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From
the physician-in-chief
Texas Children’s is
growing and expanding
By Ralph D. Feigin, M.D.
Texas Children’s Hospital is entering an exciting period of further development and expansion. Beginning this September, an eight-story addition will be placed on the Feigin Center for the expansion of translational and clinical research efforts. This past year, Texas Children’s Hospital and its physician-scientists received more than $90 million in extramural grant support. Much of this support came from NIH (National Institutes of Health), and the Pediatric and Molecular and Human Genetics Departments, independently, at Baylor College of Medicine received more NIH support than that received by genetics or pediatric departments in any other medical school in the United States.
Developing an obstetrical program
A major effort has been focused on the development of an
obstetrical program, which will be joined to the outstanding
neonatal program already in place at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Following detailed discussions between St. Luke’s Episcopal
Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, a letter of intent has
been signed so that Texas Children’s Hospital will operate the
obstetrical program within the St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital for
a period of three years or until Texas Children’s Hospital can complete a new facility to support this service.
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The ability to develop and conjoin an outstanding obstetrical service and our neonatology program (considered for many years as a national model) will help to create a perinatal program that will provide outstanding care for mothers and their newborn infants and will serve as a national center of excellence in perinatology. |
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Texas Children’s Hospital purchased a tract of land across from its current facility on Fannin Street for this purpose. In the not-too-distant future, the Wells Fargo Bank Building and the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which currently occupy this land, will be torn down. In their place, a facility will be constructed
that will house a modern obstetrical service capable of supporting up to 7,000 newborn deliveries a year. The facility that is contemplated will include four levels of underground parking to accommodate patients and their physicians, state of the art delivery suites, and all appropriate support services for mothers and newborn infants. The facility will serve as the home for the Obstetrics Department of the Baylor College of Medicine, but also will provide space to accommodate community-based obstetricians who may desire to relocate their practice to this facility. The ability to develop and conjoin an outstanding obstetrical service and our neonatology program (considered for many years as a national model) will help to create a perinatal program that will provide outstanding care for mothers and their newborn infants and will serve as a national center of excellence in perinatology.
Building a Neuroscience Institute
Texas Children’s Hospital also will be building a Neuroscience Institute between the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Texas Medical Center Commons Building, and the Jewish Wing of the Baylor College of Medicine. This facility will be designed to provide appropriate space to enhance our already outstanding programs in pediatric neurology, neurosciences, and neurogenetics. It is hoped that this facility and the programs within will serve as an international model for excellence in the pediatric neuroscience arena. Specific emphasis will be placed upon moving genetic and molecular research in this field through the initial development phase in an accelerated fashion permitting its application to clinical neurologic problems of children as rapidly as possible.
Planning also is under way to provide for development of a west Houston campus, which will be located on 56 acres of land at the corner of Interstate 10 and Barker Cypress Road. Initial planning is under way to determine the size and scope of services that will be provided at that site. In addition to providing outpatient care in a variety of specialty and subspecialty areas, a facility will be planned that will be capable of providing for the hospitalization of children and with the capability of providing both day surgery and some overnight procedures. Appropriate laboratory, radiologic and other support services will be included.
Distinguished achievement recognized
We would all like to extend our sincere congratulations to Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Molecular and Human Genetics, who has been selected to receive the Bristol-Myers Squibb Freedom to Discover Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research. This award recognizes Dr. Zoghbi’s seminal contributions to understanding the molecular basis and pathogenesis of various neurodevelopmental diseases, including Rett syndrome, spinocerebellar ataxia and proprioceptive disorders.
Texas Children’s women on the move
We also would like to extend our congratulations to Dr. Michelle Anderson Lyn, assistant professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine; chief, Child Protection Team of the Texas Children’s Hospital Emergency Center; medical director, Pediatric Emergency Center of Ben Taub General Hospital; and medical director, Children’s Assessment Center, and Ms. Cheryl Stavins, senior vice president for the hospital,
who over the last 33 years has been a key player in the
development of the Cancer Center and Clinical
Care Center and helped to establish many new programs, including
transplant programs for liver,
lung, heart lung and bone marrow, among others. Both
of them have been selected by Texas Executive Women and the
Houston Chronicle to be recipients of the 2006 Women on
the Move Award. This is the 22nd anniversary of this prestigious
award which honors 10 outstanding women annually who have made a
significant contribution to their profession and to the Houston
community.
Ralph D. Feigin, M.D., is physician-in-chief at Texas
Children’s Hospital and professor and chairman of the Department
of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
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