August 23, 2016

82416periwinklegatorade640In her almost 22 years with Texas Children’s Hospital, Linda Baker, assistant director of pharmacy at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, has always been involved with Camp Periwinkle, a week-long summer camp for children with cancer and their siblings.

Last year Baker wanted to adopt a cabin at the camp, but they were all taken so she asked camp organizers what else they needed. Gatorade!, they enthusiastically replied. Baker donated 10 cases of the drink and the camp still needed more, which gave Baker the idea to organize a campus-wide contribution this year, challenging her West Campus employees to exceed last year’s donation. They did just that, giving 1,504 bottles or 19,193 ounces of Gatorade to the Periwinkle Foundation.

“I am so proud and happy to say that the employees of West Campus came through as we always do,” Baker said. “We should all be very proud that our contribution helped keep these kids hydrated during their summer camp.”

82416wclibrarydonation640The Katy-West Houston Pi Beta Phi alumnae group recently presented $4,800 to Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. These funds will go toward the West Campus’ library, which offers books, board games, puzzles and movies for patients and their families to enjoy. The library also houses medical and parenting resources, paperback fiction, magazines, foreign language books, computers and a fax machine.

Texas Children’s has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Pi Beta Phi alumnae and shares a mutual commitment to literacy and education. The first Pi Beta Phi Patient/Family Library opened in 1985 at Texas Children’s Hospital, and in 2011, the Pi Beta Phi Patient/Family Library opened at the West Campus.

Currently, there are more than 140 Pi Beta Phi Book Nooks located at Texas Children’s medical center campus, the West Campus, Texas Children’s Health Centers, Texas Children’s Urgent Care facilities, the Centers for Children and Women and in all the Texas Children’s Pediatrics practices throughout the Houston area.

After the check presentation, Pi Beta Phi alumnae members received a tour of the West Campus, which included visits to the library, radiology department and sports medicine area. As the Greater-Houston’s first suburban hospital designed exclusively for children, the West Campus upholds Texas Children’s mission of providing the highest-quality health care for children, coupled with a location that’s convenient and accessible for area families.

August 1, 2016

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Texas Children’s is dedicated to supporting you in achieving optimal health and well-being. That is why we are pleased to invite you to participate in Go for the Gold, a well-being challenge that encourages you to be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day for a minimum of 20 days.

The challenge is taking place August 1 through August 31, to parallel the Rio Summer Olympics. Registration is now open! Click here to sign up for the challenge. For challenge details, visit the Wellness site.

To support you along the way, we are also pleased to invite you to our Go for the Gold kick-off events at Main and West Campuses on Wednesday, August 3 and to our group exercise classes happening throughout the month of August. Click here to learn more.

July 19, 2016

71316CynthiaGrace175Cynthia Grace, care manager at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, died unexpectedly along with her husband on July 8, 2016. She was 41 years old.

Cynthia joined Texas Children’s Hospital in 2011. She was well-respected, admired by her peers and consistently provided exceptional care to her patients and families. Everyone who worked alongside Cynthia will miss her smile, quick wit and sparkling personality.

Cynthia is survived by her children, Ariel and Alex; her father, Richard; her mother, Lumduan; and her brother, Brandon. To her many extended family and friends, she will be greatly missed.

June 21, 2016

62216journal640The third issue of The Journal of Texas Children’s Hospital was recently released along with its companion website for online readers. Visit the site here to get a look at the third issue, which features a special section on the separation of conjoined twins Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata.

The special section is organized into three main parts: pre-surgery, surgery and post-surgery, all of which demonstrate the expertise, talent and comprehensive care available at Texas Children’s. The section lays out the extent to which our team nurtured a trusting rapport with the family, and skillfully cared for and thoughtfully treated the Mata babies from the time they were born until a little more than a year later when they were discharged to their home in west Texas.

Additional features of this edition’s The Journal include:

  • A column from Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark A. Wallace detailing how we have grown as an organization in size, staff and programming in order to continue to meet our ever increasing demand and to be the court of last resort for so many in need.
  • An in-depth look at the U.S. News and World Report rankings, what they mean, how they are formed and whether they have made Texas Children’s, which is ranked the 4th best children’s hospital in the nation, a better, stronger health care institution.
  • A story about the opening of the Special Isolation Unit at Children’s Hospital West Campus and how it demonstrates how Texas Children’s runs toward problems instead of away from them when it comes to the wellbeing of children and their families.
  • An intriguing piece about the research Texas Children’s is doing on a promising treatment using fecal bacteriotherapy to treat inflammatory bowel disease in children.
  • A spotlight on the successful care of morbidly adherent placenta, a potentially fatal condition, in pregnant women.
  • A column from Dr. Stanley Spinner, the chief medical officer of Texas Children’s Pediatrics, about retail-based after-hours care and Texas Children’s efforts to fill that gap by opening quality pediatric urgent care center across the Houston area.

