Hours after she was born, Eleanor was flown to Children’s HealthSM for treatment and a lifesaving open-heart surgery.
READ MORE ON P. 13.
Look inside for groundbreaking photos and more about our new Dallas pediatric campus!
fall/winter 2024
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Afew years ago, two generous donor families believed in a vision that at the time was only that — a dream to build one of the nation’s biggest and best hospitals for kids.
There were no building plans. There were no renderings.
But the Pogue and Rees-Jones families understood the need, each committing $100 million gifts to the new Dallas pediatric campus.
This is the first time in Texas that a nonprofit construction project has received two individual leadership gifts of $100 million.
These transformational gifts are a testament to both families’ steadfast commitment to the health and wellbeing of children in North Texas. They’re also the climax of their decades-long giving to Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center — partners in providing cutting-edge pediatric medical care for kids.
For years, the Pogue and Rees-Jones families have believed in the power of the red balloon.
But as business and community leaders, they also understand that their community is growing. The pediatric population in the region is expected to double
by 2050, and this fast-paced growth rushes in the critical need for greater access to pediatric health care.
For more than a century, Children’s Health has committed to the mission to make life better for children. As we look to the next 100 years, fulfilling our mission is more important than ever as the health care needs of kids in North Texas are increasing.
At Children’s Heath, the little balloon you see floating next to our name means a lot to us. Like many of our patients, this red balloon is small but powerful.
This red balloon has the ability to bring together the might of academic medicine and specialty expertise to offer clinical care without a ceiling.
This red balloon inspires researchers to search for seemingly impossible discoveries that lead to possible cures for pediatric illnesses and diseases.
And in collaboration with our colleagues at UT Southwestern Medical Center, this red balloon is charting a course to build a healthier community for all North Texas children.
this is one mighty red balloon.
THE POGUE FAMILY QUIETLY SUPPORTED CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND UT SOUTHWESTERN FOR DECADES. NOW, THE FAMILY HAS COMMITTED A HISTORIC $100 MILLION TO THE NEW DALLAS PEDIATRIC CAMPUS.
Almost six decades ago, Mack Pogue founded Lincoln Property Co. through a handshake deal.
The son of a cotton gin farmer, Mack (or “Big Mack” as he was known by his grandkids) grew Lincoln into one of the largest real estate companies in the country and ultimately shaped Dallas — a city that he loved.
As part of his love for the city, he and his wife, Jean, quietly for decades supported the region’s leading pediatric hospital, Children’s Health, and UT Southwestern Medical Center, totaling $200 million in philanthropic gifts to the two health systems. The couple’s support to fund innovative treatments and lifesaving research has impacted North Texas children now and for decades to come.
But the couple’s most transformative gift came shortly before Mack’s death earlier this year: a historic $100 million donation to
help fund the construction of the new Dallas pediatric campus.
In May, colorful confetti poured over Jean and her children (along with grandchildren and a great grandson!) as Children’s Health and UT Southwestern team members, physicians, leaders and grateful families gathered at Children’s Medical Center Dallas to thank the family for the generous gift and remember the legacy of Mack.
“Mack and I have had the blessing of being able to support Children’s Health and UT Southwestern for many years, knowing how much they impact the well-being of patients and communities they serve,” said Jean, who grew-up six blocks from Mack in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
“Our family is proud to play a part in helping build the new Dallas pediatric campus. We’re beyond grateful for the difference it will make for future generations of children.”
To recognize the Pogue Foundation gift, the nearly 34-acre site for the new hospital campus will be named Pogue Park, in honor of Jean’s love for flowers and nature. The park will encompass the outdoor grounds surrounding the new facilities and will include sprawling green spaces intended to support compassionate healing and reduce stress in a restorative and natural environment.
“It’s not only about the $100 million; it’s about people who can see what needs to be done ... and have said ‘I want to be a part of that,’” said Christopher Durovich, President and Chief Executive Officer at Children’s Health, at the May event.
“To me, one of the most important things is to ensure children in our community have access to the best care,” Jean said. “Mack and I both love Children’s Health. And for Mack, when he believes in something, he gets stuck on it.”
MORE THAN A DECADE AGO, JAN AND TREVOR REES-JONES BELIEVED IN A DREAM TO HELP KIDS IN THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM. NOW, THEY’VE COMMITTED $100M TO HELP KIDS IN NORTH TEXAS AND BEYOND FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
At 10 years old, Amelia has a lot of friends. Like a Care Bear, her greeting card is a hug, offering a big squeeze where others extend handshakes.
And among those who she counts in her close circle are her UT Southwestern physicians, who cared for her at Children’s Health and have inspired her to be a doctor to help kids like her.
Born early and weighing 2 pounds and 4 ounces, Amelia spent the first few months of her life in a local NICU
before entering foster care. There, her now adoptive parents, Robin and Henk, realized that she was facing several health challenges, including heart issues and cerebral palsy. An MRI showed she might never walk without her braces.
But Amelia’s clinical team at The Rees-Jones Center for Foster Care Excellence saw it as a challenge, providing early intervention from the time that she was a baby and coordinating her care across multiple disciplines within the hospital system.
Now, she can run, kick a soccer ball and explore nature — all without her braces.
And she has two more friends to hug for this lifesaving care: Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones, who helped establish the foster care center in 2012 as the only clinic in North Texas to treat the unique physical and emotional needs of children and youth in the child welfare system.
Through The Rees-Jones Foundation, the family has generously given more than $35 million to the foster care program,
supporting the health care provided to more than 2,000 children each year.
And that gift inspired Jan and Trevor to do more, donating $100 million through their foundation to support the new Dallas pediatric campus.
“Through the work at The Rees-Jones Center, we have witnessed how the lives of some of the most vulnerable children and their families have been touched emotionally and physically by caring professionals,” Trevor Rees-Jones said in October when the gift was announced at the groundbreaking for the new campus.
