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Patients to have Halloween celebration at Driscoll Children's Hospital
October 18, 2011
WHAT: Volunteers with Spirit Halloween's Spirit of Children program are bringing a Halloween celebration for patients at Driscoll Children's Hospital, including costumes, activities and more. There will be plenty of opportunities for photos and interviews.
WHEN: 1:30-2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19
WHERE: Driscoll Children's Hospital auditorium, 3533 S. Alameda St.
WHEN: 1:30-2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19
WHERE: Driscoll Children's Hospital auditorium, 3533 S. Alameda St.
Valero donates $31,000 to Driscoll Children's Hospital
October 18, 2011
Driscoll representatives (holding check, left to right) Manette Scanio, President, DCH Development Foundation Board; Andrew Laury, Calallen High School student and DCH patient; Judge Loyd Neal, President, DCH Governing Board of Directors and Martha St. Romain, Vice President, Development, accept a $31,000 check from 2011 Valero Charity Selection Committee members Adam Smith, Erin Spangler, Benjamin Smith, Michelle Flower and Art Garcia. The 2011 Valero Texas Open and Benefit for Children proceeds awarded to Driscoll will be used towards the redesign and expansion of DCH Emergency Services Department.
"The Benefit for Children Golf Classic is one of the many ways Valero gives back to the community," said Dennis Payne, vice president of Regional Refinery Operations and general manager of the Valero Corpus Christi Refinery. Since 2002, Valero has distributed $3 million locally through the Benefit for Children Classic.
The monies given will help agencies dedicated to making a difference in children's lives. With an element of surprise, Valero employees presented checks to children's charities in amounts ranging from $31,000 to $3000.
Driscoll Children's Hospital was the recipient of $31,000 of the grant funds. They will go toward the redesign and expansion of its Emergency Department (ED). Almost 40,000 children visit Driscoll's ED annually and, while good use has been made of the existing space, more is needed. The redesign and expansion is a multimillion dollar project.
Driscoll expansion project will get boost from Halliburton donation
October 18, 2011
CORPUS CHRISTI - On Wednesday, Oct. 19, representatives from Halliburton will present a $25,000 check to Driscoll Children's Hospital for the redesign and expansion of its Emergency Department (ED). This donation was made possible by funds raised from the 18th Annual Halliburton Charity Golf Tournament, which was held recently in Houston.
Almost 40,000 children visit Driscoll's ED annually and, while good use has been made of the existing space, more is needed. The redesign and expansion is a multimillion dollar project, and donations like that from the Halliburton Charity Golf Tournament are helping make it possible.
"We could not be more grateful for Halliburton's gift," said Martha St. Romain, vice president of Development at Driscoll. "The redesign and expansion of our Children's Emergency Department is one of the most significant projects undertaken by the hospital in recent years."
Each year, Halliburton partners with vendors, suppliers and employees to host its Charity Golf Tournament in Houston. Throughout its history, the tournament has given nearly $4 million to charities across the United States.
"I am proud to say that Halliburton helps its neighbors through supporting Driscoll Children's Hospital," said Joe Foster, South Texas Area vice president for Halliburton. "Charity starts at home in our communities, and helping is what we do."
Almost 40,000 children visit Driscoll's ED annually and, while good use has been made of the existing space, more is needed. The redesign and expansion is a multimillion dollar project, and donations like that from the Halliburton Charity Golf Tournament are helping make it possible.
"We could not be more grateful for Halliburton's gift," said Martha St. Romain, vice president of Development at Driscoll. "The redesign and expansion of our Children's Emergency Department is one of the most significant projects undertaken by the hospital in recent years."
Each year, Halliburton partners with vendors, suppliers and employees to host its Charity Golf Tournament in Houston. Throughout its history, the tournament has given nearly $4 million to charities across the United States.
"I am proud to say that Halliburton helps its neighbors through supporting Driscoll Children's Hospital," said Joe Foster, South Texas Area vice president for Halliburton. "Charity starts at home in our communities, and helping is what we do."
- What: Halliburton check presentation
- When: 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19
- Where: Driscoll Children's Hospital, main lobby, 3533 S. Alameda St.
Driscoll team recognized for conducting clinical trials that improve life for cancer patients
October 17, 2011
Driscoll's oncology team, led by Dr. Cris Johnson, includes physicians, nurses, child life specialists, social workers, chaplains, rehab therapists, lab workers and a host of other specialists.
"We're participating in an international effort to cure childhood cancer," said Dr. Johnson, director of hematology/oncology at Driscoll's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. "We enroll patients in research trials with the goal of improving survival rates while decreasing side effects and late effects of treatment."
