January 31, 2019 | (28) Comments

On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave one of his most famous speeches and spurred the United States toward one of our most decisive endeavors in history.

In his address that day, Kennedy outlined plans to greatly expand our space program. He told the audience we would lead the race for space and put a man on the moon before the end of the decade – a feat that would test the limits of human ingenuity and scientific innovation like nothing before.

Needless to say, his vision became reality – seven years later, we put a man on the moon. Since then, we’ve sent satellites to the far reaches of the galaxy and beyond. Most recently, we landed rovers on the surface of Mars. And it began right here in Houston – an ambitious pursuit of a mission fulfilled by the pioneering spirit of our city’s people.

If you look out from Taussig Auditorium in our beautiful new Texas Children’s Heart Center on the 16th floor of Lester and Sue Smith Legacy Tower, you can see Rice Stadium just a few blocks to the north –  the place where President Kennedy gave his aspirational speech that day and called the people of Houston to action. It gives me chills to think about it. And it’s impossible for me to think about that incredible moment in history and not draw a parallel to another historic day when the people of Houston saw a bold vision through to reality.

It was February 1, 1954 – the day Texas Children’s Hospital first opened its doors.

1954 Texas Children's Hospital exterior -2-

That was 65 years ago today. It might seem like a long time ago, but when you consider that the nation’s other top hospitals have been around for 130-plus years, it’s pretty astounding to think about what we’ve accomplished … in half the time.

We opened with a single three-story building, housing 106 patient beds. We had 4,558 encounters that first year. Today, our hospitals house 959 patient beds, and we’re the largest and most comprehensive pediatric and women’s health care organization in the nation. Between Houston, Austin and College Station, we’re providing care in more than 90 locations, including Texas Children’s Pediatrics, Urgent Care and OB/Gyn practices, Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinics, Texas Children’s Specialty Care Clinics, and The Centers for Children and Women. And we had more than 4.3 million patient encounters across the Texas Children’s system in 2018.

In only 65 years, we’ve been the first to achieve some of the most astonishing breakthroughs in pediatric health care. As I think of our milestones and achievements, I am filled with immense pride. I feel humbled and honored to share in the legacy of Texas Children’s and to be a part of history with all of you. It’s our one amazing team that makes these miracles happen every day.

So celebrate and make a big, bold wish for Texas Children’s today … we’ve proven we can achieve anything we imagine.

Happy 65th birthday Texas Children’s!

Click here to watch a video highlighting our accomplishments over the past six plus decades.

October 12, 2018 | (19) Comments

During a recent conversation with my colleagues about how well Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women is doing at caring for women, mothers and babies, we wagered how many little ones would be delivered at the hospital in fiscal year 2018.

My educated guess was 6,250. And wouldn’t you know it? That is exactly how many precious babies our expert clinical staff brought into the world between October 2017 and September 2018. This number has grown consistently every year since we opened the Pavilion for Women in March 2012, proving that our decision to provide women, mothers and babies with a full continuum of high-quality, expert health care was the right move.

Nearly seven years ago, the opening of the Pavilion was one of the most surreal moments in my years at Texas Children’s. That day was an incredible culmination of events that started in 2005, believe it or not, over a casual cup of coffee with David Fine, then-President and CEO of St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.

As David and I were talking, he suggested that St. Luke’s was ready to shift away from women’s services. With the same assurance I had when I guessed the number of babies delivered at the Pavilion for Women this year, I immediately and literally raised my hand and said, “I want in. We’ll take it.”

I knew that no organization in the U.S. had conjoined a leading children’s hospital with a women’s hospital providing ob/gyn, maternal fetal medicine and other women’s services. This was a really big, novel idea that, honestly, a lot of people hesitated to embrace. But fortunately, Texas Children’s Board, leaders, staff and employees are not like most people. So this seemingly impossible idea quickly became a reality that our Board and leadership were passionately pursuing.

Within a couple years of that fateful cup of coffee with David, we were starting construction – Texas Children’s Hospital was building Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. And our mission became that much bigger.

As we continue on this incredible journey and trajectory, I am confident it will keep getting better and better. In fact, I’d bet on it!

December 22, 2017 | (1) Comments

I love this time of year – not simply because of the wonderful holiday spirit that surrounds us (although I do enjoy that too!). But I always appreciate the time to reflect on the year we’ve had. And this has been a year that tested our leadership, showcased our culture, and most of all, demonstrated our determination.