To publicly recognize The Rees-Jones Foundation gift, the central hospital tower at the new Dallas pediatric campus will be named Rees-Jones Tower. In addition to patient rooms and unique amenities, ReesJones Tower will serve as the main hospital entrance and house the lobby and welcome areas for patients and their families.
“If our city and our children, who are our future, are to thrive, we need the most up-to-date medical facilities and technology,” said Trevor, Founder and CEO of Chief Energy LLC and Rees-Jones Holdings LLC, and co-founder with Jan of The Rees-Jones Foundation.
“We are grateful to Children’s Health and UT Southwestern for their recognition of this need and their commitment to build the very best state-of-the-art facilities so that our medical professionals will be equipped to deliver the highest level of care to children throughout our city and region well into the future.”
Founded in 2006 by Jan and Trevor, The Rees-Jones Foundation is a private foundation that works with nonprofit organizations in North Texas, Africa and India to serve others and improve their quality of life in tangible ways.
The Rees-Jones Foundation has also given more than $10 million to UT Southwestern since 2016 to support programs aimed at identifying risk for depression and mood disorders in youth and building mental health resilience.
“We believe every child should have the opportunity to receive the very best health care,” Trevor said.
Children’s Health and UT Southwestern unveiled plans in February for a new $5 billion Dallas pediatric campus. On Oct. 1, the two institutions announced an incredible $100 million gift from The Rees-Jones Foundation and broke ground on one of the nation’s largest and most transformative pediatric hospitals.
Located in Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District on the corner of Harry Hines Boulevard and Paul Bass Way, across from UTSW’s William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, the new Dallas pediatric campus will also be a joint hub for innovation; academic research and training; and the development of lifesaving technologies.
We’re building this hospital for the kids who are here now and for the ones yet to come.
• 4.7 million square feet of construction (This makes it larger than AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys!)
• 3 towers, including two 12-story towers and one eight-story tower
• 552 inpatient beds
• 90 ER bays and 24 observation rooms
• 96-exam-room outpatient facility
• 96-bed Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
• Two-story surgical suite with 20 operating rooms
• 2 helicopter pads
• Level I trauma center
• More than 20 acres of green space, including Pogue Park, walking trails, healing views from patient rooms and an open courtyard
Natalie Davies Cryer grew up understanding the importance of pediatric health care. Now a mom of three children, she wants her kids and other North Texas families to have access to every health resource available.
Natalie Davies Cryer still remembers how scared her parents were when her older brother, Robert, got a severe concussion while rollerblading. Her mom, Pilar, was relieved when Robert got better — but stayed concerned about their experience at the emergency room.
“We grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and at the time, there wasn’t a pediatric emergency room at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. So in the emergency department, my parents and brother were waiting with adults with all kinds of needs,” Natalie said. “It was chaotic and not an ideal place for kids or their parents, particularly in one of the scariest moments of their lives.
It lit a fire in my mom to advocate for a children’s facility that would include a designated pediatric ER in our community.”
That’s what started their family’s passion for advancing pediatric
medicine. Over the next few years, Pilar joined others in their community, who were on a mission to establish a pediatric emergency department at the hospital. Thanks to the dedication of Pilar and other community supporters, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital opened their emergency room in Palo Alto, California.
When she was old enough, Natalie started volunteering in the emergency department that her mom helped make possible.
“I speak Spanish, so I spent a lot of my time with Spanish-speaking families, comforting siblings of kids receiving care,” Natalie said. “That taught me how important it is to make sure the hospital feels accessible and safe for everyone.”
When the family moved to Dallas, they wanted to continue to support pediatric health in their community.
“When you are at a hospital, particularly a children’s hospital,
you are at your most vulnerable. Anything that can be done to make that experience more accessible and less scary is of utmost importance, and Children’s Health does a phenomenal job ensuring that there is never a barrier to care and that everyone has equal access, all while providing exceptional care to the most important people in a parent’s life — our children,” Natalie said.
Now, Natalie and her brother Robert’s wife, Mallory Davies, are carrying on the family’s commitment as champions for pediatric health care. Through their family’s foundation, they have committed to support the new pediatric campus in Dallas. The project will allow the hospital system to care for a growing pediatric population in North Texas and pioneer innovative research and lifesaving treatments that focus on each child’s unique needs.
“Mallory and I each have three kids, and nothing is more important to
“Our family feels that in supporting pediatric health, we’re supporting our community. We love raising our kids here and having Children’s Health available to every family is a real strength for our community.” — Natalie Davies Cryer
us than ensuring families have every health resource available when their child needs medical care,” Natalie said. “Supporting the new hospital in Dallas is our way of continuing what my mom started but in our new community where we’ve set roots in Texas.”
The new campus, which will ultimately replace Children’s Medical Center Dallas, will be the most significant investment made by the partnership between Children’s Health and UT Southwestern and will be one of the largest and most transformative hospital projects in the country.
“Our family feels that in supporting pediatric health, we’re supporting our community,” Natalie said. “We love raising our kids here and having Children’s Health available to every family is a real strength for our community.”
The family’s devotion to pediatric health deepened when they became a grateful patient family. Two of Mallory’s kids have severe allergies
and the Allergy and Immunology team at Children’s Health has been their source of guidance and hope.
“Having kids with food allergies that are so severe they could be fatal is something we never expected. But the Children’s Health team has coached us and comforted us every step of the way,” Mallory said.
Since their first appointment with their pediatric allergist, J. Andrew Bird, M.D., director of the Food Allergy Center at Children’s Health, Mallory and Robert have felt empowered by their own role as part of their kids’ care team.
