December 11, 2018

On December 7, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands joined forces with Tellepsen, a local construction company, for their third annual Bikes4Smiles event.

“We enjoy giving bicycles to Texas Children’s Hospital patients,” Construction Manager of Tellepsen, John Brock said. “Seeing the big smiles on their faces is what makes me want to do more every year.”

The Woodlands campus’ Patient & Family Services team did a remarkable job identifying deserving families and coordinating with Tellepsen on the delivery and presentation of the bicycles. One-by-one, each patient, some along with their siblings, entered the Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands conference room shocked to see dozens of shiny new bikes with their names on them.

A total of 32 bikes were matched with deserving children this year, and The Woodlands staff donated safety helmets to go with each bicycle.

“Thank you all so much for this,” a patient mother, Mayra Munoz said in tears. “This is exactly what they asked for this year for Christmas.”

In 2015, Tellepsen participated in a donation project that ultimately sparked Bikes4Smles, which Brock in particular, donated a brand new Spiderman bicycle. After presenting the bikes, Brock noticed how one child’s face lit up, and he also noticed that it was because of his gift.

“That struck me real hard,” Brock said. “At that moment I knew this wasn’t just a one-time thing.”

Tellepsen’s Bikes4Smiles project was born in 2016, raising approximately 265 bikes. Today, with Texas Children’s patients added to the list of recipients, the company has donated nearly 700 bicycles in total. Tellepsen is not only responsible for making Texas Children’s patients smile, but they are also responsible for making The Woodlands campus’ alluring structure.

This event has laid the foundation for our partnership as we continue to work with this influential company to make a difference in The Woodlands community and surrounding communities in Montgomery County.

“Events like these are always a pleasure to witness,” Executive Vice President of Texas Children’s Hospital, Michelle Riley-Brown said. “We thank Tellepsen for their gifts, as well as their constant dedication to the health of children and women.”

December 3, 2018

On November 2, The Woodlands’ Recognition and Rewards Committee proudly presented the first quarter Shining Star award to Robert Smith and Dr. Ruben Rodriguez.

Smith is a pharmacist known for his contagious smile and endless compassion for his job and fellow coworkers. He goes above and beyond to make sure others are taken care of, including hand delivering medications when needed.

“Robert is truly an inspiration to many,” Inpatient staff nurse Nina Riddell said. “He is very well known and when he walks through the unit his aura immediately brightens up the room!”

Rodriguez is a surgical services physician who naturally and effortlessly embraces the core values of Texas Children’s Hospital. His collaboration, collegiality, and compassion are known by all who interact with him. Rodriguez’s exemplary care and attention to his craft helps make everyone around him rise to a higher level.

“We are all fortunate to benefit from having the leadership of Dr. Rodriguez at this campus,” AD Pediatric Surgery Advance Practice Provider, Matthew Borges said. “It is my extreme honor to call attention to the shining star he casts over all who have the opportunity to work with him.”

This award honors those who go above and beyond to provide exceptional care to our patients, families and staff at The Woodlands campus. A huge congratulations and thank you to each of you for being the Shining Star!

If you would like to nominate someone, please click here.

November 6, 2018

This year, fall festivals and Halloween events across the Texas Children’s system were bigger, better and spookier than ever.

The festivities began on October 24 with West Campus’ annual Fall Festival. In the first floor lobby, patients and their families were welcomed by enthusiastic Child Life specialists, along with volunteers who led various games and arts and craft activities.

Watch the video and view the photo gallery below to get a glimpse of the fun everyone had at these unforgettable events.


“We really loved seeing how much all of the patients enjoyed the event,” Child Life Specialist Jessica Felder said. “It was very evident that the volunteers enjoyed seeing the excitement on the children’s faces. It was really a rewarding feeling knowing that we planned an event that touched the hearts of so many individuals.”

Several businesses and community groups including Chick-fil-A, Wood Group, Gymboree, Gym Station, and the Katy Police and Fire Department, participated by setting up games such as bowling, bean bag throwing and guess the fall spice, as well as a museum-style display of Making a Mark artwork.

