to undergo a site visit to verify they meet the Neonatal Levels of Care classifications as defined in the Texas Administrative Code. Completing the designation process is a requirement in order to receive Medicaid reimbursement for neonatal services by September 1, 2018.

Reaching this milestone was no easy task. The process required tremendous collaboration among NICU leadership, staff and employees, as well as various support services that help the neonatal team care for these critically ill babies including pharmacy, respiratory, physical therapy, lactation, nutrition and social services.

“In June 2016, we started a weekly work group that included members from neonatology and various ancillary departments across the organization,” said Project Manager Sohail Azeem. “We led them through the Neonatal Level IV designation guidelines impacting each area and gathered all of the necessary materials and documentation to prepare for the 2-day site visit and for the application process that followed.”

Several key requirements for Level IV NICU designation included the development of a Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) committee and a program plan outlining the Newborn Center’s breadth and depth of services, policies, procedures and structure for prioritizing quality improvement initiatives. While the Newborn Center already had an active quality and safety program, it was incorporated into the QAPI program.

In addition to meeting these Level IV designation requirements, Texas Children’s also participated in a rigorous survey site visit conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics NICU Verification Program in November 2016.

“The 2-day site visit included interviews with NICU nursing and physician leadership among others, as well as reviews of our policies, medical records and credentialing process,” said Newborn Center Director Heather Cherry. “Surveyors also toured all of our level NICUs and other hospital areas that support neonatal services.”

As the largest NICU in the nation, Texas Children’s is proud to receive this designation. As a Level IV NICU, Texas Children’s Newborn Center meets all level III capabilities plus has the ability to care for infants born earlier than 32 weeks gestation and weighing less than 1,500 grams, provide life support, perform advanced imaging including MRI and echocardiography and provide a full range of respiratory support, among many other criteria.

“A lot of hard work went into achieving our Level IV NICU designation and I am so proud that our teams pulled together,” said Newborn Center Vice President Judy Swanson. “This collaborative milestone solidifies our reputation in providing the highest level of neonatal care to our tiniest, most fragile patients and their families.”

April 4, 2017

Dr. Melissa Carbajal, Neonatology faculty (center), congratulates third-year fellows Drs. Shweta Parmekar (from left) and Sarah Coors, as the 22nd annual Arnold J. Rudolph Memorial Grand Rounds award recipients. The award recognizes third-year fellows in neonatal-perinatal medicine for outstanding teaching, patient care, scientific inquiry and professional integrity. Dr. Steven Block (right), professor emeritus of pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was this year’s visiting professor and invited speaker at the grand rounds.

The Arnold J. Rudolph Memorial Grand Rounds was established in 1996 by the Section of Neonatology, in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, in memory of its late Section Chief, Dr. Arnold J. Rudolph, who died in 1995. Dr. Rudolph was a well-respected clinician and educator, recognized internationally as a leader of neonatology.

March 14, 2017

Texas Children’s recently celebrated the opening of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) E Pod, a newly designated 9-bed infant acute cardiac care unit at West Tower. Since opening on February 22, NICU E Pod has helped to significantly reduce the occurrence of cardiac case cancellations.

“Over the last six months, we were seeing an alarming increase in the cancellation of surgical cases and cath procedures due to a lack of inpatient bed capacity,” said Matt Timmons, director of Cardiology at Texas Children’s Heart Center. “During the last 18 days since the unit opened, we have had no cardiac case cancellations, which is a huge step forward in improving the care and experience we deliver to our patients and families.”

To create additional Heart Center capacity, Texas Children’s physician and nursing leadership teams from the Heart Center, Critical Care and Newborn Center – and many other subspecialties and support services across the organization – collaborated to expedite the successful opening of the new unit.

“We were fortunate to have the NICU E Pod available,” said NICU Nursing Director Heather Cherry. “After meeting with several subspecialty leadership teams, we collectively decided to open the NICU E Pod to provide additional bed capacity for our acute cardiac care patients. This collaborative decision allowed us to support an additional nine patients needing our care.”