They appreciate Dr. Bird, also a professor of pediatrics and internal medicine in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, teaching them and their kids about how to live with allergies. And helping Mallory and Robert manage their worries, without holding their kids back from the fun of childhood.
“It’s not easy being a kid who has to stop and think about if the food
around them is safe,” Mallory said. “They don’t have to worry at home, but anywhere else, we have to know every ingredient before they take a bite. We also don’t want them to be constantly afraid. It’s a difficult balance when they’re young.”
As careful as the family is, it’s impossible to predict and prevent every potential interaction with an allergen food. On the rare occasion one of their kids has ingested a food that sets off a reaction, it means a trip to the Children’s Health emergency room.
“We’ve had some very scary moments, and I am grateful for the Children’s Health emergency department team and the allergy team,” Mallory said.
“Being in a position to support a new hospital that can care for even more kids and all their unique needs is special to me because there are so many parents like us, who work hard to manage their child’s health every day,” she said.
Mallory Davies is grateful for the care two of her children with severe allergies have received from the Allergy and Immunology team at Children’s Health. Together, Mallory and Natalie are carrying on the family’s commitment as champions for pediatric health care.
TEMPLE SHALOM’S “FORE THE KIDS” CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT CHOOSES CHILDREN’S HEALTH AS ITS BENEFICIARY.
For more than two decades, Temple Shalom has hosted “Fore the Kids,” an annual charity golf tournament.
In recent years, the nearly 60-yearold Reform Jewish congregation selected Children’s Health as one of its beneficiaries, noting the hospital’s mission to make life better for children and their families.
For Andrew Paley, a senior rabbi at Temple Shalom, the partnership was a no-brainer.
Paley and others at the synagogue recognized that Children’s Health’s staff is at the front lines of taking care of North Texas’ growing pediatric population and they wanted to support its efforts, he said. Already the synagogue had been giving gifts of toys and other non-cash donations that support patients and families before shifting to financial gifts that allow Children’s Health to fund areas of greatest need.
“There’s a sense of joy in being able to be a part of something that does some real good, that does some real helping,” Paley said.
Temple Shalom is proud to support the leading pediatric
health care system in North Texas as it “helps families through really difficult moments,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”
Philanthropic gifts from generous donors and community groups ensure Children’s Health can meet the broad health care needs of area families. Unrestricted gifts, such as those raised through Temple Shalom’s golf tournament, allow our system to address the most pressing needs as we aim to provide worldclass care.
As a nonprofit, unrestricted giving is critical to the day-to-day lives of our patients, allowing Children’s Health to adapt and expand critical programs and keep pace with a growing pediatric population.
“The fact that we can contribute anything to help Children’s Health as it grows and expands, we can say we’re a little part of that,” said Irwin Kaufman, a co-chair for Temple Shalom’s golf committee. “We feel good about the fact that we’re helping the youth.”
WHEN SERENITY COULDN’T MOVE HER NECK OR ARM, HER FAMILY FOUND A HOME AND ANSWERS FOR THEIR LITTLE ‘FIRECRACKER’ AT CHILDREN’S HEALTH.
Seven-year-old Serenity loves sparkles, nail polish, unicorns and playing dressup. She can sometimes convince her two younger brothers to take a break from monster truck talk and play Barbies — and she can always convince her favorite physical therapists, Ashley and Justin, to play princesses.
“I love having a girl. I picked her name before she was born, and it turned out to fit her perfectly. She’s always been naturally calm and peaceful, but every once in a while, she becomes a firecracker and that’s fun to see,” Serenity’s mom, Deanna, said.
Growing up in a small Texas town, Serenity’s life was typical until one day when she complained to her mom that her head hurt. Deanna wasn’t too worried — until a couple of hours later, when Serenity told her mom she couldn’t move her neck or her left arm.
At her local hospital, doctors were puzzled by her symptoms, so Deanna and Serenity flew hundreds of miles to Children’s Health, where physicians began to unpack her symptoms and slow the paralysis on the left side of her body.
“We got to Children’s Health early in the morning, and right away she was in the intensive care unit with maybe 15 people all around her. They could see that she wasn’t able to move, and her face had started to droop a bit like she had a stroke,” Deanna said. “It was overwhelming, but I was also relieved that people were taking her condition seriously.”
A few days later, Serenity was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) likely caused by an infection from an enterovirus — a common virus that usually causes kids to have a fever and a sore throat. But occasionally, the virus triggers an abnormal immune response and overcomes the body’s ability to fight the illness, eventually reaching the nervous system. In the most severe cases, the virus can reach past muscles in the arms and legs and weaken or paralyze the muscles we use to breathe.
“Serenity’s AFM advanced really quickly, so by the time we had a diagnosis, a big portion of her body was paralyzed. Because it got to her lungs, she now uses a ventilator to breathe,” Deanna said.
Serenity and her mom stayed in the Children’s Health ICU for six
weeks. And when it was time to go home, the team at Children’s Health taught Deanna how to deliver Serenity’s medications through a tube in her stomach and how to use an in-home and mobile ventilator that allowed Serenity to breathe. “I had to become a medical expert on my child. It’s a lot of work, but her life is worth it,” Deanna said. “I’m glad everyone is patient with us parents because we are dealing with the emotions of our child being sick and learning to take care of them.”
DAY-TO-DAY LIFE IS DIFFERENT BUT STILL JOYFUL
Now, two years later, their family is used to the ins and outs of caring for Serenity. She’s quick in her wheelchair and loves to play outside. Serenity has become more independent, and she and her brothers have adapted games for the three of them to play together.
Deanna knows all too well that many people who see Serenity don’t see past her wheelchair and ventilator. But she hopes as Serenity grows up that everyone will instead see her for her bright personality and creativity.
“I know everyone at Children’s Health accepts her, and more than anything, Serenity feels confident here,” Deanna said.
