April 30, 2018 | (7) Comments

When I became President and CEO of Texas Children’s Hospital almost 30 years ago, the Department of Surgery was a small, tight-knit group of highly skilled surgeons who operated on children with a variety of health issues.

Today, things look much the same but on a significantly larger scale. Over time, Texas Children’s Department of Surgery has become one of the largest pediatric surgery programs in the nation, spanning nine surgical divisions: Congenital Heart Surgery, Dental, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Urology. These divisions work in conjunction with our partners in Anesthesiology, Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, and Transplant Services.

One of the main reasons for our Department of Surgery’s long-standing success is strong leadership. Beginning with our first Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Luke W. Able, who trained under the father of pediatric surgery Dr. William E. Ladd, to Dr. Charles D. Fraser, whose focus on outstanding outcomes solidified our already stellar reputation, leadership has always been the glue that holds the department together and the force that drives it to greater heights.

I am confident we will continue this legacy and advance it even further under the leadership of the hospital’s newest Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier. Dr. Hollier is an extraordinarily talented plastic surgeon who joined Texas Children’s Hospital 20 years ago after earning his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and training in general and plastic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and New York University Medical Center.

During his tenure at Texas Children’s, Dr. Hollier has led the hospital’s Plastic Surgery Division, championed patient experience organization wide, participated in a variety of global efforts and performed countless life-changing plastic and reconstructive surgeries. He is undeniably dedicated to our mission and has a burning passion for making our organization the best it can be in an ever-changing health care climate.

What sets Dr. Hollier apart even more is his focused yet humble leadership style. Rather than a top-down approach, Dr. Hollier believes in empowering sharp, nimble people in the organization to blaze their own paths. He sees his role as surgeon-in-chief not as being in charge, but as taking care of the people in his charge. Yet, he can also make the thoughtful and sometimes difficult decisions needed to help move the department and the organization forward.

I appreciate that he is such a bold and decisive leader with a keen and natural ability to consider the entire Texas Children’s system. Dr. Hollier perceives Texas Children’s as a team of teams, and I like that. His thinking and his approach is vital to the continued growth of our organization and to our long-term efforts to improve patient access and coordinated care.

I am excited to see what great things Dr. Hollier does at Texas Children’s in the years to come. He already has contributed so much. Please join me in congratulating him on his new post.

September 28, 2017 | (2) Comments

It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago our great city was submerged in water. And although the sight of the devastation is something I will never forget, what I have thought about more often since then is how we, together, braved the storm.

Shortly after Hurricane Harvey, I met with Texas Children’s Board of Trustees, and I explained how we’d fared during the storm. I shared our incident command approach to operations and gave an update on our facilities. But I was most proud to talk about you, our amazing staff and employees.

Throughout the storm, I spoke with our leadership team multiple times a day, every day, keeping a pulse on everything that was occurring throughout the organization. The weather and operational briefings were important, but the stories of our people moved me most. There were so many shining moments where staff and employees showed incredible strength and kindness, even in the midst of a pretty frightening and unpredictable storm.

The Board was moved as well. So much so that they wanted to do something to honor every single Texas Children’s employee. So last week, the Board approved a resolution to recognize Texas Children’s staff and employees, and I’m sharing it here.

Hurricane Harvey Resolution-1

In addition, it’s also important to acknowledge our awesome community and the partners who weathered this storm with us. So many individuals and businesses responded with in-kind donations to help our patients, staff and employees immediately after the storm, and I sincerely appreciate their generosity. A heartfelt thank you to all, including:

  • 7K Investments LLC
  • AbbVie Foundation
  • Air Care and The Women’s Hospital of Texas
  • Airgas
  • J. Kessinger
  • Antone’s
  • Bellows
  • Brown Bag Etc.
  • Chick Fil A
  • Chipotle
  • Cleveland Clinic
  • Costco
  • Cotton
  • CVS
  • Direct Energy
  • Direct Relief
  • The Gerber Foundation
  • HEB
  • ICHIGO Asset Management International PTE Ltd.
  • Infogroup
  • Interface Architectural Signage Inc.
  • The JPB Foundation
  • James Brooks
  • Kroger
  • March of Dimes
  • Morris-Dickson
  • Morrison’s
  • Northwestern Mutual Foundation
  • Pallotta’s Italian Grill
  • Panda Express
  • Teammates for Kids Foundation
  • US Army Reserve: 1st/158th Assault Helicopter Battalion Ghost Riders
  • Vertex Pharmaceuticals
  • Vizient Foundation
  • Walmart Foundation
  • Wyndham Hotels

The actions of our community and partners spoke volumes about their appreciation for you and the seamless care that continued at Texas Children’s throughout the storm. And we were able to do what we do that much better because of the spirit of generosity that surrounded us.

 

September 11, 2017 | (39) Comments

“The key characteristics to look for when selecting people are a winning attitude and a strong work ethic.”

I am asked all the time, “Mark, how do you make decisions about picking new leaders? What are the characteristics you’re looking for?” Of course there are a lot of important things to look for when we’re selecting people to come here. Texas Children’s is a very special place, and every person who becomes part of our team and our family subsequently becomes critical to our mission. So we must be selective and thoughtful when choosing them.

There’s a lot of great potential when a person has a positive attitude and a strong work ethic to match. I’ve seen people succeed time and again because of these two qualities. Education is important, honesty and integrity, that’s a given. But a great attitude drives a passion for excellence, and a strong work ethic sees it through.