Recently, acute care nursing partnered with the Heart Center to successfully add capacity for cardiac patients in the four-bed cohort on 10 West Tower. While this has been extremely helpful, the need for additional capacity still existed. The NICU E Pod provides an extension to 15 West Tower for acute cardiac care patients under 12 months of age. While the cardiology team oversees the treatment of these acute care patients, the NICU E Pod is staffed by the Newborn Center nursing team.

For patient families like Randal and Sabrina Pemberton from Lubbock, Texas, the opening of the unit could not have come at a better time. Since the first day the NICU E Pod opened, they have been with their daughter Aaliyah, who at just 8 days old, had surgery to repair an aorta and two holes in her heart.

“We’ve had a wonderful team of doctors who are taking great care of our daughter and the nurses have been fabulous as well,” Sabrina Pemberton said. “Overall, given our circumstances, it’s been a great experience at Texas Children’s Hospital. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Besides collaboration from clinical staff, reaching this milestone so quickly – in a matter of one week – would not have been possible without the help from Texas Children’s support services which included Information Services, Facilities, Epic, Biomed, Supply Chain, Pharmacy and Environmental Services.

“This unit was a great example of collaboration by multiple subspecialties and departments, and shows how we are all “One Texas Children’s Hospital,” said Chief of Cardiology Dr. Daniel J. Penny. “The ability to open this unit so quickly and safely exemplifies our commitment to our patients and their families.”

With Texas Children’s anticipated growth, the Pediatric Tower – which is slated to open in August 2018 – will house 126 beds for pediatric and cardiovascular intensive care patients, which will provide additional bed capacity and even more opportunities to serve our patients and their families in the future.

“The Pediatric Tower is the long-term solution for our Heart Center’s rapid growth,” Timmons said. “The NICU E Pod and the 10 West Tower cardiac cohort are successfully bridging the gap until we move into the new tower.”

February 21, 2017

On February 8, the March of Dimes hosted the 2017 March for Babies Citywide Kickoff Celebration at the downtown Hyatt Regency to recognize everyone who contributed to the success of the March for Babies’ fundraising campaign last year with the hopes of adding to this success again this year.

Through the generous support from Texas Children’s employees, team leaders and donors, Texas Children’s was named the 2016 Top Corporate Team in Houston. The hospital raised nearly $180,000 for the March of Dimes based on corporate sponsorship and employee and team fundraising.

Surrounded by more than 300 guests at the Hyatt Regency, the celebratory luncheon featured opening remarks from Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women Senior Vice President and Chair for the 2017 Houston March for Babies Cris Daskevich, who congratulated the Executive Leadership Team, 2016 Top 10 Teams and 2017 sponsors for their continued leadership and commitment to healthy babies.

“Each and every one of you who are serving as ambassadors and fundraisers for the March of Dimes mission are critical to the March of Dimes and the families and babies they serve,” Daskevich said. “The March of Dimes and Texas Children’s share a mission to end premature birth. Together with your support, we can give every baby a fighting chance and make a meaningful difference in their young lives.”

The luncheon also featured guest speakers including Texas Children’s and Houston’s 2017 Ambassador Family, Leanne and Kiran O’Brien, who shared their touching story and the challenges they faced as their twins were being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at Texas Children’s for four and a half months. O’Brien was also cared for at the Pavilion for Women after experiencing potentially life-threatening complications following the delivery of her babies.

This year will be particularly exciting for Texas Children’s. The organization will serve as the 2017 Signature Sponsor for the March for Babies Walk scheduled for Sunday, April 23, at the University of Houston. This year’s goal is to raise $2.2 million for the March of Dimes!

Teams are already forming at Texas Children’s! If you would like to support the March of Dimes, be sure to register for the March for Babies Walk. Click here for more information on how to register and/or join a Texas Children’s team to help support this worthy cause.

Let’s go Texas Children’s as we gear up for another successful March for Babies Walk and campaign!