May 31, 2017 | (50) Comments

You have often heard me say that Texas Children’s charge is to provide “the right care, in the right place at the right time.” For the past two decades, that has been the driver behind our strategic growth beyond the Texas Medical Center and into the communities where our patients and their families live.

Making sure they have access to exceptional health care close to home is why we have hospitals in Katy and The Woodlands and nearly 80 Texas Children’s primary care and urgent care practices, specialty care centers, maternal-fetal medicine clinics and other health care locations throughout Greater Houston. And that is why we are bringing Texas Children’s to Austin, Texas.

Today, we are announcing our plans to expand our pediatric and OB/GYN services into Austin, beginning with the opening of a welcome center, followed quickly thereafter with a pediatric urgent care clinic by spring 2018. This will mark the first Texas Children’s location in the Austin area, and starting with a welcome center will allow us to learn more about the area and share our story and plans for growth with the Austin community. We will open three additional pediatric urgent care clinics, 18 primary care pediatric practices, three pediatric specialty care locations and two maternal-fetal medicine practices across the city over the next five years.

As some of you may know, Austin is the 11th largest city in the U.S. and is also the fastest-growing city in America, with a pediatric population of more than 480,000. In short, Austin’s growth is outpacing its pediatric and women’s health care infrastructure. We already take care of many children and women from the Austin and Central Texas area. Providing primary and secondary care there will simply create an opportunity for us to do an even better job of that, so Austin families can have the care they need close to home … just like our families in Greater Houston. Our presence in Austin will also facilitate referrals to Texas Children’s Hospital for high acuity patients in need of comprehensive tertiary care and procedures available only at hospitals with our depth and breadth of specialized services.

Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown is leading the charge on our robust outpatient strategy in Austin. Her leadership and experience ensures that our strategy is well researched, thoughtful and cost effective. Taking our outpatient services to Austin means we will not have to build new facilities, and employing a five-year strategy requires minimal financial investment. We want to collaborate with the established pediatric and OB/GYN providers in the region to help support the growing Austin community.

Also, Texas Children’s Pediatrics will build on its 20-plus years of experience working with community pediatricians and will partner with existing pediatric primary care practices in the region. I’m confident in the proven leadership of Texas Children’s Pediatrics and Urgent Care President Kay Tittle and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Stanley Spinner to guide our assertive, incremental approach. As we expand the services offered, we will continue to evaluate and monitor the needs of Austin families, and those of others around the state, to tailor our offerings to best meet those needs.

Texas Children’s entry in the Austin community is a natural extension of our mission to expand care and access to more families in Texas. And this is precisely what providing the right care, in the right place at the right time actually looks like. It’s not a clever phrase or a lofty aspiration – it’s Texas Children’s commitment to serving our patients, wherever they are. And we’re backing up that commitment with a sound strategy and an investment in the Austin community. In Texas, that’s called walking the walk, and we’re excited that our path is Austin-bound.

December 21, 2016 | (2) Comments

At Texas Children’s, we are so passionate about our work and our mission that it is easy to get swept up in the incredible pace at which we move, build and expand. But for just a moment, about this time every year, I pause to really appreciate what we have achieved together in the span of one short year.

What I am reminded of when I do that is what a powerful element leadership is in our success. Specifically our collective leadership and how well tuned and aligned it must be in order for us to accomplish as much as we do year after year. Our growth is a reflection of the way we – the Board, leaders, physicians and employees – lead here at Texas Children’s.

We are constantly demonstrating the power of the leadership equation I often share with you: leadership = vision + structure + people, with people being the most important element or ingredient in the equation.

Vision

51-2k16-0387-ak5_5414-004-west-campus-cancer-gold-ribbon-event-9-2-16At Texas Children’s, we lead decisively and boldly, always focused on the vision we have shared since our founding. Growing our workforce, adding new programs,

recruiting world renowned staff, adding millions of square feet to our facilities and constantly working to make them the most advanced available – all of that is driven by our vision to provide the right care, in the right place and time when our patients need it.

So regardless of the year or the industry trends, our vision is our compass. Our mission-focused vision is at the core of every decision we make for the organization, and vision is in large part why 2016 was another standout year for Texas Children’s.

