The Woodlands – Page 13 – Texas Children's News

January 19, 2016

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands is on Facebook! Like them today to receive the latest news and updates about our convenient care options in The Woodlands and the construction of the area’s first true free-standing pediatric hospital designed, equipped and staffed exclusively to treat children and adolescents.

Once completed, the facility will be a 560,000-square-foot complex and will offer inpatient and outpatient specialty pediatric care. Facilities will include 72 exam rooms, 25 Emergency Center exam rooms, 28 critical care rooms, 32 acute care rooms, 12 radiology rooms and four operating rooms.

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands will open its doors to outpatient care in the fall of 2016 and inpatient services the following year. Along with serving families throughout The Woodlands area, Texas Children’s anticipates serving families in counties throughout Greater North Houston, including Montgomery, Walker, Grimes, Liberty, Harris, Polk, San Jacinto and Hardin.

Meanwhile, families in The Woodlands can get convenient care at various locations throughout the community, including Texas Children’s Health Center – The Woodlands, Texas Children’s Maternal Fetal Medicine – The Woodlands, and any of the area’s six Texas Children’s Pediatrics practices.

For more information about Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, go to http://www.texaschildrens.org/departments/texas-childrens-hospital-woodlands

December 1, 2015

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Hundreds of Texas Children’s supporters turned out last week to The Forum Luncheon in The Woodlands. Hosted by The Development Department, the event focused on the imminent opening of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands and its growing leadership and clinical teams.

Michelle Riley-Brown, who was named president of the new community hospital at last year’s forum in The Woodlands, unveiled her administrative leadership team:

Julie Barrett, director of Outpatient and Clinical Support Services
Hillary Griffin, senior project manager
Bobbie Jehle, senior project manager
Trent Johnson, director of Business Operations and Support Services
Cathy Pierantozzi, director of Human Resources
Ketrese White, director of Patient Care Services

“These are some of Texas Children’s strongest, most dedicated employees,” Riley-Brown said. “They undoubtedly will make Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands a success for patients, families and the community as a whole.”

Dr. Charles Hankins, chief medical officer at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, took the podium next and told the audience that his clinical team is growing by the day and that his newest recruit was for the position of Chief Surgical Officer.

Dr. Jeffrey Shilt of Idaho State University and formerly of St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in Boise was named Chief Surgical Officer this month. Shilt is an orthopedic surgeon who has practiced and been on the academic staff at universities in North Carolina, Idaho and Louisiana. He earned his medical degree from the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine and did postdoctoral training at institutions in Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee and North Carolina.

“Dr. Shilt is a perfect fit for this position,” Hankins said. “We are glad he decided to join us and look forward to bringing the people of The Woodlands the best pediatric care the nation has to offer.”

The remainder of the luncheon was dedicated to the introduction of an additional three new physicians who will be working in The Woodlands:

Dr. Kristin Ernest, sports medicine
Dr. Michael Gleason, hematology/oncology
Dr. Charles Hughes, otolaryngology

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands will open its doors to outpatient care in the fall of 2016 and inpatient services the following year. Once completed, the facility will be a 560,000-square-foot complex and will offer inpatient and outpatient specialty pediatric care. Facilities will include 18 emergency center rooms, 85 outpatient rooms, five radiology rooms, four operating rooms and 32 acute-care and 12 PICU beds with future expansion plans for up to 200 beds.

Along with serving families throughout The Woodlands Area, Texas Children’s anticipates serving families in counties throughout Greater North Houston, including Montgomery, Walker, Grimes, Liberty, Harris, Polk, San Jacinto and Hardin.

Hundreds gathered Wednesday at the Forum Luncheon in The Woodlands to show their support for Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, which, when complete in 2017, will be Texas Children’s second community hospital.

September 1, 2015

Bench and Bedside is a digest of the previous month’s stories about the clinical and academic activities of our physicians and scientists. We welcome your submissions and feedback.

August 4

Department of Urology to present 12 papers at international conference

The Department of Urology will be well represented at the 26th Congress of the European Society for Paediatric Urology this October in Prague. Twelve of the department’s abstracts were chosen for posters, most with presentations.

August 4

Zoghbi receives seven-year Javits award to advance ataxia research

Dr. Huda Zoghbi, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s, has been awarded a Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for her “distinguished record of substantial contributions in the field of neurological science.”

August 4

Texas Children’s Pediatrics celebrates 20 years of providing primary care

Twenty years ago today, Texas Children’s launched what is now the largest pediatric network in the nation with more than 200 board-certified pediatricians and 50 practices throughout the greater Houston community. Each year, the group sees 400,000 patients and completes more than a million visits.