Staff and employees who possess this winning combination are always seeing the good in a situation and the possibility to do something greater. Dialysis technician Rudy Garza exemplifies this notion. Rudy joined Texas Children’s more than 20 years ago as part of the Materials Management Department. At the time, he was simply focused on securing health insurance. He and his wife were about to have their first child, and his band – albeit very successful – didn’t offer a health plan.

Little did Rudy know that his new gig and his old one would eventually come together. Throughout his career at Texas Children’s, Rudy always strived to become better at his job and do more than is asked of him. To get a position working closer with patients, he tapped into our tuition reimbursement program and earned his nurses aid certificate, which paved his way to becoming a dialysis technician in our Chronic Renal Dialysis Department.

Shortly after starting the position, Rudy’s enthusiasm for his job landed him an opportunity to volunteer at Camp Okawehna near Nashville, Tennessee. Texas Children’s clinical staff volunteers annually at this camp, which supports children with end-stage renal disease. Rudy suggested to camp organizers that he bring his band, Vital, to Camp Okawehna to play for the children. He’d kept the band alive for years by playing on the weekends. The camp goers loved the music so much that Rudy and his bandmates have now been going back to perform for more than 10 years.

In appreciation of Rudy’s dedication to the camp and to children with renal disease, leaders of Camp Okawehna inducted Rudy into the Camp Okawehna Hall of Fame last year. Rudy graciously accepted the honor, calling it a blessing.

I love that Rudy is such a hard worker with a can-do spirit. He has a knack for humbly seizing opportunities and turning them into something that helps him help others. He is a true asset to Texas Children’s, and we are happy to have him as a member of our family.

I’d like to hear from you … what key characteristics do you think makes someone a good leader and why?

Take the leadership challenge, and score a spot at a Houston Texans event!

Over the next four weeks, Mark Wallace’s blog will highlight employees who demonstrate his Maxims of Leadership. Each blog post will pose a leadership question that you may respond to in the comments section of the blog post. 

In September, the Corporate Communications team will collect all of your comments and draw the names of 100 commenters to attend a private event with the Houston Texans, including a behind-the-scenes tour of NRG Stadium, an autograph session with two Houston Texans football players and photos with the Texans cheerleaders.

So make sure you respond to the question at the end of

Mr. Wallace’s blog post to be entered to win!

Click here to watch a video about how Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans are leading in patient care and on the football field every single day.

August 24, 2017 | (11) Comments

“We all should have our own personal definition of leadership.”

Leadership Maxim No. 4 is essential to becoming an effective leader. Think about it…how can you truly lead if you have not defined what leadership means to you? It is difficult to lead without a compass and that is why it is so important that we each have our own personal definition of leadership. That definition should reflect our core values, beliefs, guiding principles and personalities.

Coming up with something so important and personal takes some time and effort. It took me an entire year. When I was starting out as a young hospital administrator, I gave a presentation at a conference in California. After my talk, someone in the audience asked me how I defined leadership.

I didn’t have a good answer, because I hadn’t really given it much thought. So, I came up with something in the moment and left the conference determined to have a thoughtful answer to this question, even if it was just for myself. After a tremendous amount of reading, speaking with colleagues and thinking about leadership, I crafted my definition, which still holds true for me today. I believe that leadership is the sum of three things: vision + structure + PEOPLE, with people by far being the most important element or ingredient in the leadership definition and equation.

These words guide my actions and decisions every day as the leader of Texas Children’s, and in many other areas of my life. I am proud to say that I know many of you have developed your own definition of leadership and it helps guide you both professionally and personally.

Hannah Conley, has been with Texas Children’s for 10 years and is currently a supervisor at the Texas Children’s Pediatrics Cypresswood location. She has spent a significant amount of time developing her personal definition of leadership and was heavily influenced by some of her past leaders. Over the years, Hannah has had some really amazing leaders and, unfortunately, some not-so-good ones. But each of them helped mold her definition of what an effective leader should be and what kind of leader she aspires to be.

Hannah believes that an effective leader is someone who leads by example and guides their team in the right direction instead of just telling them where to go. She also believes a good leader is someone who values their team members’ input and is always willing to listen and consider their opinions and ideas.

At Texas Children’s Pediatrics Cypresswood, Hannah puts her leadership skills into action every day by having and promoting a positive attitude and demonstrating how to truly care for patients, families and co-workers. Most recently, Hannah was asked to help brainstorm and develop ideas for streamlining and standardizing some of the clinical and non-clinical processes and procedures at Texas Children’s Pediatrics’ practices across Greater Houston.

Many of the ideas that came out of those brainstorming sessions have been implemented at the Cypresswood practice and will be implemented at the other practices shortly. Hannah will continue to be responsible for helping ensure everything goes smoothly at her practice as well as at the other 51 practices. I have no doubt she will put her leadership definition into action and inspire others to do the same.

I’d like to hear from you … what’s your personal definition of leadership?

Take the leadership challenge, and score a spot at a Houston Texans event!

Over the next four weeks, Mark Wallace’s blog will highlight employees who demonstrate his Maxims of Leadership. Each blog post will pose a leadership question that you may respond to in the comments section of the blog post. 

In September, the Corporate Communications team will collect all of your comments and draw the names of 100 commenters to attend a private event with the Houston Texans, including a behind-the-scenes tour of NRG Stadium, an autograph session with two Houston Texans football players and photos with the Texans cheerleaders.

So make sure you respond to the question at the end of

Mr. Wallace’s blog post to be entered to win!

Click here to watch a video about how Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans are leading in patient care and on the football field every single day.