Structure

14a-2k16_0307-ak4_3015care-first-construction-update-from-street-07%ef%80%a213%ef%80%a216Structure is key to supporting our vision and actually being able to realize it. Simply saying health care should be available when and where children need it is not enough. We are thought-leaders and action-takers. So when we see a need, we respond to it very tangibly, and we provide the structure to support our response.

At the beginning of fiscal year 2016, we opened a special isolation unit to be extensively prepared to care for children with highly contagious infectious diseases. Yet we designed it strategically so that it supports acute care, enabling us to be agile and responsive to daily patient care needs.

We began construction on our new Pediatric Tower this year, and we have now completed the exterior of 16 of 19 new floors. This space will help us provide advanced care and facilities for our most critically ill patients. We also purchased two buildings in the Texas Medical Center right next door to our campus – another move to make sure we can grow when the time is right. Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands Outpatient Building opened this fall, and within just seven weeks, we’d already had 10,000 patient visits between all of our patient care facilities in The Woodlands. We are without a doubt meeting our communities’ current needs and preparing well for future ones.

And to be clear, structure is not always bricks and mortar. More often it is collaboration, resourcefulness and innovation. One of our brightest moments this year was our involvement in the launch of the state’s STAR Kids managed care program, which provides benefits to children and young adults who have special health care needs.

At the start of FY2016, Texas Children’s Heath Plan had just been selected as a provider for the STAR Kids program, and on November 1, STAR Kids made its debut. To date, we already have 25,000 STAR Kids patients enrolled in the Health Plan. The breadth and depth of our system uniquely positions and resources us to provide an incredibly comprehensive network of care for STAR Kids patients. I’m so proud, because this is exactly why Texas Children’s exists.

People

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The little hospital that once had 1,400 staff and employees now has 14,000, delivering exceptional care to nearly 10,000 children and women every day – yes, we had more than 3.6 million patient encounters in FY2016.

Suffice it to say that none of this is possible without our people. We are immeasurably blessed with the most gifted and dedicated clinical and administrative staff and employees in the world.

One of my favorite moments this year was sitting amongst some of our amazing people at our annual Employee Recognition Celebration honoring Texas Children’s employees for their years of service to the organization. This year’s was our largest celebration yet – we honored about 500 tenured employees who, collectively, have dedicated 8,900 years of service.

I remember how fired up every single one of them was about Texas Children’s. And that’s the thing about our people – so many of you have that same energy and fire for Texas Children’s, whether you have been here a good five days or a fantastic 25 years. I simply love the way our people embrace excellence and constantly seek ways to make strides that improve our care, spark ideas and give our families new answers and fresh hope.

This is the spirit of our culture, and it is why a single year at Texas Children’s looks like a decade. It is impressive what we have created, advanced and grown together this year, yet we are still on the cusp of much more.

Our future is brighter than ever, and our team is beyond amazing. Thank you all for a phenomenal year. And enjoy your holidays, because you know I will be ready to do it all over again in 2017.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a very happy New Year to all!

Click here for a video of some of our biggest accomplishments in 2016.

 

October 31, 2016 | (19) Comments

In a story on Connect last week, you read about one of our precious patients – 3-year-old Christopher – and his mom Jessica Coker. Jessica shared how shortly after giving birth to Christopher she learned he had very complex medical needs and would require a level of care and health care management that, just days before, she could not even fathom. But like most parents, she received the devastating news as a charge to immediately learn all she could to be her child’s most diligent and resourceful health care advocate.

I think about families like the Cokers all the time. These families and their children remind us why we are here,star-kids-2 and they drive the work we do at Texas Children’s. They are why I am so very excited about today – today is the debut of STAR Kids, a new Texas Medicaid managed care program that will provide benefits to more than 180,000 children and young adults who have special health care needs.

Texas Children’s Health Plan is one of three managed care organizations offering the STAR Kids plan in Harris, Jefferson and Northeast service areas. But make no mistake – this is a system-wide interest for Texas Children’s. We expect to enroll thousands of new children in the Health Plan. Many of these children are already receiving some level of care at Texas Children’s, and many more will be new to our system. We have a responsibility to ensure exceptional, seamlessly coordinated health care across our system for all of these children.