On October 31, hundreds of tiny witches, ghouls, fairies, super heroes, princesses and more turned out for a fiendishly good time along the Auxiliary and Miracle Bridges for the 2018 Halloween Celebration at Texas Children’s main campus.

The haunted hullabaloo was a party of monstrous proportions, as dozens of amazing Texas Children’s employees from across all departments, service lines and divisions lined the walkways to make Halloween special for our patients and their families. They went all out with unbelievable costumes, decorations and booths with fun activities, such as pumpkin painting and dinosaur dancing, and plenty of games, prizes and candy.

Attendance at the second Fall Festival at our campus in The Woodlands surpassed the previous two years. Texas Children’s newest campus brought together over 400 patients, family members and people from the community, as well as representatives from several corporate sponsors, including Clariant Oil Services, Microsoft The Woodlands, Junior League The Woodlands, The Woodlands Fire Department, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Insurance, PurePoint Financial, Soccer Shots, and Aon, as well as characters from “Performing with a Purpose.”

Kids and their families had plenty of activities to keep them entertained, like bowling, beanbag tosses, arts and crafts, music, and various foods and candy. Spirit of Halloween costume store was also present to provide costumes to kids who didn’t have one. The Fall Festival committee presented a plaque to the vendors, thanking them for being a part of the festival. The event ended with employees from Language Services and Guest Services winning a very competitive employee costume contest.

Other entities across the system also had their own celebrations. In conjunction with the One Step Closer Foundation and Texas Children’s Social Work Department, Texas Children’s Complex Care Clinic hosted the first annual Complex Care Costume Party. This event was created to provide the clinic’s medically complex patients an opportunity to celebrate the fall season in a festive and familiar environment. Patients and their siblings played games, participated in art projects and danced to a DJ!

Also, the babies in the level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The Woodlands campus got a surprise Halloween visit from “Batman”, while dressed up in costumes, some of which were made by Texas Children’s Child Life team for its tiniest patients. Families had the opportunity to have their photos taken with their child and Batman (a longtime Texas Children’s Hospital volunteer) at the bedside by FirstMemories Texas, who made the special visit possible. FirstMemories Texas is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to teaching families whose infants are in the NICU and CVICU at Texas Children’s Hospital how to celebrate, honor and tell their children’s stories through photography and album making.

“We really love giving patients and their families a fun event to participate in every year. Having these special fall events provides the medical staff an opportunity to interact with children strictly for joy and entertainment,” Child Life Specialist Hannah Early said. “This is just as enjoyable for the staff as it is for the families that participate. Getting the chance to watch our patients just be kids is so wonderful.”

October 2, 2018

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands has marked another significant milestone with the recent Level III designation of its 14-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The designation by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) 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, with the intent of ensuring that neonatal intensive care units have the resources and expertise to provide high-quality patient care that leads to the best outcomes for newborn patients and their families.

Texas is one of the first states requiring NICUs to undergo a site visit by the American Academy of Pediatrics’ NICU Verification Program to verify the level of care provided to patients meets the Neonatal Levels of Care classifications as defined in the Texas Administrative Code. Completing the designation process is a requirement to receive Medicaid reimbursement for neonatal services.

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands underwent its first site visit in April. The Level III NICU designation was announced this month.

“This is an impressive accomplishment in our 17 months of operations and validates our commitment to providing world-class pediatric care to The Woodlands community and beyond,” said Ketrese White, director of Patient Care Services in The Woodlands. “The surveyors emphasized how impressed they were with our accomplishments to date and how well our team performed during this rigorous process.”

A level III NICU designation must provide care for mothers and comprehensive care of their infants of all gestational ages with mild to critical illnesses or requiring sustained life support, provide for consultation to a full range of pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists, have the capability to perform major pediatric surgery on-site or at another appropriate designated facility, among many other criteria. View the full list of level III Neonatal Levels of Care classifications here.