August 4

Grant funds first therapeutic vaccine for Chagas disease in humans

The Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development have received a $1.8 million grant to accelerate development of the first therapeutic vaccine for Chagas disease in humans. The vaccine is in a development program under the direction of Drs. Peter Hotez and Maria Elena Bottazzi. Chagas disease impacts people throughout Texas, and Texas Children’s is leading the way in vaccine development.

August 18

Texas Children’s opens urgent care center in The Woodlands

Texas Children’s has expanded its urgent care network, adding a location in The Woodlands next door to the community’s children’s museum on West Panther Creek Drive.

August 18

Texas Children’s Hospital is a sponsor for the 2015 Be The Match Walk-Run

Be The Match Walk-Run is a fundraising event that helps patients find a bone marrow, stem cell, or cord donor and receive a life-saving transplant. Each year the Texas Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Program has a group of patients, employees and their families who walk or run in support of this life saving research. You and your family are invited to join us as we support and raise awareness for the Be The Match registry.

August 18

Join the NRI, Baylor team for the 2015 Walk Now for Autism Speaks

Ready to lace up to support a worthy cause? The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine invite you to join their team for the 2015 Walk Now for Autism Speaks.

August 18, 2015

Flanked by a group of former Texas Children’s Hospital patients and hundreds of supporters, Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace looked on as a 7-foot-tall Mexican White Oak tree was hoisted to the top of what will soon be Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

“Go, go, go!” Wallace and the children cheered until the tree with was in place. “We did it!”

The tree hoisting was the highlight of an August 14 tree topping ceremony at the site of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. The milestone event marked the halfway point in the construction of the hospital, which will open its doors in 2017.

Adorned with promises made by Texas Children’s employees to The Woodlands community, the tree will remain atop the unfinished hospital for a week before being planted on facility grounds.

“All of you who are here today are here because you share our commitment, our promise, to provide the very best care when and where our families need it most,” Wallace said. “That is why we are topping out The Woodlands campus with this very special tree.”

Following the tree-topping ceremony, guests took shelter from the almost three-digit temperatures under a cooling tent, sipped lemonade and nibbled ice cream and popcorn. Some event goers got a tour of the construction site. The tours were led by Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands team members and crew from Tellespen Builders, the company that is leading the construction project.

“You coming out today means you join in our excitement about a project that will bring children the best pediatric hospital right to their community,” Tellespen CEO Howard Tellespen Jr. told the crowd. “You have helped fulfill our legacy of being part of something bigger than ourselves.”

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands President Michelle Riley-Brown and Chief Medical Director Dr. Charles Hankins shared their excitement about what’s to come for the hospital and The Woodlands community during a BBQ lunch at tables set up on what will be the first floor of the hospital.

“At Texas Children’s, we are not only committed to meeting the needs of patients and families we serve, but we are committed to doing that in a way that works for them,” Riley-Brown said. “For so many, this means providing care close to home; that’s exactly why we are building Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.”

The hospital will serve children and families in the Woodlands, Kingwood, Conroe, Spring, Magnolia, Humble, Huntsville and beyond, and will build on a decade’s worth of relationships Texas Children’s has built in the community through our primary and sub-specialty care at Texas Children’s Pediatrics locations and the Texas Children’s Health Center The Woodlands.

The hospital will complete that picture, offering services in more than 20 areas of specialty care at a facility with 32 acute care beds, four operating rooms, 10 radiology rooms with 2 MRI’s, an emergency center with 22 patient rooms, a helipad, 1,000 free parking spaces and, by the end of 2017, an intensive care unit with 12 beds. Opening in 2016, the hospital also will include an outpatient facility with 74 exam rooms, 23 subspecialty clinics and a Texas Children’s Pediatrics Primary Care Clinic.

Hankins said he and The Woodlands team already have hired several top-notch physicians in hematology-oncology, endocrinology, neurology, otolaryngology and sports medicine, and that they are continuing to recruit the best and the brightest from across the world to serve patients at The Woodlands campus.

“As a resident of The Woodlands, you will have your very own community hospital right here in your own backyard,” he said. “Patients at The Woodlands campus will receive the same high quality care as those at Main Campus without having to drive more than 30 miles.”

Texas Children’s has expanded its urgent care network, adding a location in The Woodlands next door to the community’s children’s museum on West Panther Creek Drive.

The new facility is the third urgent care center to open during the past year. The other two centers are in the Cinco Ranch and Memorial areas and already have served more than 20,000 children and adults up to age 18.

“Our urgent care centers were created to respond to the growing need for expert pediatric urgent care,” said Texas Children’s Pediatrics Vice President Lou Fragoso. “The result is a clinical system that provides outstanding customer service through high-quality, efficient and affordable care – right in our patients’ neighborhoods.”

Open weekday evenings and weekends, the centers are staffed by board-certified pediatricians and are equipped to diagnose and treat common pediatric illnesses and injuries. If a patient’s illness or injury requires a higher level of care, our staff is able to stabilize and transfer that patient to an appropriate pediatric hospital.