Kids are dreamers. Your gifts support their biggest wishes.
Our patients have wishes and dreams beyond toys. Be incredible and help deliver the hope today at childrens.com/incredible24. Serenity’s dream: to walk again!
Radio host Armando “Chiquilin” Ulloa has made a career in front of the mic, discussing family, entertainment, sports and community issues with North Texas listeners on his morning show.
But for a few days in early December, Armando dedicates his show — El Chiquilin Todas Las Mañanas on La Grande 107.5 FM — to the patients, families and team members at Children’s Health. The
Hispanic Radiothon is hosted in collaboration with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN), which partners with health care systems across the country to raise funds for local pediatric hospitals.
During the radiothon, Armando welcomes grateful patient families to share their experiences with his Chiquilin Todas Las Mañanas audience. He also invites listeners to call and share their stories.
As he welcomes guests to the
radiothon — called Milagros para Niños, which means Miracles for Children — he reminds listeners what a gift it is to have one of the country’s most prestigious pediatric health care providers in North Texas.
“We hear from all kinds of people, professionals and blue-collar workers ready to give. Helping kids is something everyone can relate to,” said Jimmy Gonzalez, Vice President of Spanish Programming at Audacy and Brand Manager of La Grande.
Children’s Miracle Network recognizes La Grande with Hispanic Media Partner of the Year Award.
“As a team, we’re honored to receive this award from the Children’s Miracle Network, but I have to
give a huge amount of credit to Armando. He really shoulders the effort and the community responds,” Jimmy Gonzalez said.
Jimmy Gonzalez (center), Vice President of Spanish Programming at Audacy and Brand Manager of La Grande, gathers for a photo with his wife, Lorena (second from left), and representatives from Children’s Health and Cook Children’s at Children’s Hospital Week in April 2024.
Throughout the two days, Armando makes a public call to his listeners to give whatever they can to support Children’s Health patients. The radiothon is an example of how community giving ensures every patient’s needs are met. Most recently, funds raised during the radio drive support the new pediatric campus in Dallas, a project that will strengthen Children’s Health’s ability to care for children, especially the most medically complex and vulnerable population.
The call to give is an authentic ask for a radio host who isn’t afraid to get deeply personal.
Both of Armando’s daughters, who are now 11 and 5, were born prematurely. His youngest was born weighing just two pounds and spent six weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a hospital in Dallas, where she was born.
“My wife and I are so thankful to the doctors and nurses. We didn’t get to hold our first daughter until she was two weeks old,” Armando said. “During the radiothon, I transport myself to those days and how I felt when we could only watch her. I still remember when they put her in my wife’s arms for the first time.”
When he joined La Grande, Armando was glad to see that the station wasn’t just entertaining — they were connecting with the community.
“We’re a bridge for the Spanish-speaking community to feel fully connected to where they live,” Armando said. “It’s a role I take seriously. Families need to know Children’s Health is available to them, and by coming here, they will receive the best care. Many team members at Children’s Health speak Spanish, and whenever my kids need care, it’s always such a positive experience.”
Since becoming a CMN partner in 2010, La Grande has received pledge donations to Children’s Health totaling more than $5 million. In 2024, CMN honored Armando, Jimmy and the La Grande team with the Hispanic Media Partner of the Year award for their commitment and creative fundraising to support advances in care at Children’s Health.
Every year, the two are humbled by their audience’s generosity. But it doesn’t surprise them.
Both Armando and Jimmy say their favorite part is giving patient families and listeners the space to share their Children’s Health stories. They also enjoy hearing from their listeners how they use the radiothon to have conversations with their kids about supporting others.
“Family means everything to the Hispanic community. We spend time together and help each other out. We celebrate everything, so supporting families resonates with who we are,” Armando said.
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At Children’s Health, the little red balloon floating next to our name is small but powerful — just like our patients.
This red balloon unites the might of academic medicine with the breadth of specialty expertise to offer clinical care without a ceiling. When combined with the power of families and our donors, we are incredible together
The support of countless people over the years has proven that what we dream of today can become a reality tomorrow. You can help make the impossible possible for the next generation of kids at Children’s Health.
During this special season, help us make some of our patients’ biggest dreams — to play football, to walk again — come true by making a financial gift at childrens.com/incredible24
BE INCREDIBLE AND DONATE TO HELP SUPPORT SOME OF OUR PATIENTS’ BIGGEST DREAMS.
AMY KORENVAES AND HER FAMILY FIRST SUPPORTED PATIENTS WITH THERAPEUTIC CLOWNS. NOW, THEY HAVE COMMITTED TO HELP KIDS THROUGH OUR BIGGEST PROJECT YET.
Nearly three decades ago, Amy Korenvaes and her family had moved from New York to Dallas when she began volunteering in the evenings at Children’s Health. She was a relatively new Texan searching for a way to connect with an unfamiliar city.
On these nights, she was a reassuring face for anxious parents waiting for answers in a busy Emergency Department. With a knack for humor, she was a source of stress relief for worried kids.
“A child can get sick, but at Children’s Health, they can also recover and be put back into their own little world and thrive. I can’t think of a better place to bring your child when that child is in trouble,” Amy said. “I want Children’s Health to be the best it can possibly be long into the future.”
In 2006, Amy and her husband, Harlan, brought laughter to patients when they established the Harlan and Amy Korenvaes Endowment to support the former therapeutic clown program at Children’s Health. The therapeutic clowns regularly visited bedsides and clinics to boost spirits and work with medical staff to help children cope with the challenges of being hospitalized.
As the needs and interests of patients evolved, Children’s Health adapted to offer a greater range of support and motivation to kids of all ages through virtual reality.
The Korenvaeses were happy to now support the still-growing virtual reality program — a resource offered by Child Life to encourage patients to have fun and move using technology.
