December 3, 2018

A delegation of Texas Children’s physician leadership, executives and experts were recently invited to attend the 6th annual U.S. News & World Report Healthcare of Tomorrow summit in Washington, D.C. There, they met with top hospital leaders, policymakers, insurers, consumer advocates and other industry professionals from across the country to discuss some of the most important topics in health care today.

Texas Children’s had a major presence throughout the event. Not only did we sponsor key discussion sessions, but every attendee had their event credentials on a Texas Children’s-branded lanyard, Additionally, a raffle of four sets of Rudolph’s Pediatrics, the landmark pediatric health care reference, of which Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline is editor-in-chief, was extremely well received at our conference booth.

Kline and Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier also represented Texas Children’s as featured event speakers.

Taking compassionate care into the global community

In his keynote address, “Global Child Health at the Tipping Point: Lessons from the Field,” Kline stressed that though significant progress has been made to improve child health and mortality rates worldwide, challenges still remain, especially in resource-limited countries. He also said that through increased awareness, partnership and active engagement, those challenges can become opportunities for health care providers to improve the lives of the world’s poorest and least fortunate.

To illustrate this point, Kline highlighted the successes and lessons learned of the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) at Texas Children’s Hospital in helping stem the tide of the AIDS pandemic, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The network, which Kline founded in 1996, has grown from a single pilot HIV clinic in Romania into a comprehensive global health network – the largest HIV/AIDS network in the world – that includes 16 centers and clinics in 14 countries, providing care for hundreds of thousands of children and families, education for nearly 90,000 health care professionals, and research into pediatric health.

Kline also explained how leveraging the BIPAI network’s infrastructure has enabled Texas Children’s to extend its global reach and to offer care for many other diseases and disorders, including pediatric cancer, sickle cell anemia, OB/GYN care, tuberculosis, malaria, malnutrition and other conditions.

“For too long, children have been on the outside looking in, and it’s particularly true for the poor children of the world, who’ve not had the same access to life-saving therapies as American and European children,” Kline said. “The HIV/AIDS pandemic certainly challenged the world’s commitment, and our compassion, for these children. But our success in the fight against HIV/AIDS has opened the door to treatments for a host of other serious diseases that have threatened the health and well-being of children and families for generations.”

Using partnership to drive patient experience

At a discussion session entitled “The New Patient Experience Era: Focusing on the Consumer of Tomorrow,” Hollier and other panel members addressed how enhancing the patient experience can lead to improvements in quality and safety and to increased consumer and caregiver satisfaction.

Hollier discussed the crucial role that partnerships have played in improving patient experience at Texas Children’s.

“We believe strongly that partnerships – with our providers and employees, with our families, and with experts inside and outside of health care – are a critical component of driving an exceptional experience,” Hollier said. “As families’ expectations evolve, we continue to explore more innovative solutions to help us meet them where they are in their care journey, and to ensure they feel supported at every step along the way.”

One such solution was an initiative to improve communication and interaction between providers and patients and families. Partnering with experts at Press Ganey and Academy of Communication, and drawing information from provider and patient/family surveys, we developed a communication training curriculum for caregivers that elevates the level of engagement for families. Providers now feel empowered to manage interactions between both patient and parent, and are better equipped to communicate important information in a way that families will understand.

Texas Children’s also relied on partnership with families during the development of Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower. A 20-member Family Advisory Board worked for three years, from initial planning to the go-live date, to ensure that families’ needs were kept at the center of important decisions. Their input was essential for room and facility layouts, in simulation exercises, and for the development of family support resources during the move into the new building.

For Texas Children’s Department of Surgery, partnerships have been integral in enhancing tech processes, which has led to several improvements across the Texas Children’s system, including streamlined and transparent data sharing, consolidation and standardization of our and our providers’ online presence, and more frequent updates and scheduling information for families during surgery through the EASE app.

Hollier also highlighted Texas Children’s recent partnership with Disney, a $100 million initiative that has the potential to transform the patient experience in children’s hospitals across the globe. Initial concepts for development include allowing children to customize their hospital visit with their favorite Disney stories and characters, reimagining spaces through augmented and virtual reality experiences, and creating themed treatment and patient rooms with interactive elements.

A muralist’s vision to transform the concourse of Wallace Tower into a vibrant piece of art has finally come true.

With the help of the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts, the Periwinkle Arts In Medicine Program and an anonymous donor, the concourse is now covered in large colorful paintings of dinosaurs, hearts, unicorns, spaceships, rainbows and more.