Dr. Johnson and her team were recognized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Community Clinical Oncology Program/Minority-Based Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP/MB-CCOP). The CCOP is a network for testing and validating medical interventions against cancer and delivering the benefits of scientific discovery to the public. The Minority-Based CCOP program is a companion group to reach areas with large minority populations, which includes Corpus Christi and the 31 counties that Driscoll serves.
"A great number of our patients are minorities," Dr. Johnson said. "This population is often underserved and their response to treatment can vary from non-minorities. It's important to include all ages and races in clinical trials."
This is the first time the CCOP/MB-CCOP and NCI have recognized physicians for their enrollment efforts, according to Anne-Marie Langevin, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and principal investigator of the South Texas Pediatric MB-CCOP (STP MB-CCOP), a consortium of four pediatric oncology programs that includes Driscoll Children's Hospital.
As a consortium, the STP MB-CCOP ranks second in the state of Texas in terms of enrollment of children with cancer in NCI-sponsored clinical trials. Dr. Johnson and her team contributed more than 35 percent of those enrollments in the past year. In 2010, they had 119 enrollments.
"This is a fantastic achievement considering that (Driscoll) is competing with adult oncologists who see a lot more patients," Dr. Langevin said.
An example of a clinical trial that is underway at Driscoll involves a new drug that counteracts hearing loss caused by a chemotherapy medication used to treat tumors.
"We are hoping that this new drug decreases the incidence of hearing loss after chemotherapy," Dr. Johnson said. "To know if the drug is effective, an organized clinical trial needs to be performed."
Results of clinical trials like this are submitted to the Children's Oncology Group, a worldwide clinical trial cooperative group supported by the NCI and dedicated to studying childhood cancers, Dr. Johnson said.
Dr. Johnson said she's honored to receive the recognition from the CCOP/MB-CCOP and NCI, but she's quick to credit her team of fellow physicians, nurses, child life specialists, social workers, chaplains, rehab therapists, lab workers and a host of others.
"Without this team we wouldn't be able to take care of the children the way they need to be taken care of," she said.
Chavez is new Radiology Services director at Driscoll
October 11, 2011
Ernest Chavez
Pulmonologist comes to Driscoll from New York
October 04, 2011
Jon Roberts, MD
Wilson retires as chairman of Driscoll's governing board
September 26, 2011
C. Ivan Wilson has long been a champion of high-quality healthcare for the children of South Texas.
Perinatologist joins Driscoll Children's Hospital
September 26, 2011
Ryan Loftin, MD
Pediatric hematologist/oncologist joins Driscoll
August 30, 2011
Jose Esquilin, MD
Library of specialized toys available to children with disabilities
July 18, 2011
Specialized toys from Driscoll's Toy Tech Lending Library are therapeutic for patients like Emilio, 5, who has tuberous sclerosis and epilepsy. Assisting him are Rachel Garcia, certified occupational therapy assistant (middle) and Amanda Germann, speech pathologist.
According to Susan Fields, director of Rehabilitation Services at Driscoll, children explore their environment through play. "When we can help them play independently, we are helping them become independent learners. This is an important foundation for developing life skills," she says.
The new Toy Tech Lending Library at Driscoll provides a variety of toys adapted for children with varying degrees of motor disabilities. The toys, which are switch activated, can be used at home to practice skills a child has learned in his or her therapy sessions.
Since these toys are adapted especially for children with handicaps, they aren't readily available at a toy store and are often expensive.
A $30 toy, when adapted, can easily cost $100. However, through Driscoll's Lending Library, families are able to check out these adapted toys at no cost.
Just as with a book library, the toys are checked out for two to four weeks at a time. Upon return, another toy can be checked out. About 20 toys are available, and not just to Driscoll patients. All children in the community with disabilities are invited to borrow toys from the Toy Tech Lending Library.
Mary Ann Sosa's granddaughter, Madison, 5, is a patient at Driscoll. She suffers from cerebral palsy and often borrows toys from the Lending Library.
"It's a great thing. It really helps at home," Sosa says. "We are able to work at home on the things her therapists want her to work on. Right now she's learning to use her arms more."
Sosa explains that the toys make Madison want to use her arms more because of the reaction she gets from her grandmother.
"When Madison pushes the button on a toy, she notices it plays music and I cheer her on. She loves the attention she gets!"
Fields hopes more families take advantage of the Lending Library.
"We just started offering toys for check-out in April, so it's a fairly new program," she says. "The more these toys are utilized, the more toys we are able to receive through the grant."
For more information or to set up an orientation to the Toy Tech program, please call Driscoll's Rehabilitation Services Department at (361) 694-5678.