Amy and Harlan serve in leadership roles as members of the Children’s Medical Center Foundation Board, as well as other civic and health care-related organizations in the community.
Now, the couple has committed their support to helping build the new Dallas pediatric campus.
“Children are our future. Having a state-of-the-art children’s hospital is exactly what Dallas needs,” Amy said.
Do I have to go see those naughty bloody girls?” It was the one serious, very direct question then 3-year-old Clayton asked his parents, Cody and Lauren, whenever they took him to Children’s Health.
When Clayton’s cancer treatment began a couple of years ago, his parents envisioned their little boy struggling through chemotherapy, radiation and a surgery that would leave a scar arching across his abdomen. But the only moment that really got to Clayton was something lots of kids are apprehensive of — a poke.
The “naughty bloody girls” was the fun-loving way Clayton characterized the phlebotomists, who have a knack for gentle pokes when taking blood samples for labs during Clayton’s cancer treatment.
“After he got his poke, then it was all jokes, game on,” Cody said.
A PEDIATRICIAN’S INTUITION GETS CLAYTON THE CARE HE NEEDS
Clayton’s diagnosis began during a trip to the pediatrician, prompted because they noticed his belly was distended and beginning to protrude more to one side.
type of pediatric kidney cancer.
Two days later, Samir Pandya, M.D., Pediatric Surgeon at Children’s Health and Associate Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, removed the tumor and Clayton’s left kidney.
After seven days of recovery, Clayton was cleared to begin the next stage of treatment.
But there was a curveball: Once clinicians inspected the tumor under the microscope, they discovered aggressive cancer cells.
“I don’t think people realize how fortunate we are to have one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country, in our city,” Cody said.
CLAYTON’S PARENTS BECOME ADVOCATES FOR PHILANTHROPY AND RESEARCH
Lauren and Cody were shocked when they learned that only about 4 percent of federal funding for cancer research goes to children, according to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. This turned them into fierce champions for philanthropy.
READ MORE ABOUT CLAYTON AND HIS FAMILY’S PUSH FOR PEDIATRIC RESEARCH
When examining his belly, the physician immediately felt a mass and relayed his concerns.
“We were told to leave immediately and go straight to Children’s Health. The doctor didn’t even want us to check out,” Lauren said.
Clayton’s CT scan confirmed it was Wilms tumor — a common
Now, the couple is committed to sharing their family’s story to help advance treatment options for kids who will be diagnosed when Clayton is an adult. Already, Cody serves on the board of a local nonprofit that works alongside Children’s Health to raise funds for pediatric cancer research to help kids like Clayton.
“I don’t know that you could pay back all the support that we’ve been given, but you can certainly pay it forward,” Cody said.
Kids
are dreamers. Your gifts support their biggest wishes.
Our patients have wishes and dreams beyond toys. Be incredible and help deliver the hope today at childrens.com/incredible24
Clayton’s dream: to be a scientist that makes medicine to cure cancer or to be a scientist for Disney World
“We literally felt like we were lost when I learned that donors were giving time and money to support families like ours,” said Laura (left), mom to Eleanor.
“You have no idea. Even the smallest donated gifts made us feel like we weren’t alone.”
HOURS AFTER SHE WAS BORN WITH A CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT THAT TURNED HER COLOR PURPLE, ELEANOR WAS FLOWN TO CHILDREN’S HEALTH FOR LIFESAVING TREATMENT.
The first thing that Laura and Raul remember about their infant daughter
Eleanor — after the openheart surgery that saved her life — were her pink toes.
“Throughout our daughter’s medical journey, we’ve cried a lot, I can’t even tell you how many times,”
said Raul, Eleanor’s dad. “But when we saw her pink toes and noticed that her little fingernails were no longer purple, we cried happy tears.”
BIG SURPRISES IN A SMALL PACKAGE
Long before Eleanor’s heart repair at five months, she was a
big surprise to her parents.
“Our daughter Shelby was 11 when I found out I was pregnant,” Laura said.
Eleanor also surprised Laura’s obstetrics team in the family’s hometown. “I had an ultrasound every two weeks because I’d had pre-term labor and my pregnancy
was considered high risk,” she said. “In all those ultrasounds, no one caught our baby’s heart condition.”
But when Laura and Raul settled into their maternity room with their new baby, they noticed Eleanor’s color would gradually turn from pink to purple and back to pink again. Within a few hours of her birth, their doctor did a newborn assessment and observed the same thing.
After supplemental oxygen yielded no results, a neonatologist at the hospital’s small neonatal intensive care unit inserted a breathing tube hooked to a ventilator — a lifesaving measure that pumped air into Eleanor’s tiny lungs. Meanwhile, the Children’s Health cardiac ultrasound team traveled to the hospital to do an echocardiogram or “echo.”
The scan revealed that her heart was positioned on the right side of her chest instead of the left — a condition called dextrocardia that, on its own, doesn’t usually cause problems, but tends to occur with other life-threatening conditions.
In Eleanor’s case, her heart’s pulmonary valve, which controls the movement of blood to the lungs to receive oxygen, was too narrow for adequate blood flow.
Ten hours after being born, she was airlifted to the Children’s Health Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) in Dallas.
“We were terrified that our baby girl wouldn’t survive, but the clinical team was phenomenal,” Laura said. “The doctors worked so fast, and the nurses were not only giving our newborn the care she needed, but they were also taking care of me by making sure I was off my feet and getting the rest and nutrition I needed after just delivering a baby.”
And at four days old, Eleanor received a stent to open her pulmonary valve.
Over the next five months, the family lived at the hospital and the Ronald McDonald House, waiting for the day when Eleanor’s heart, the size of a walnut, would be a
bit bigger and stronger to handle the open-heart surgery that would provide a longer-term repair. To everyone’s great joy and relief, the much-anticipated operation was a success — a milestone that gave Eleanor a new lease on life.