“As cars pull up, they’re greeted with this vibrant story that’s almost like a seek-and-find,” said Carol Herron, coordinator of the Periwinkle Arts in Medicine Program. “Can you find the dinosaur? Can you find the ship? It’s just something that’s inviting and really full of life, just like the hospital is.”

Patients with Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers as well as children who have spent time on Texas Children’s Hospital’s Renal Dialysis Unit created the bulk of the artwork represented in the mural. Pediatric patients from Foundation Lenval Children’s Hospital in Nice, France pitched in too, coming up with the portion of the mural that portrays a globe with a bridge going from Texas to France.

Texan-French Alliance for the Arts Executive and Program Director Karine Parker-Lemoyne and her colleague, Marjon Aucoin, art director for the W.I.D.E. School, organized the collaboration with the patients in Nice and facilitated workshops with patients at Texas Children’s to create the artwork for the mural.

Sebastien Boileau, a French-American muralist with Houston-based Eyeful Art Murals and Designs, then took the art, and with a handful of his fellow muralists, replicated it onto the walls of the Wallace Tower concourse.

“We didn’t put our artistic ego into it,” Boileau said. “We really tried to respect their vision, copying it stroke for stroke, discrepancies and all.”

View the professional and patient artists at work below.

Boileau, who has created some of Houston’s most-famed mural art, said the vision for the project, called “The Door to Hope,” came to him five years ago when he was visiting his friend whose child just had heart surgery. During his visit, he passed through the Wallace Tower concourse, which at the time was a blank canvas.

Being a muralist who likes to decorate large spaces, Boileau said he saw a lot of opportunity and took his idea to the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts. They in turn reached out to Texas Children’s. Once funding was secure, the project was green lighted and completed in just a few months.

During the painting process, Isaac Bogani, the patient Boileau went to visit in the hospital years earlier, joined the artist and helped him replicate a heart he created for the project. The experience was special for both Isaac and Boileau.

“This project is very dear to me,” Boileau said. “I’m really excited about it.”

Both Boileau and the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts have long-standing relationships with Texas Children’s. Boileau painted the mural featured at the playground adjacent to the Abercrombie Building. The Texan-French Alliance for the Arts has worked on various projects with the Periwinkle Arts In Medicine Program at the hospital over the past decade.

“We love working with Texas Children’s,” Parker-Lemoyne said. “This project has been amazing. It really honors the work of the children we worked with and exudes love, wonder and hope.”

November 26, 2018

When the Houston Texans took the field on Monday night, November 26, they were out to win one in honor of a true Houston legend – Texans owner and philanthropist Bob McNair, who passed away on November 23 at the age of 81.

“I was proud to call Bob my friend, and he was such an important part of the Texas Children’s family,” said President and CEO Mark Wallace. “Because of his generous support, Texas Children’s has become one of the preeminent destinations in the world for pediatric health care and women’s services. All of us at Texas Children’s are sending positive thoughts and uplifting prayers to the entire McNair family during this difficult time.”

McNair and his wife, Janice, first called Houston home in 1960, just six years after Texas Children’s Hospital opened its doors. Initially unlucky in business, McNair finally found success when he started Cogen Technologies, which went on to become the largest privately owned cogeneration (an efficient form of power generation that produces electricity and heat at the same time) company in the world.

Of course, many will remember McNair as the man who tirelessly championed the cause to bring football back to Houston after the Oilers left in 1996. He was devoted to Texans fans and desperately wanted to bring a championship home for the people of Houston.

The same determination McNair put into building the Texans into a great team he also put into helping make a difference in the lives of others.

For nearly six decades, the McNairs used their resources as a force for positive change in Houston and across the United States. Through The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation, they gave more than half a billion dollars to support education, advance medical research, train future business leaders, and encourage civic engagement. They set up scholarship programs at several universities, including Rice in Houston, that have made it possible for countless young people to attend college and earn their degrees.

Texas Children’s and our academic partner, Baylor College of Medicine, owe so much to McNair’s legacy and generosity.

The McNair Medical Institute has provided crucial funding that has supported the development of several research initiatives, and has also enabled Texas Children’s and Baylor to recruit some of the most brilliant minds in health care and medical research through the McNair Scholar program. And Texas Children’s partnership with the Texans has helped us encourage children throughout Greater Houston to make healthy choices and inspired them through community activities and school events throughout the year, like our upcoming mini PLAY 60 event.

These are just a few examples of the selflessness McNair exhibited on a daily basis. His towering legacy will live on for years to come in Houston, in Texans football and in the care that we provide at Texas Children’s.