“Our efficient processes allow us to register, diagnose, treat and discharge a child in less than one hour for a majority of patients,” Fragoso said. “By the time a child is discharged, their prescription will have been sent to the pharmacy and a summary of the visit sent to their pediatrician.”

Texas Children’s will continue to grow its urgent care network in the Houston area with more locations opening in the upcoming year.

For more information about Texas Children’s Urgent Care, go to http://www.texaschildrens.org/urgent care. You also can join the network’s Facebook page to receive the latest news and updates.

August 10, 2015

Bench and Bedside is a digest of the previous month’s stories about the clinical and academic activities of our physicians and scientists. We welcome your subsmissions and feedback.

July 7

Texas Children’s Hospital launches pediatric Thyroid Tumor Program

Texas Children’s Hospital recently formed a new pediatric Thyroid Tumor Program dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of children and young adults with thyroid tumors, cancer and diseases. Read more

July 7

Radiology expansion promotes environment of collaboration

New and improved office space for the Department of Pediatric Radiology brings together all radiologists in one large reading room and houses the department’s offices in one centralized location. The expansion also provides space for daily morning huddles. These changes help ensure the hospital’s imaging services are available for patients in a timely manner. Read more

July 14

Dr. Susan Blaney elected chair of CPRIT Advisory Committee on childhood cancers

Dr. Susan Blaney, deputy director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, was recently elected to serve as chair of the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Advisory Committee on Childhood Cancers (ACCC). Blaney, who has been a member of the committee for three years, will serve a two-year term. Read more

July 14

Health Center staff prepares for transition to community hospital setting

With the opening of the outpatient and subspecialty building at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands just 15 months away, steps are being taken to ensure the transition for staff, patients and their families is seamless. One such step was taken June 25 and 26 when staff and leaders at the Woodlands Health Center and staff and leaders at the West Campus Outpatient and Subspecialty Building met and discussed what it’s like to go from working at a small community health center to a community hospital. Read more

July 14

Texas Children’s opens first-of-its-kind pediatric Heart Failure Intensive Care Unit

Texas Children’s Heart Center and the section of Critical Care Medicine cut the ribbon July 6 on a new, first-of-its-kind pediatric Heart Failure Intensive Care Unit. This highly-specialized 12-bed unit focuses on the treatment of children with heart failure, as well as those requiring intensive care before and after heart transplant. Read more

July 14

Young investigator given research boost from national grant

Dr. Rikhia Chakraborty is a young scientist with a distinct goal – to find the causes that potentially lead to Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), a rare cancer mainly affecting pediatric patients, and determine the best way to prevent and treat the disease. Chakraborty’s research was recently recognized by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation with a Young Investigator Grant worth $100,000. Read more

July 14

Hour-long documentary on Mata conjoined twins to air on Discovery Life Channel

An hour-long documentary on the formerly conjoined Mata twins aired on the Discovery Life Channel on July 16 . The program spotlighted Texas Children’s Hospital’s efforts leading up to and after the historic surgery that separated Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata. Read more

July 14

Department of Surgery makes great strides 2010-2015

During his annual state of the department meeting, Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr. highlighted the impressive efforts within the Department of Surgery. Read more

July 20

A new community hospital partnership allows patients to deliver at CHI St. Luke’s Health – The Vintage Hospital

Pregnant members of Texas Children’s Health Plan – The Center for Children and Women Greenspoint location recently received some big news. They can now deliver their babies at CHI St. Luke’s Health – The Vintage Hospital located in Northwest Houston. Read more

July 21

Texas Children’s conference empowers HH patients, families

On July 11, Texas Children’s Hospital and Hope for Hypothalamic Hamartomas hosted an educational conference to empower patients and their families affected by a rare and often devastating brain condition. Hypothalamic Hamartoma (HH) is a noncancerous tumor of the hypothalamus that causes uncontrollable seizures, early puberty, hormonal imbalances and cognitive and behavioral problems. Read more

July 21

World renowned epileptologist, colleagues visit Texas Children’s Hospital

World renowned epileptologist Dr. Helen Cross and two of her colleagues visited Texas Children’s July 9 and July 10 to get more information on the Medtronic Visualase system, which uses real-time MRI-guided thermal imaging and laser technology to destroy lesions in the brain that cause epilepsy and uncontrollable seizures. Read more

July 21

Leaders prepare for opening of special isolation unit

Clinicians recently participated in a detailed simulation to prepare for the soon-to-be-open special isolation unit. The state-of-the-art facility will open its doors in October and a Special Response Team will stand ready to receive children suspected of having a highly contagious disease. Read more

July 21

End-of-treatment bell brings hope for cancer patients

Patients at the Texas Children Cancer and Hematology Centers now can ring a bell in both the inpatient and outpatient units at the end of their treatment. Listen to a song Purple Songs Can Fly artist and cancer survivor Christian Spear wrote and dedicated to patients entering a new phase of their lives with the ringing of the end-of-treatment bell. Read more