Now, Eleanor is a smiley, talkative baby with an independent streak who is quickly catching up on her
Kids are dreamers. Your gifts support their biggest wishes.
Our patients have wishes and dreams beyond toys. Be incredible and help deliver the hope today at childrens.com/incredible24.
Eleanor’s family’s dream: to thrive as a now-toddler and get into all the things
“Whenever I drive by the Plano campus, I think, ‘wow.’ I can’t explain how I feel about it and what it has done for Collin County without getting emotional.”
— Joyce Houlihan
‘somebody’s gotta do it’
JOYCE AND DENNY HOULIHAN MADE ONE OF THE FIRST LEAD GIFTS TO BUILD CHILDREN’S MEDICAL CENTER PLANO. TWO DECADES LATER, A NEARLY 400,000-SQUARE-FOOT TOWER HAS OPENED TO CARE FOR MORE KIDS CLOSER TO HOME.
Two decades ago, Joyce and Denny Houlihan planted their legacy in a building a couple miles from the Dallas North Tollway in Collin County.
There, on the 180-acre campus, horses roamed the open grassy area and there was a roughly century-old red oak tree.
But the vision was revolutionary for the community: Build a Children’s Health hospital in Plano so pediatric patients and their families could receive care closer to home.
Joyce and Denny were among the first donors to make lead gifts to the construction of Children’s Medical Center Plano.
And since then, as more and more families and companies have flooded the northern suburbs, they’ve watched their seed of an investment grow and provide lifesaving care to children in their neighborhood.
By the end of 2024, the hospital will open its new, nearly 400,000-square-foot patient tower — a milestone for a project that Joyce is proud to have believed in from the beginning.
“We knew the community would embrace it. Denny and I have always been forward thinkers with the philosophy of ‘somebody’s gotta do it,’” said Joyce, who served on the steering committee for construction of the Plano campus when Denny’s health declined. She later was a member of the board of directors for Children’s Health Plano and Children’s Medical Center Foundation.
The new tower reflects Children’s Health’s commitment to grow alongside its community. As the leading health care provider for children in North Texas, Children’s Health has expanded the expert pediatric care it provides at its Plano campus to give more families north of Dallas access to world-class, highly specialized care.
Space was strategically designed to provide the needed infrastructure for innovation and cross-team collaboration. Patient rooms were created for comfort, including circadian rhythm lighting, a double sleeper sofa, larger storage area, and video game storage beneath TV screens.
Beyond the physical space, more than 400 new team members were hired to help provide world-class care for more children in the hospital than ever before.
For many years, Joyce and Denny have invested in the training of team members at the Plano hospital, establishing the Joyce Houlihan Graduate Nurse Resident Fund dedicated to support the orientation and training of resident nurses at the northern campus.
Joyce is a registered nurse who has done everything from opening critical care units to writing the first infection control program.
For Joyce and Denny — an entrepreneur who founded Sage Telecom in the mid-1990s — investments in the training of people who care for patients is just as important to the advancement of pediatric medicine as is building a stateof-the-art facility.
“If we’re going to have a topnotch hospital, then we need topnotch nurses inside it,” Joyce said. “Whenever I drive by the Plano campus, I think, ‘wow.’ I can’t explain how I feel about it and what it has done for Collin County without getting emotional.”
Joyce and Denny Houlihan smile in front of the Founder’s Wall at Children’s Medical Center Plano in 2008.
• 2021 groundbreaking for the milestone expansion project
• More than 400 team members added to the staff at Children’s Medical Center Plano to care for a growing pediatric population
• Our new 395,000-square-foot patient tower includes 140 new inpatient beds and strengthened specialty services and programs.
• Our updated Bright Family Emergency Department has doubled in size with 48 exam rooms, providing transformative equipment and resources critical to building a Level II trauma center.
• In 2023, team members at Children’s Medical Center Plano saw a total number of 193,484 patient visits.
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early interventions help ‘super Stella’ defy expectations.
When a fetal MRI confirmed a rare birth defect in Stella's brain, her family found early intervention and support at Children's Health.
LEARN MORE ABOUT STELLA AND THE CARE SHE RECEIVED CLOSE TO HOME AT OUR PLANO CAMPUS.
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Izaac
and his family
Over spring break, Izaac road-tripped to Branson, Mo., where he stayed in a houseboat and rode go-karts. He’s a natural pickleball player, and the kind of guy who, as a kid, used his birthday money to help a friend during a hard time.
He’s quick with observational humor and has a long-term
girlfriend who his parents adore. In the fall, he started college with the goal of becoming a mental health counselor.
He’s 20 years old and has a lot of hopes and dreams.
He also has a different perspective on life than he did five years ago, when he made a suicide attempt at his high school.
“The experience opened my eyes to how many people are struggling with mental health. People are hiding their issues and not really talking about it,” said Izaac, who was rushed to the Emergency Department at Children’s Medical Center Dallas after the incident. “I want to de-stigmatize mental health and help others who have
gone through situations similar
The mental health care needs of children are vast and significant, and they are growing as the pediatric population in North Texas increases, too.
Children’s Health is at the forefront of expanding access to comprehensive mental health care, starting with the first person most parents and guardians call when there’s a problem: their child’s pediatrician.
Several years ago, the hospital system launched the Behavioral Health Integration and Guidance (BHIG) initiative, which focuses on training, equipping and supporting community pediatricians to identify and address most mental and behavioral health concerns among their patients before they reach a crisis point.
This collaborative effort with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute was born out of a shared commitment to significantly improve the mental health wellbeing of children in North Texas and beyond. That commitment
transformed into a vision and, with investments from the community, has become a reality.