The Journal launched in January 2013, replacing Shine magazine as the organization’s flagship publication. The magazine shares Texas Children’s advancements with intelligent, compelling stories featuring our people, our patients and timely, broadly relevant topics. Along with a philanthropic audience of about 30,000 recipients, the twice-yearly Journal is distributed to another 20,000 recipients, including:

  • CEOs and clinical leaders at all U.S. children’s hospitals and women’s hospitals
  • All U.S. medical school deans and chairs of pediatrics, pediatric surgery, OB/GYN and genetics
  • Physicians in pediatrics, 25 pediatric sub-specialties and women’s health services in Texas and four contiguous states
June 1, 2016

6116WCIRREV640One of Texas Children’s main objectives is to provide the right care at the right time at the right place. Fulfilling that mission just got easier with the installation of a new Interventional Radiology Suite at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

Equipped with a customizable interventional X-ray imaging system from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., the new suite will enable physicians to provide a wider range of image-guided procedures to patients and families in the West Houston area without having to send them across town to Texas Children’s in the Texas Medical Center.

“This suite gives us the ability to have a full-service radiology department at West Campus, making the future of radiology at the community hospital even brighter,” said Texas Children’s Radiology-In-Chief Dr. George S. Bisset at a ribbon cutting event for the new suite. “I’m very excited about what this new addition will bring to the hospital, our medical staff, and most importantly, our patients.”

Texas Children’s Chief of Interventional Radiology Dr. Kamlesh Kukreja said interventional radiology helps physicians keep every child they see as healthy as they can be and as comfortable as possible during their visit to the hospital or clinic.

“I’m looking forward to this service growing significantly at West Campus,” Kukreja said.

The new state-of-the-art suite is equipped with Toshiba’s Infinix-i’s C-arm design that offers conformity to any patient, allowing for optimal angulations, streamlined positioning and customizable configuration. In addition, the Infinix-i’s ergonomic enhancement improves clinician speed and precision while reducing the potential for strain and injury. Another important feature is the real-time Dose Tracking System that provides real-time data on the delivery of radiation in the form of easy-to-read color-coded human map.

“In pediatrics, radiation exposure is a key concern and dose management continues to be an important focus assuring maximum benefits under the highest safety standards for the patients,” said Sadia Nasir, assistant director of radiology at West Campus. “The Dose Monitoring System, in combination with dose management and reduction technologies, such as, Spot Fluororscopy will allow the interventionists to instantaneously monitor and minimize patient’s X-ray skin dose in real time during the procedures.”

Matt Schaefer, vice president of West Campus, said the need for additional radiology services at West Campus has continued to grow ever since the community hospital opened its doors more than five years ago.

“The opening of this new, state-of-the-art Interventional Radiology Suite is simply another step toward meeting those needs and providing patients with the highest quality of pediatric care.” he said.

To learn more about Texas Children’s interventional radiology services, click here.

6116WCBusinessPartnership640Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus recently received the Houston West Chamber of Commerce’s Business Partnership Award for their continued efforts to improve and enrich the lives of individuals in the west Houston area.

Since the hospital opened its doors five years ago, leadership and staff have been incredibly committed to not only providing the highest-quality care possible for patients, but investing in the community through partnerships, events and educational opportunities.

“We are so honored to receive this award,” said Chanda Cashen Chacón, president of Texas Children’s West Campus. “Here at West Campus, we are dedicated to the west Houston community and love being involved with so many wonderful individuals and organizations in the area.”

As part of its community engagement efforts, West Campus hosts annual events such as the Family Fun Run and sponsors area events including the inaugural Typhoon Texas Triathlon. The hospital also recently hosted a group of over 50 eighth graders from The Village School to teach them about the health care industry and the numerous career opportunities available. This new partnership will provide additional experiences for more students in the community to learn about the hospital and help them choose potential areas of interest to study in high school and college.