Tag Archives: Children’s Hospital

Children’s Hospital of San Antonio expands pediatric network in North-Central San Antonio

By North SA Chamber Editor
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CHRISTUSHealthSystemThe Children’s Hospital of San Antonio is expanding its Pediatric Network in North-Central San Antonio, providing more access to care for children and families with the opening of its new pediatric clinic at Alon Town Centre. 

“The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio has recruited world-class pediatricians with longstanding involvement in the community whose number one goal is to provide the best in pediatric health care,” said Elias J. Neujahr, President of the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.  “Our pediatricians are the foundation of our children’s health from birth.  With their expertise, we are able to create an integrated health care system that puts our children first.”

The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio first announced the creation of the Physician Group in May of this year with Tejas Pediatrics, Children First Pediatrics, Northwest Pediatrics, and Dr. Sky Izaddoost leading the charge to develop the network.

“Growing up in San Antonio, I’ve watched our city expand and develop.  As our city grew, so did the need for healthcare, especially for our children,” said Dr. Izaddoost.  “By aligning with the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, I strive to be part of a network of physicians putting our children first. I am honored and grateful to provide world class, seamless care in our community.  This is an exciting opportunity to improve the health and well-being of our most precious, our children.”

Dr. Izaddoost and Dr. Subhashini Valavalkar will be anchoring a new location at Alon Town Centre.

“The health care landscape is changing – especially pediatric medicine in San Antonio,” said Dr. Subhashini Valavalkar.  “I am very happy to actively participate in this medical evolution in San Antonio and South Texas. I believe our new primary care team, in partnership with physicians at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Baylor College of Medicine, and the private community, is a positive move towards continuing the advancement of providing quality care to all children in San Antonio.”

“The model we have created implements an integrated medical record system, accessible by all physicians in the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio network,” said Elias J. Neujahr, President of Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.  “That network enables pediatricians and pediatric specialists caring for a child to communicate, with real-time updates on the child’s health.  This new location ensures we can continue to provide the best possible medical care for our patients and their families.”

The new Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Physician Group at Alon Town Centre is located at 11503 NW Military Highway, Suite 113, San Antonio, TX 78231 and is scheduled to open November 24, 2014.  The clinic’s hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.  New and existing patients are invited to call 210.705.5151 to make an appointment.

Security Service Charitable Foundation donates $25K to Ronald McDonald House

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Security Services Federal Credit UnionSecurity Service Charitable Foundation has presented Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Antonio with a $25,000 donation that will be used to build a bedroom in the Ronald McDonald House located inside the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. This house is currently being expanded from 10 bedrooms to 16, with a second house under construction to accommodate another 21 families.

RMHCPhoto

(from left) John Worthington, executive vice president and chief communications officer for Security Service Federal Credit Union (SSFCU); Clarissa Rodriguez, SSFCU communications manager and Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Antonio board member; Ronald McDonald; and Pat Bivin, executive director for Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Antonio. 

Ronald McDonald House Charities provides safe, temporary living accommodations for families while their children are receiving critical medical treatment in the San Antonio area. The houses provide families a quiet place to regroup, rest and gather strength so they can help their children heal.

“The house at the Children’s Hospital is significant in many ways,” says Jim Laffoon, president & CEO of Security Service Federal Credit Union. “It was the first worldwide to be located within a hospital. But most importantly – it places a family just steps from their child facing a serious medical crisis. We are honored to be a part of their home-away-from-home.”

The Security Service Charitable Foundation helps further SSFCU’s corporate goal of community service by contributing to deserving organizations and causes in the credit union’s market areas. Learn more at www.ssfcu.org or call 1-800-52-SSFCU.

#MethodistHospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital appoint Chief Medical Officer

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Methodist logoMethodist Childrens logoJane Appleby, MD, FACP, has been appointed chief medical officer for Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital, a campus of Methodist Hospital. Dr. Appleby has been in practice as an internal medicine doctor for over twenty years and is board certified in internal medicine and in hospice and palliative medicine. During this time, she has established herself as a leader in the San Antonio medical community and an innovator in the area of hospital quality.

She holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Texas at Austin and earned a doctor of medicine from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where she also completed her internship and residency in internal medicine.

Jane Appleby, MDDr. Appleby has held the role of chief quality officer for Methodist Healthcare over the past five years, leading efforts that resulted in unprecedented improvements in quality metrics. She has also served in various elected physician leadership roles over her tenure with Methodist Healthcare, lending her expertise in quality and care delivery systems.

As chief medical officer, Dr. Appleby will have responsibility for overseeing the medical affairs of Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital as well as championing the patient care delivery system.

“Dr. Appleby is a well-respected physician leader with tremendous talent and vision who is known for creating partnerships between hospital executives, physicians, nurses and other members of the hospital care team to elevate care delivery systems and promote the highest quality of care for patients,” states Gay Nord, chief executive officer  of Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital. “I know her extraordinary talents and leadership skills will be an asset to Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital and will greatly benefit patients and physicians in this region,” added Nord.

Dr. Appleby has served on many regional and state boards and committees primarily dedicated to improving clinical quality and safety. Dr. Appleby has also authored or contributed to journal articles, chapters and books.

About Methodist Hospital
Chartered in 1955, Methodist Hospital is the pioneer facility of the now world-renowned South Texas Medical Center. Opened in 1963, Methodist Hospital has grown to be the flagship facility of the Methodist Healthcare System, San Antonio’s largest and most preferred health care provider. Methodist Hospital maintains its excellent reputation with a commitment to the hospital’s value statement that defines quality as meeting the customer’s needs by exceeding their expectations. Methodist Hospital offers a broad range of specialties and is the region’s most preferred hospital for obstetrics, neurosurgery, robotic surgery, cardiac care and back and neck surgeries. Methodist Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission in stroke care and is designated as an accredited Chest Pain Center.

About Methodist Children’s Hospital
Methodist Children’s Hospital, a campus of Methodist Hospital, opened in 1998 as the first children’s hospital in South Texas designed and built from the ground up to meet the needs of children and their families. The hospital has the area’s largest pediatric emergency department with 32 treatment rooms and more than 73,000 visits last year alone. Methodist Children’s Hospital is among the nation’s largest providers of marrow and stem cell transplants. A new hybrid operating room opened recently that gives surgeons the equipment needed to perform complex heart surgeries. The hospital maintains two Methodist AirCare™ helicopters to transport newborns, children and pregnant women from all parts of South Texas to Methodist Children’s Hospital so they can receive a higher level of care that may be needed in a medical crisis. Methodist Children’s Hospital maintains children’s specialty clinics to ensure children receive the outpatient care they need for complex illnesses in a single location. To learn more, visit www.MHSChildrens.com.

Methodist Children’s Hospital recognized as Healthcare Organization of the Month by Studer Group

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methodist childrens hospital logoLeaders of Methodist Children’s Hospital, a campus of Methodist Hospital, were honored today by the Studer Group as Evidence-Based Leadership Health Care Organization of the Month for June. The award was presented during the Studer Group’s Excellence in Nursing Institute being held in downtown San Antonio.

The Studer Group is a national organization focused on helping health care organizations achieve, sustain, and accelerate exceptional clinical and operational outcomes. Studer works with over 850 health care organizations in the U.S. and chooses one exceptional organization each month to demonstrate how their tactics and strategies are working across the country.

 

Studer Award photo

Methodist Children’s Hospital was recognized for working diligently within the Studer Model of Excellence to improve and sustain patient satisfaction and overall patient experience. Beginning their journey to excellence in 2007 with a baseline patient satisfaction score at the 53rd percentile, Methodist Children’s Hospital reached the 97th percentile in 2009 and has sustained “best in class” performance, closing 2012 at the 97th percentile again.