Adolfo Flores, M.D., a pediatrician in Children’s Health primary care, began the provider training last year. Previously, he worked as a medical director at a large pediatric urgent care, where he noticed an influx of kids and teenagers walking in with a range of mental health issues — depression, panic attacks and anxiety. And in that fast-paced care setting, he wasn’t able to provide the long-term treatment they needed.
“A lot of the issues when it comes to mental health is access and barriers to care. We may know what the diagnosis is, but we lack training in understanding how to manage conditions.
There’s also a shortage of mental health providers and the wait time to be seen can be very long,” Dr. Flores said.
When he shifted to primary care, a colleague introduced him to the BHIG initiative after understanding his desire to better support mental health issues for his patients.
Now, Dr. Flores is working to open a second BHIG hub at his clinic in Plano to expand training opportunities to community providers north of Dallas. This presence will complement and extend the work of BHIG anchored south of Dallas, led by Vijeta Salunkhe, M.D., a Children’s Health pediatrician in DeSoto.
“The ability to step up and help has been remarkable. The whole point is to try to identify the problem before it becomes a bigger problem, and as the primary care pediatrician, we are the ones best suited to help,” said Dr. Flores, who now feels more comfortable screening patients and prescribing medications when needed.
“We are the most in-tune with our patients’ social history because we’ve
known them for years. Kids will not talk to you if they don’t trust you, and that trust takes time to build.”
Philanthropic investments of all sizes have been instrumental in collectively bringing the BHIG initiative to fruition. This remarkable feat speaks to the trust the community has placed in this initiative to shift the landscape of how pediatric mental health is addressed.
“The BHIG initiative was created because of incredible support and confidence from the community who believed in what we set out to do. And, now, we are already giving back to our community by addressing an issue that has long been too complicated to tackle,” said Dr. Sabrina Browne, who is the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist for BHIG.
Izaac and his family, who annually donate to Children’s Health through fundraising campaigns, are grateful for the expanded support to address mental health needs in kids before they escalate to a life-threatening situation.
“For me, it was a slow build until I reached my limit. I thought I could get through it on my own, and so I never talked about it,” said Izaac, who went through counseling after he was discharged from Children’s Health.
“Now, I understand that it’s OK to express my feelings, and I can talk about them with people, especially my family since they are all so supportive. I hope others know that there is a light beyond their lowest point. You can keep going up and make it out of that valley.”
ews
THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND INTEGRATION GUIDANCE (BHIG) INITIATIVE HAS BEEN MAKING HEADLINES. READ MORE ABOUT ITS IMPACT ON KIDS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
Since its launch, more than 150 providers across the North Texas region and beyond have been trained through BHIG, expanding the potential for approximately 300,000 families to now benefit from mental health services in a pediatrician’s office.
These pediatricians will be able to carry these techniques and approaches in the future as their patients age and as more children enter their practice, extending the impact of this initiative beyond those served today.
Participating providers represent 50 cities and nearly 40 counties across Texas, as well as other states, and there are plans to embed more training opportunities and facilitate more resources in communities to the south and north of Dallas.
When surveyed, providers said they were more likely to believe that mild-to-moderate behavioral health disorders may be safely and effectively co-managed in primary care. They also remained eager to improve their clinical skills to serve this population at the program’s conclusion.
More providers reported treating depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and trauma/post-traumatic stress disorder than had prior to the program.
The percentage of providers prescribing medications for behavioral health diagnoses increased for depression and anxiety.
The program has received national attention among peer pediatric hospitals seeking to learn from the successes of BHIG. Children’s Health was awarded the Texas Hospital Association Excellence in Community Service Award and included in Fast Company’s Most Innovative list for our BHIG initiative.
Sabrina Browne, M.D., Pediatric Psychiatrist at Children’s Health and Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, received a 2024 North Texas Hospital Employee of the Year award from the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council for her work on BHIG.
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IN LIEU OF A WEDDING REGISTRY, KYLIE AND JAMES MARTIN ESTABLISHED AN ENDOWMENT TO SUPPORT THEIR LOCAL PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL.
On her wedding day in November 2023, Kylie Martin stole a peek of her soon-to-be husband, James, behind the sanctuary’s closed doors that opened to the aisle.
For the couple, that moment of anticipation before the bridal walk to the altar — as they waited to meet one another — is a lasting memory from the ceremonious big day.
The wedding and reception that followed included many of the traditional rituals — exchange of gold rings; loving first kiss; joyful first dance; and a towering white cake.
But what the day didn’t include was a stack of paper-wrapped presents and gift bags.
Feeling like they’d already dedicated enough funds to a wedding, Kylie and James opted out of a registry, establishing instead the Kylie and James Martin Endowment Fund at Children’s Health for guests to celebrate their special occasion by supporting their local pediatric hospital in lieu of wedding gifts.
“Children’s Health is near and dear to our hearts, and we are glad that we could help in this way. I know it’s a little unorthodox, but we were excited about this opportunity to help these kids,” James said.
Unrestricted philanthropic support is the gasoline in the tank for Children’s Health, allowing the hospital system to enhance critical
programs, invest in new initiatives and remain nimble to respond to unanticipated demands. As the largest pediatric health care provider in North Texas, these general use funds are crucial for us to make life better for children.
“Walking around the hospital, you see all kinds of kids and all types of circumstances that they’re battling against. Knowing that, we felt it was best for the funds to be allocated across many different service lines and trusted the hospital with the flexibility to decide where was best,” James said.
For Kylie, her family has invested decades of trust in the clinical team members at Children’s Health.
Kylie (pictured in the purple outfit) and her sister, Kaitlyn, listen to each other’s heartbeats in a patient room at Children’s Health in December 1997 shortly after Kaitlyn’s diagnosis.
years were spent at the hospital, checking her sister’s heartbeat with a play stethoscope in her hospital bed and listening to her dad tell stories in a colorful room with airplanes on the ceiling.