“Babies born prematurely and those who are critically ill require highly-specialized resources and 24/7 multidisciplinary care in order to have the most optimal outcome,” said Dr. Lisa Owens, medical director of The Woodlands NICU. “This designation helps ensure neonates are treated in the right level of NICU and thereby receive high-quality care.”

Susan Romero, assistant clinical director of the NICU in The Woodlands, said receiving the designation was a true team effort that involved team members from across the hospital.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be associated with such a wide-range of expert care,” she said. “Such an accomplishment shows a tremendous amount of work and planning.”

To learn more about Texas Children’s Newborn Center, please visit www.texaschildrens.org/newborn.

September 10, 2018

Texas Children’s Cancer Center showed their “Going Gold” spirit last week in honor of National Childhood Cancer Awareness month.

Patients, families and Texas Children’s Cancer Center employees wore everything gold, the official symbolic color for childhood cancer awareness, and participated in Going Gold parades, ribbon tying events and other festivities at Texas Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands and Vannie Cook Children’s Cancer and Hematology Clinic in McAllen, Texas.

View a photo gallery from the events below.

Dressed in bright gold shirts and donned with gold stars, hats, necklaces, bracelets and other festive gear, participants marched for the worthy cause. Vendors from organizations such as the Periwinkle Foundation were present at all three events offering additional support to patients and families. And, employees with the Cancer Center spoke about how important the celebration is to them, patients, families and anyone and everyone interested in beating this disease.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to have everyone here,” Dr. Susan Blaney, director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, said to a packed room on the fourth floor of the Pavilion for Women before the parade at Texas Children’s Medical Center campus. “As you know, there have been significant advancements in oncology, making what was once a fatal diagnosis survivable here in the United States. However, there is still much more work that needs to be done, which is why we are here today.”

Dr. Ricardo Flores, clinical director of the Cancer and Hematology Centers at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, agreed and pointed out that every hour a child is diagnosed with cancer.

“We have made great enhancements, but still need a cure,” he said.

Dr. Deborah Shardy, associate clinical director of the Cancer and Hematology Centers at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, said those we honor and remember this month are the very people who inspire us to continue to look for a cure.

“Texas Children’s Cancer Center was inspired to “Go Gold” several years ago by a young patient, Faris D. Virani, who was perplexed as to why he didn’t see as much gold in September as he saw other colors in months representing other diseases,” she said. “Motivated by Faris’ concern, each year the Cancer Center has increased their level of “gold-ness.”

Faris’ mother, Asha Virani, said she knows her son, who lost his battle with Ewing’s sarcoma, is smiling because of all of the gold that is being shown around Texas Children’s in September.

By the end of this year, it is estimated that over 15,700 children nationwide will be diagnosed with a form of pediatric cancer. Please help spread the message that Texas Children’s Cancer Center is leading the battle against pediatric cancer. To learn more about Texas Children’s Cancer Center, please visit texaschildrens.org/cancer.

July 17, 2018

When Kristine Hartin’s son was born almost a year ago, she was not prepared for the emergency cesarean section and almost four-week stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

Unbeknownst to the first-time mom, her son, Reid, had pituitary stalk interruption syndrome, a congenital abnormality that can cause jaundice, congenital abnormalities and low blood sugar levels. Reid’s diagnosis, in addition to his complicated delivery and low birthweight, prompted doctors at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston where Kristine delivered, to transfer him to Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, which is close to their Montgomery County home.

During his stay, Reid received expert pediatric care from physicians in a variety of specialties including pulmonology, nutrition and occupational therapy. Slowly but surely he began to gain weight and progress in other areas. At 4 weeks old, Reid’s doctors told his parents their infant was ready to head home.

“I was excited but I was also scared,” Kristine said. “All I could think about was how I was going to manage his care.”

“Transition from the NICU to home is a very exciting time for infants and families, but it can be an incredibly stressful time as well,” said Dr. Candice Allen, medical director of the High-Risk Neonatal Follow Up Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, also known as the SOAR Program. “Parents typically experience a significant amount of anxiety regarding how best to care for and nurture their newborn following discharge from the NICU.”