“When I arrived here in 2006, I became very focused on improving the patient experience. This award speaks to the extraordinary passion, action focus and accountability of the leadership team,” said J. Mark McLoone, FACHE, chief executive officer. McLoone credits the Children’s Hospital leadership team that includes Ann Winn, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer, and Raymond Stefko, MD, who currently serves as chief of staff.

“Building upon a foundation of a respectful work environment for our team members, and with consistently strong scores in the family’s evaluation of physician communication, the family-focused team of doctors, nurses, ancillary, support and other staff all work together to assure an optimal patient and family experience,” McLoone added. “The entire children’s hospital team has made these results achievable and sustainable.”

The accomplishments of Methodist Children’s Hospital extend to their Emergency Department (ED) which remains a shining example of the hospital’s overall success. The ED’s patient volume exceeded 73,000 visits in 2012, up from 66,000 in 2011. It is one of the busiest “just for children” emergency departments in the nation. Despite this very high patient volume, the Methodist Children’s Hospital ED has ranked No. 1 for patient experience among all emergency departments in its peer group for four quarters during the last two years.

Methodist Children’s Hospital is a relatively young children’s hospital. Opening 15 years ago in 1998, Methodist Children’s Hospital has grown extraordinarily and is now the largest provider of pediatric health services in the seventh largest city in the United States. “Emphasizing the importance of the patient experience in such a market has contributed to the hospital’s growth as families increasingly choose Methodist Children’s Hospital for the care of their children,” McLoone added.

“The leadership team at Methodist Children’s Hospital has hardwired nurse leader rounding and we focus our time on action items. We focus on identifying solutions in real time. We don’t wait several weeks to get our survey results, we take action on what’s happening in the hospital right now,” said Winn.

“When we identify a gap in services, we respond quickly. Leadership rounding has been effective in helping us identify gaps and resolve any issues before the patient leaves the hospital. As a pediatric hospital, we’re in a unique position because the child is our patient but the parents and family are the ones defining and interpreting the patient experience,” Winn added.

“The journey to achieving and sustaining outstanding patient experiences has been gratifying for employees and medical staff at every level of the organization. We are proud of the positive difference we have made in our community. On behalf of the staff and physicians at Methodist Children’s Hospital, we are deeply honored to be chosen as Studer Group’s Evidence-Based Leadership Healthcare Organization of the Month,” concluded McLoone.

About Methodist Children’s Hospital
Methodist Children’s Hospital opened in 1998 as the first children’s hospital in South Texas designed and built from the ground up to meet the needs of children and their families. The hospital has the area’s largest pediatric emergency department with 32 treatment rooms and more than 73,000 visits last year alone. Methodist Children’s Hospital is among the nation’s largest providers of marrow and stem cell transplants. A new hybrid operating room opened recently that gives surgeons the equipment needed to perform complex heart surgeries. The hospital maintains two Methodist AirCare™ helicopters to transport newborns, children and pregnant women from all part of South Texas to Methodist Children’s Hospital so they can receive a higher level of care that may be needed in a medical crisis. Methodist Children’s Hospital maintains children’s specialty clinics to ensure children receive the outpatient care they need for complex illnesses in a single location. To learn more, visit www.MHSChildrens.com.

About Studer Group
Studer Group® works with over 850 healthcare organizations in the U.S. and beyond, teaching them how to achieve, sustain, and accelerate exceptional clinical, operational, and financial outcomes. We work to bring structure and focus to organizations through the creation of cultures of accountability and help set them up to be able to execute quickly. And with the rapid changes occurring in our industry due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ushering in the pay-for-performance era, this ability has never been more critical.

As the metrics our industry publicly reports get expanded—and as reimbursement is increasingly tied to these results—organizations are forced to get progressively better at providing top quality care with fewer dollars. We help organizations install an execution framework called Evidence-Based LeadershipSM (EBL) that aligns their goals, actions, and processes. This framework creates the foundation that enables them to transform the way they provide care in this era of rapid change.