Awards and Recognitions

DRISCOLL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL NAMED BEST PLACE TO WORK IN THE COASTAL BEND for 2006 and 2007

This year the rest of the Coastal Bend found out what Driscoll employees already knew; Driscoll Children’s Hospital is the Best Place to Work in the Coastal Bend by CHARMA.

Driscoll Children’s Hospital is proud to celebrate this award that is one more way to show what a jewel Driscoll really is for South Texas. “Even though it is rare to be one of only forty children’s hospitals in the country, we are always striving as a premiere facility to be the place where everyone wants to work”, Merrill said. (March 7, 2007)

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Driscoll’s Marketing Team Receives Two National Awards For Healthcare Marketing Excellence

Driscoll competed against nearly 1,000 other entries from across the nation. The following entries were recognized as among the nation’s best:

Gold Aster Award – 2007 Healing Humor Calendar
For design and implementation of the hospital’s annual calendar featuring young patients, their physicians, and their stories.
Gold Aster Award – 2006 Project Artwork Holiday Catalog
For design and implementation of a catalog including holiday cards featuring artwork by young patients and other hospital related gifts.

The entries were judged based on creativity, layout, design, typography, production, knowledge transfer, and the overall quality of the entry is examined. “All winners exhibited a high level of marketing excellence in the field of healthcare,” stated Aster Awards officials.
(May 21, 2007) http://www.asterawards.com/

DRISCOLL CHILDREN’S PHYSICIAN RECOGNIZED BY TEXAS SCHOOL NURSES ORGANIZATION FOR CHILDHOOD OBESITY EFFORTS IN SCHOOL SYSTEMS

Driscoll Children's Hospital is honored to announce Pediatric Endocrinologist Stephen W. Ponder, M.D., C.D.E., has been acknowledged with a President’s Award from the Texas School Nurses Organization for his continued commitment of supporting the health of school-age children in Texas. The award was presented at the organization’s awards banquet held in Dallas, Texas in early November.

Dr. Ponder’s outstanding list of works in the school systems relating to childhood obesity is long and diverse. He has been a pioneer in developing identification and referral standards that assist in addressing the childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes issues in the state of Texas. This includes his early involvement in developing protocols for recognition and management of Acanthosis Nigricans and assisting in training school personnel on implementing the screening strategies. He also developed a video on diabetes in the school setting for every campus in Texas in conjunction with the Texas Lions Foundation. Dr. Ponder’s expert testimony on bills introduced in the last legislative session gave prudent advice and perspective in regards to school health issues.
(November 10, 2005) http://www.txsno.org/

Learn more about Endocrinology and Diabetes

PEDIATRIC WEIGHT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM DUBBED “BEST PRACTICE” BY STATE

Driscoll Children’s Hospital and its “Weigh to Go!” program were awarded the accolade of the “Best Practices in Texas” for 2007 by the Nutrition and Physical Activity Recognition Program sponsored by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services and the Texan Coalition Steering Committee. The annual award program serves to recognize effective nutrition and physical activity programs that are currently being conducted in Texas.

Recognized programs incorporate interventions that affect populations including community wide campaigns, individually adapted health behavior change, school-based education, social support interventions in community contexts, and creating or improving access for physical activity and nutrition combined with informational outreach. Sharing successes hopes to lead the program replication throughout the state improving nutrition and physical activity-related outcomes for reducing and preventing obesity in Texas.
(February 26, 2007) http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/

Learn more about Endocrinology and Diabetes Center

DRISCOLL EMPLOYEE OF OVER 11 YEARS IS ADDED TO THE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION ROSTER OF MERIT

Known Locally for her Autism Expertise Joan Bell, OTR, BCP is Recognized for Contributions to Occupational therapy over the last 15yrs.

At its annual business meeting in November, 2006, the Texas Occupational Therapy Association added the name of Joan Bell, OTR, BCP to their Roster of Merit. The roster of merit recognizes individuals who, through efforts over a period of 15 years or more, have made significant contributions to the occupational therapy profession through therapeutic practice, communication and association activities. Joan was recognized in all three areas. She is an acknowledged expert in this state on occupational therapy for children with autism. She has taught traveling workshops for the association on assessment and treatment of children on the autism spectrum and has made presentations to parents, nurses, physicians, education students and other health professionals on autism. She has also taught the occupational therapy student registration exam review workshop 4-5 times annually through out the state. Her volunteer activities in the Texas Occupational Therapy Association span a period of 32 years. She has served on continuing education and conference planning committees, served in the elected positions of member at large and state secretary and is currently state chair of the education committee. She assisted in developing and significantly revising the TOTA approved provider program and has volunteered for additional duties at a state level such as chairing the recognitions committee on three occasions. Past recognitions which Joan has received from the association include: Clinical Educator of the Year (1998), Occupational Therapist of the Year (2003) and letter of appreciation (2005)
(January 26, 2007) http://www.tota.org/

Learn more about Driscoll's Autism Program

Driscoll’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit named “NEONATAL CENTER OF EXCELLENCE” FOR OFFERING HIGHEST QUALITY OF CARE

Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (N.I.C.U.) earned the title of “Center of Excellence” by United Resources Networks (U.R.N.). U.R.N. has been reviewing health care providers who specialize in complex medical conditions since 1986. Each year, they conduct a rigorous evaluation process of medical centers throughout the country and invite only the most experienced and successful to be part of their “Centers of Excellence” networks.