If you felt especially busy this year, it was not just a feeling, it is a fact. We had an incredible year that set records across the system, including:

  • 33,659 surgeries
  • 227,985 patient days
  • 126,112 Emergency Center visits
  • 87,242 Urgent Care encounters
  • 438,501 Health Plan members
  • 3.7 million patient encounters

I know this is a really busy time, and we may not even realize the tremendous work we have done as an organization over the past several months. So I want to share a few of the hallmarks of a pretty awesome year.

  • Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands – Last Decemb122217OTMEOYsurgery225er, we opened the Outpatient
    Building at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, and we followed in April with the opening of inpatient services. There was an immediate response from the community. Within the five months remaining in fiscal year 2017, we had 991 admissions, 2,078 surgeries, 5,204 patient days and more than 12,000 EC visits. The families in North Houston were ready and waiting for Texas Children’s Hospital.
  • Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus – Now in our seventh year, we continued to see strong growth and expansion at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. In FY2017, we had 3,707 admissions, 6,934 surgeries, 15,004 patient days and more than 43,000 EC visits. And can you believe we now have over 1,000 employees and more than 200 faculty at the West Campus? It’s just amazing.
  • CareFirst – Our CareFirst initiative continues to unfold with our progress on Legacy Tower at our medical center campus. We celebrated our topping out of the tower in February, and we officially named it Legacy Tower in May. We’ve completed the exterior of the tower and the interiors of floors 8-10. Excitement is definitely building as we get closer to the May 2018 phase I opening. Also, as part of our CareFirst initiative, we opened Texas Children’s Mission Control in July. Located on the third floor of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, this suite is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and sharp employees from Room Management, Transport Services, Critical Care, Security and Facilities. The opening of Mission Control immediately improved the transfer process of our critically ill patients to and from Texas Children’s. Just months after the opening, we had reduced the time from dispatch to pick-up by 20 critical minutes.
  • Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women – On March 26 we celebrated five years of delivering 122217OTMEOYhappyfive230high quality and comprehensive care to women and newborns. In fiscal year 2017, we had 5,719 births and a 21% transfer rate to our NICU. The results at the Pavilion remind us what a sound strategy it was to move into the obstetrics space, giving us the ability to help secure our NICU volumes and, more importantly, to ensure the best possible outcomes for expectant mothers and their babies.
  • Austin expansion – In May we announced our plans to expand our pediatric and OB/GYN services into Austin, beginning with the opening of a welcome center in January 2018, followed by a Texas Children’s Urgent Care clinic in March 2018 and a Texas Children’s Specialty Care practice in October 2018. Over the next five years, we plan to expand our network in Austin to include four pediatric urgent care clinics, 18 pediatric primary care practices, three pediatric specialty care locations and two maternal-fetal medicine practices.
  • U.S. News rankings – The 2017 U.S. News and World Report Best Children’s Hospital 122217OTMEOYheartcenter225rankings were announced in July, and Texas Children’s shined again. Eight of our pediatric subspecialties ranked in the top 10, and the other two are very close and steadily climbing. Perhaps most exciting this year was that we had another specialty to rise to the very top spot – Texas Children’s was ranked No. 1 in the nation in cardiology and heart surgery.
  • The Promise Campaign – We reached a significant milestone in Promise: The Campaign for Texas Children’s. By the end of September, donors had contributed $408.9 million, pushing the organization ever closer to its $475 million fundraising goal. The amount raised during fiscal year 2017 alone – $124.7 million – is a new annual high for the hospital’s fundraising team.

As much as I have shared above, there are still many more stories of triumph and resilience across Texas Children’s. Take a look at Texas Children’s Health Plan. We had a tough year, but we’re on the right path, and we’re responding to the tremendous needs of the children who depend on access to exceptional heath care. What we’re already seeing as a result of the challenges we faced this year with STAR Kids and in caring for a huge population for medically dependent children is that we’re learning quickly, right sizing appropriately, and we are thinking like a system. That bodes well for the Health Plan, and it makes for a healthier future for all of Texas Children’s.

Last, I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention Hurricane Harvey. Together, we weathered this historical storm that devastated the Houston area, and together, we came out on the other side of it stronger. The resolve, determination and courage of our staff and employees were inspiring. I was simply in awe of you, and the way you supported each other, our patients and their families. It was a shining moment for us that showcased incredible strength and kindness.

And that was Texas Children’s in 12 months. Wow! It is quite a lot to reflect on and appreciate. With each passing year, we continue to get better and better. We take challenges, and we create opportunities. We encounter problems, and we recalibrate swiftly. And we prove time and again that we are one amazing team.

I’ll see you back here in 2018 for the next chapter of this remarkable story. Until then, happy holidays!

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.