November 13, 2018

Over the next couple of weeks, we will highlight some of this year’s Caught You Caring Award winners and how they go above and beyond for their patients and colleagues.

Caught You Caring is a recognition program offered to patients and families, as well as staff, to recognize employees who have gone above and beyond their role to provide compassion and kindness to another person. This could be in the care of a patient, service to a family, or in support of a coworker. Launched in 2015 in ambulatory surgery, the now system-wide program has recognized many employees, including the eight listed below who were honored by the program this year.

To thank this year’s winners for their compassion and dedication to the Texas Children’s mission, they will head to NRG Stadium on December 9 to watch the Houston Texans play the Indianapolis Colts. The Texans-Colts game is sponsored by Texas Children’s Hospital and celebrates the National Football League’s Play 60 campaign, which encourages children to be active 60 minutes a day to help decrease childhood obesity.

The tickets to the game are one of the benefits of Texas Children’s Hospital being the official children’s hospital of the Houston Texans football team. The goal of Texas Children’s and the Texans partnership is to inspire children to lead healthier, more active lives.

Experience Consultant with Family and Patient Services Lorianne Classen said being able to reward our Caught You Caring recipients in this way is truly amazing.

“Recognizing people for their hard work goes a long way when it comes to creating a positive work environment,” she said. “So many members of our Texas Children’s family go above and beyond each and every day for our patients, families and colleagues, and we appreciate that very much.”

Texas Children’s wants to continue to recognize those who take great pride in the work they do and encourages patients, families and employees to catch someone who is making a difference. Caught You Caring boxes and cards can be found throughout the Texas Children’s system for patients and families to fill out and recognize staff. Employees can fill out a Caught You Caring form on Connect. Cards and online submissions will be distributed to leaders for staff recognition.

Click here to learn more about the Caught You Caring Program.

Click the links below to read more about this year’s Play 60 ticket recipients and how they were caught caring.

Rosie Alvarado
Hilda Andrade
Yaneth Arrue
Lisa Carr
Melanie Johnson
Krista Miller
Melissa Starner
Erick Talamantes

November 7, 2018

Over the past several weeks, the Corporate Communications team has had Houston Texans-related giveaways to promote leadership challenges on Mark Wallace’s blog and to highlight the Caught You Caring patient experience program. If you’ve missed out on previous chances to win Texans football game tickets, here’s one more shot.

We want to connect with you on our employee Instagram channel. Our @oneamazingteam Instagram feed is where we share news for and about Texas Children’s employees. This week, we’re giving away our last three pairs of Texans football game tickets to our @oneamazingteam Instagram followers and commenters. Here’s how you could win:

1. Follow our Instagram page @oneamazingteam.
2. Like the “question of the day” post.
3. Comment with your best response.

There will be a different question every day this week, and you are welcome to comment on every single post! Next week, the Corporate Communications team will randomly select three of our @oneamazingteam Instagram followers from the comments to receive a pair of Texans tickets to the December 9 football game against the Indianapolis Colts. Winners also will receive two tickets to the Houston Texans Churrascos Club located inside the Houston Methodist Training Center. Make sure you check your inbox for a direct message from us letting you know if you are a winner.

To qualify, you must be a Texas Children’s employee at the time of the event. So make sure you follow us, and comment. Every comment is another entry into the drawing.

Click here to view our Instagram page.

September 18, 2018

Some of the smallest and mightiest Houston Texans fans are celebrating #TexansFriday wrapped in new, handmade fleece blankets. As they cheer on their favorite team on Sunday, the blankets will add extra comfort and Texans spirit to patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

This unit is led by a multidisciplinary team of neonatal experts – physicians and nurses – who are internationally recognized for their level of experience and knowledge in the care of premature and critically-ill infants. The NICU at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands means babies can get the care they need closer to home.

Texas Children’s is the Official Children’s Hospital of the Houston Texans. For more information visit texaschildrens.org/texans.

August 13, 2018

We just learned that employees’ children are not eligible to participate in the PLAY 60 Kid of the Month. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Texas Children’s Hospital and the Houston Texans are two teams with one goal – keeping kids healthy!

PLAY 60 is the National Football League’s campaign to encourage kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. We want YOU to join the movement by signing up your child to be a PLAY 60 Kid of the Month.

Those who enter are eligible to win a Texans VIP experience including a special behind the scenes visit to NRG Stadium and other exciting giveaways.

Kids ages 6-12 can participate. All they have to do is fill out the online survey showing us how they PLAY 60.

Learn more here.