Driscoll’s Level III N.I.C.U. cares for newborns and infants for a variety of reasons including prematurity (carried less than 37 weeks), respiratory distress, infections, birth defects, and other illnesses. The N.I.C.U. is licensed for 40 beds and is the only hospital in South Texas staffed by neonatologists in the hospital 24 hours a day/7 days a week, versus an on-call physician status. Additionally, a wide variety of support staff including nurses, dietitians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and more are all specially trained to care for children and only children.

“This designation helps us better educate the community what quality, specialized, comprehensive pediatric healthcare is and what it takes to care for these most critical babies day after day,” says Dr. Patricia Ramsay, NICU Medical Director “Parents needing specialized attention for their newborn or premature baby born can receive the very best care at Driscoll – right in their own backyard.”

Each “Center of Excellence” is evaluated annually. Criteria include:

Procedure success and survival rates
Quality of medical professionals
Number of patients treated with a specific condition
Quality of patient/family-oriented services
Involvement in clinical research
Patient satisfaction survey results
Program depth and breadth
Treatment planning and coordination

Patients seeking treatment at URN “Centers of Excellence” will receive a more accurate diagnosis, higher success rates, care that is planned coordinated and provided by a team of experts, appropriate therapy, fewer complications, shorter length of stay, and decreased out-of-pocket costs.
(January 24, 2007) https://www.urnweb.com/gateway/public/welcome.jsp

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DRISCOLL NAMED AMONG LEADERS FOR NATIONAL MEDICAL INTERPRETER TRAINING INitIATIVE

Recently, Evelyn Ferrer, Driscoll Children’s Hospital Interpretation Services Coordinator, was selected as one of 25 trainers from across the United States to implement the National Medical Interpreter Project for Children’s Hospitals, a country-wide initiative designed to improve health care communication and safety. In the near future, Ferrer will be training bilingual health care workers in medical terms, interpreting protocol, multicultural understanding, leadership, and teamwork – first to Driscoll staffers, then possibly to other South Texas medical professionals.

Annually, 40% of patients and families that are cared for at Driscoll cite Spanish as their preferred or only mode of communication. Since opening in September 2004, Driscoll’s Interpretation Services Department has answered more than 4000 calls by 2 full-time employees dedicated exclusively to interpretation services. Training bilingual interpreters is an urgent health and safety issue and critical because it increases efficiency and decreases medical errors. In 2001, the University of Arizona and Phoenix Children’s Hospital with input from local and national experts developed the curriculum that trains bilingual speakers to be medical interpreters and medical interpreter trainers. Recent funding from the global organization Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. expanded the project to a national level.
(October 17, 2006)

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DRISCOLL ONCOLOGIST WINS INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY TOP AWARD

Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Oncologist Dr. Jaime Morales-Arias was recently awarded an International Award in Pediatric Oncology by the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP), the largest international organization in the oncology field. Every year, hundreds of oncologists from all over the world enter their oncology research. Only six were chosen to give an oral presentation in Geneva, Switzerland and Dr. Morales received a first place for the prestigious, once-in-a-lifetime award.

Dr. Morales presented research on Ewing’s Sarcoma, the second most common cancer in children, teens, and young adults, to SIOP. His lecture, entitled “G-CSF Promotes Tumor Growth in Ewing’s Sarcoma,” focused on the potential secondary effects of the drug G-CSF on tumors.

The 32-year-old originally from Panama lives in the Rio Grande Valley and works full-time at Driscoll Children’s Specialty Centers in McAllen and Brownsville. He provides outpatient hematology and oncology services to the children of the Rio Grande Valley.
(October 5, 2006) http://www.siop.nl/

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DRISCOLL PHYSICIAN RECOGNIZED WITH SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

Driscoll Children's Hospital is honored to announce Pediatric Endocrinologist Stephen W. Ponder, M.D., C.D.E., has been acknowledged with a Special Achievement Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The award was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Texas Pediatric Society Chapter meeting held in Galveston, Texas in September.

The accolade was given to him for distinguished service and dedication to the mission and goals of the American Academy of Pediatrics for his work with the development of the Texas Pediatric Society’s Child Obesity Task Force, which just unveiled its Clinical Toolkit for Physicians.

Currently, Dr. Ponder is Director of the Children’s Diabetes and Endocrine Center of South Texas at Driscoll Children’s Hospital, and President of the American Diabetes Association local chapter in Corpus Christi.
(October 31, 2005) http://www.aap.org/

Learn more about Endocrinology and Diabetes

Pediatric Intensivist Receives Accolades From Best Doctors of America

“Best Doctors of America” 2005-2006, one of Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s own has been recognized. The database is comprised from a survey of thousands of physicians in over 400 sub-specialties.

Dr. Alexandre T. Rotta received the honor. Dr. Rotta joined the Hospital in 2004 after nine years as faculty at the State University of New York at Buffalo and at the Woman and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.

Dr. Rotta has received numerous national and international awards, including the prestigious World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies’ Young Investigator Award.

He has given over 150 presentations throughout the United States and abroad about his research on acute lung injury, mechanical ventilation and liquid breathing. He has also authored numerous original research articles and book chapters and is the inventor on U.S. and International patents in the field of liquid breathing.
(September 6, 2005)

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Contact Information

Questions regarding Awards and Recognitions should be directed below.

Driscoll Children's Hospital
Aislynn Campbell
Public Relations Coordinator
Phone (361) 694-5662
Cell (361) 548-6073
www.driscollchildrens.org/news