July 21

ICD-10: Let’s reach 100 percent educational compliance by September 1

On October 1, Texas Children’s and other hospitals around the nation will convert to the federally-mandated ICD-10 coding system to better report patients’ diagnoses and inpatient procedures. To ensure we are ready systemwide for this transition, employees must complete their required online education and training by September 1. You can access your assigned e-learning module here. Read more

July 28

Texas Children’s Auxiliary awards given to Gargollo and Rosenfeld

The Texas Children’s Hospital Auxiliary awarded urologist Dr. Patricio Gargollo the Denton A. Cooley Fellowship in Surgical Innovation Award and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Rosenfeld the Outcomes Fellowship Award for 2015. Each award totals $75,000. This is the fourth year the Department of Surgery has received funding from the Texas Children’s Auxiliary. Read more

July 28

NRI study: Insufficient energy production by mitochondria can lead to neural degeneration

In a fascinating study recently published in PLOS Biology, Dr. Hugo Bellen, Manish Jaiswal and their colleagues at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s found that insufficient energy production by the mitochondria can cause photoreceptor neurons in the retina to degenerate. Read more

July 28

Fraser celebrates 20 years with Texas Children’s Hospital Heart Center

Thanks to the vision of legendary heart surgeon Dr. Denton H. Cooley and the leadership of Texas Children’s Hospital Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr ., the Texas Children’s Hospital Heart Center is one of the most active pediatric heart programs in the United States, setting a record with 32 heart transplants in 2014 and consistently treating the most complex heart issues every day. Read more

July 28

Texas Children’s expands crucial care to cancer and hematology patients in developing countries

Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center physicians are crossing the globe to provide care for children suffering from cancer and blood disorders. Watch a video to see how the care they provide continues to reach new populations. Read more

July 28

Zarutskie’s arrival, expertise complements patient care at Family Fertility Center

Dr. Paul Zarutskie recently joined the Family Fertility Center at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. With more than 30 years in the field of reproductive medicine, Zarutskie combines his expertise and compassionate approach to patient care to help infertile couples achieve their dream of starting a family. Read more

August 14

Transplant Services team to host pediatric transplant symposium

Texas Children’s Hospital Transplant Services team is hosting the 2015 Pediatric Transplant Symposium at Texas Children’s Hospital. Learn how to register for this conference. Read more

July 14, 2015

One such step was taken June 25 and 26 when staff and leaders at the Woodlands Health Center and staff and leaders at the West Campus Outpatient and Subspecialty Building met and discussed what it’s like to go from working at a small community health center to a community hospital.

The 60-member staff at the Woodlands Health Center will move into the Woodlands Outpatient and Subspecialty Building in October 2016. The building will be adjacent to Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, which will open its doors in the fall of 2017. A similar situation occurred five years ago when West Campus Outpatient and Subspecialty Building started seeing patients. The nearby West Houston Health Center closed and its staff moved to the outpatient and subspecialty building.

“The staff at West Campus has been through this and has a lot of good advice to offer,” said Julie Barrett, who recently was named director of outpatient and clinical support services for Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. “During the recent field trip, they alleviated a lot of our anxiety about the move and got us really excited about working in a community hospital setting.”

Some of the topics covered at the meeting included differences between a hospital setting and a health center, lessons learned from West Campus’ transition, operational challenges, and relationship with Main Campus. In addition to the panel discussion, health center staff also had the opportunity to tour West Campus.

“The overall experience was extremely beneficial to our health center employees, many of whom have never worked in a larger hospital setting,” said Diane Scardino, vice president of medical subspecialty practices and Health Centers at Texas Children’s. “They needed to see and hear what their new setting will be like from people who have been in their shoes.”

Scardino and President of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands Michelle Riley-Brown will continue to work together to provide additional training that will help staff understand and navigate the differences between working at a stand-alone health center versus one that is part of a community hospital.

Once completed, the Woodlands facility will be a 560,000-square-foot complex and will offer inpatient and outpatient specialty pediatric care. Facilities will include 22 emergency center rooms, 85 outpatient rooms, five radiology rooms, four operating rooms and 32 acute-care and 12 PICU beds with future expansion plans for up to 200 beds.

In November, Riley-Brown was named president of the hospital and Dr. Charles Hankins was named chief medical officer of the institution. Riley-Brown and Hankins assumed their positions as the Woodlands leadership team in January.

“We are working hard every day to prepare for the opening of Texas Children’s Hospital the Woodlands,” Riley-Brown said. “These site visits to the West Campus were important to host for the Woodlands Health Center staff, as it allowed them to get a glimpse into the similar capabilities of the future Woodlands hospital and outpatient services.”

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