“Families have to shift their mindset from helping their infant survive to considering the myriad of supports and services that may be needed to help their infant thrive,” Allen said. “The vision of the SOAR Program is to help make this transition easier by providing infants and families with the support they need to help these precious little ones grow, learn, and develop to maximize their ultimate potential.”

The SOAR program is geared toward meeting the needs of families with high-risk-infants throughout the child’s first three years of life. The SOAR team consists of multiple medical and non-medical providers, including three pediatricians who have particular expertise in caring for high-risk infants following their discharge from the NICU. These pediatricians work closely with Allen, who is a developmental behavioral pediatrician, to track each infant’s growth and development to ensure that any developmental concerns are detected and addressed as early as possible. Should developmental concerns arise, our team of SOAR Occupational, Physical and Speech therapists are ready and able to provide any therapy services that are needed.

The SOAR team also includes several other providers that families might have met during their infant’s NICU stay, including a pulmonologist, clinical nutritionist, lactation specialist, and social worker, all of whom allow for continuity of care. There also is a psychologist on the team, who provides behavioral therapy and parent training to help address any social-emotional or behavioral concerns that an infant may develop.

In addition, parental stress/anxiety and depression screens are routinely given at follow up visits to make sure any necessary parental supports are in place and to facilitate access to community resources that may be necessary to meet any needs that are identified.

Kristine said Reid sees various members of the team about once a month. All of the visits are scheduled on one day for convenience and collaboration. So far, Kristine said, Reid is doing great. He’s gaining weight, hitting all of his developmental milestones and is happy.

“I don’t know how we would do it without our SOAR team,” she said. “They help so much and make us feel like we are a part of the medical team. We are extremely thankful for their support.”

Allen said she is glad to hear comments like Hartin’s, and that from her perspective, the SOAR program is doing a good job of providing a seamless transition of care for their enrolled high-risk infants, and their families, following discharge from the NICU. In addition, she said it is providing families with a more robust way of tracking their child’s development and that this facilitates early detection and intervention to help address, and hopefully overcome, these developmental concerns.

“Families in the NICU have gone through so much,” Allen said. “Our desire is to support you and your little one in any way we can. Our SOAR Team is ready to help your little one rise to new heights, spread his/her little wings, and SOAR!”

June 19, 2018

Earlier this year the Houston Business Journal’s 2018 Landmark Awards selected it’s winners for the top commercial real estate projects in Houston. Our very own Texas Children’s Hospital, The Woodlands campus, won in the medical category.

On April 19, the winners were revealed at the highly anticipated awards ceremony. Finalists and winners of all categories were announced and awarded on stage in front of the top individuals in the commercial real estate community. According to The Houston Business Journal, entries were judged on impact to Houston, such as job creation, innovation, best use of land, site plan, and development of surrounding neighborhoods, visual plan, amenities and being environmentally friendly. Attendees of the event received copies of the Landmark Awards section, as well as the April 20th paper, and winners received crystal trophies engraved with the organization’s name and category.

“Receiving this year’s Landmark Award for the medical category was the perfect way to celebrate our one-year anniversary,” said Trent Johnson, Assistant Vice President of The Woodlands campus. “It is truly the perfect ending to our first year which has been an incredible story of success with Texas Children’s offering world-class care, close to home for patients and families in our community.”

Nominations were open to all real estate projects completed in the greater Houston area from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. In all, there were 54 projects in 16 categories in the running for this year’s awards. Our medical competitors were Legacy Community Health Fifth Ward Clinic and University of Houston Health 2 Building.

“The honor of having Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands campus win in the medical category told me two things – we’ve created a significant landmark and we’ve made an impact to the Houston area landscape, not only physically, but functionally,” said Jill Pearsall, Vice President of Facilities Planning and Development. “The success of the campus gives me a sense of pride and humility.”