Many of the children in STAR Kids will be cared for by a host of specialists. Christopher, for example, sees about 24 specialists within and outside of the Texas Children’s system. Christopher’s well-being and that of thousands of children relies squarely on the support they have in navigating the health care system. These children need primary care, outpatient subspecialty services, diagnostic services and therapies, and we have an incomparable and vast network of care. But the best care in the world will not benefit them if they do not have access to it when they need it. Our involvement in STAR Kids is an opportunity for us to stand in the gap for these children, and our new Complex Care Clinic is one way we are doing that. Our care coordinators – registered nurses and certified social workers – provide individual treatment plans to make sure these children have preventive care and routine well visits, urgent visits and follow-up care.

And while our primary driver is ensuring the right care for the children in the program, understand that we also have a huge financial stake in the success of STAR Kids. Efficiently and proactively managing care for these children – and all of our patients, for that matter – means we not only provide the right care, but we respond to their needs in the right place and at the right time. Getting families connected to appropriate resources, providing planned, well-coordinated care, and having robust home based services will help their children avoid unnecessary emergency room visits and unplanned hospital stays.

As a result, they stay healthier, and they enjoy a better quality of life. That is why we are here at Texas Children’s, and that is success for everyone – our patient families and for us. Our mission is to care for these children. Our charge is to do it well.

Learn more about STAR Kids and Texas Children’s involvement.

September 13, 2016 | (40) Comments

Today is such an exciting day for Texas Children’s and for the families we will serve for the next few decades. We have just finalized the purchase of two Texas Medical Center buildings near Texas Children’s Hospital – the Baylor Clinic Building at 6620 Main St. and the O’Quinn Medical Tower at 6624 Fannin St.

Our purchase of these two buildings from Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center is such a significant expansion milestone – we have now added nearly 700,000 square feet of office and clinical space and 2,500 parking spaces to our medical center properties. However, the acquisition of these two buildings is not simply about buying buildings or adding bricks and mortar. It is about our ability to better serve more children, women and families who need the unique and comprehensive services of Texas Children’s. This is an investment in our mission to advance patient care, education and research.

And quite honestly, it is such a rare opportunity to be able to buy properties next to and across the street from our medical center property – one we likely will not ever have again. Realizing this, the Texas Children’s Board of Trustees, the medical staff and I discussed and examined this extensively, and we concluded that this acquisition was something in which we had to invest. It is a considerable investment in our people – specifically, our medical staff, employees and, most importantly, our patients and families. Having these new spaces will help ensure we can meet the future demands of our growing patient population, staff and workforce.

This purchase also represents something else we all can be proud of – our consistent financial stewardship. Our ability to purchase these facilities is the result of the strong and focused stewardship we have exercised in the last 25 years. Because we have been such responsible stewards of our assets and resources at Texas Children’s, we have created a solid balance sheet with very little debt. That allows us the flexibility to be quick and nimble enough to seize an opportunity like this. We were able to make this purchase without borrowing or raising money – it was completely funded by our cash reserves for capital projects. Our diligent past stewardship is paying huge dividends for our organization’s promising future.

Now that the acquisition is complete, the spaces within these new facilities will be further examined as part of our facilities master planning process. Several months ago I created a team – led by Executive Vice President Mark Mullarkey, Vice President of Surgical Services Matt Girotto, Vice President of Nursing Jackie Ward and Associate Radiologist-in-Chief Dr. Lane Donnelly – to guide this process. With the support of Facilities Planning and Development and the entire senior leadership team, they are leading development of Texas Children’s facilities master plan for the future. We know as leases expire for existing tenants in these two new buildings, those vacant spaces will provide tremendous backfill opportunities. Through the process of master planning, we will be able to identify the services that should be located in those new spaces.

Our process of strategically planning the use of all our facilities combined with our ability to add significant new space in such a prime location provides opportunities across our entire system. Today just opened a lot of doors for Texas Children’s for decades to come, and that should excite and inspire us all.