As a high school student, she volunteered at another local hospital. And for the last year, she’s volunteered at Children’s Health on weekday nights, wheeling the comfort cart stocked with essential supplies such as shampoo and toothbrushes to patient rooms.
“I saw how my sister had these multiple experiences at hospitals and how well she was cared for, along with the rest of my family through important services such as Child Life. And because of this,
donations where they are needed most. And that trust comes from seeing the care that was provided to my sister.”
Kylie and James’ inspiration for the endowment came from Kylie’s parents, who established the Kaitlyn Pearce Wade Endowment Fund to support the Pauline Allen Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Health, after Kaitlyn’s cancer treatment.
“When you bring your daughter to the hospital, you want to know that it has all the resources needed to care for her,” said Kay Wade, Kylie’s mom. “As a parent, you’re helpless when your child is sick. You pray that wherever you take them is the place where
join Kylie and James and start your own fundraiser
As a young married couple, Kylie and James understand the growth underway in North Texas. The pediatric population in the Dallas-Fort Worth region is almost 2.5 million and is expected to double by 2050. This means the health needs of children are continually growing and changing.
The Kylie and James Martin Endowment Fund also will grow over time. And as it expands, it will help generate resources that allow Children’s Health to adapt and sustain its ability to care for these children every day.
“As we get older, there will be continued life events that we can celebrate by donating to our endowment. This is an investment in the future that will grow over time,” Kylie said.
Together, we can make a difference for patients and team members at Children’s Health as we raise funds to fight childhood illnesses and injuries. Utilize the power of your social networks to create a movement that helps make life better for kids at Children’s Health.
North Texas and Children’s Health are growing. And when we embarked on this journey to build the new pediatric campus in Dallas — one of the most transformative pediatric hospitals in the country — we knew we needed a circle of close supporters by our side. So, we looked to our friends who are experts in the legal and finance spaces to serve as our ambassadors in the community as we tackle our largest project to date.
Children’s Medical Center Foundation recently launched its Advisor Advocacy Alliance for Children’s Health. The Alliance is composed of some of the most mission-centric attorneys and community
advisors from banking and wealth management to tax advising and investment, among others. The following six individuals are our founding members, a select group chosen to provide guidance to the Foundation and help spread awareness of our mission throughout their circles of influence.
Alliance members advocate for making life better for children across our region, expand philanthropicbased relationships and connect clients to philanthropic education to accelerate estate planning and donation opportunities with Children’s Medical Center Foundation.
Because the next generation of kids is counting on all of us to be incredible, together.
Cathleen Crews CEO AND FOUNDER ORCHID ADVISORY, LLC
Cathleen Crews remembers how scary it was to receive word her young niece needed brain surgery. But thanks to the world-class care her niece received during and after an eight-hour surgery at Children’s Medical Center Dallas two years ago, the 6-year-old is thriving. Cathleen said she never thought a diagnosis like that would occur in her family, so she’s grateful to have access to strong health care resources in the area.
“I’m excited about the new pediatric campus in Dallas. It’s going to be state-of-the-art and will be able to serve more people,” Cathleen said. “To be able to see more patients and attract good medical talent to the area, you need a state-of-the-art hospital.”
Spreading awareness about the mission of Children’s Health to her clients and to the Dallas community is what Cathleen hopes to accomplish as a founding member of the Alliance.
Amanda Hill,
Amanda Hill has dedicated her career to helping individuals and institutions make financial decisions that are aligned with their values in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. As a founding member of the Alliance, Amanda’s goal is to help provide insights and resources through her experience in both arenas.
With a heart for philanthropy, Amanda and her husband, Bobby, both Dallas natives, are rooted in the community through family ties and shared history. She feels strongly driven to making life better for children who are growing up in the hometown community that shaped her. She likes making her hometown better.
Impressed by the partnership between Children’s Health and UT Southwestern, Amanda said she looks forward to the innovative and transformative work they will accomplish together on the future pediatric campus.
“For decades, Children’s Health and UT Southwestern have partnered to put the mission first, to put the kids first, to put the families first and to make an even bigger impact together. I love that,” Amanda said.
Phil Lindquist knows from personal experience what it’s like to have a child in sudden need of medical care. When his son, Daniel, was 12 years old, he was diagnosed with diabetes and had to be rushed to the emergency department because his blood sugar was dangerously high. Daniel, who went on to graduate high school at age 16 and eventually earned a Ph.D., was cared for at Children’s Medical Center Dallas until he reached adulthood. Phil credits the great treatment by medical staff and helpful instruction to the entire Lindquist family on diabetes management for saving his son’s life and enabling him to successfully manage his diabetes from then on. The experience also inspired Daniel’s younger sister to become a NICU nurse.
Phil recognizes the need for excellent medical facilities for children in our community and believes it will require individuals working together to combine their resources to build the new pediatric campus.
“My family benefited from the support others gave to build the current Dallas campus where my family received life-changing care, so I understand the importance of it and the need to grow,” Phil said.
As a founding member of the Alliance, Phil hopes to serve as an advocate to help support Children’s Health in whatever way possible.
Celeste Moya PARTNER
Celeste Moya believes every child deserves access to the best health care possible, and that passion is what drew her to serve as a founding member of the Advisor Alliance. She said she’s excited to be part of an organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of our youngest and most vulnerable community members.
Celeste looks forward to the future of Children’s Health as it expands in Dallas. She believes the innovative design and comprehensive services will set a new standard for pediatric health care, and she is thrilled to be part of the transformative project. Yet, she knows it can’t happen without the support of the community.
“Community support is essential to make this vision a reality, and together, we can ensure that every child has access to the highest quality care, close to home,” Celeste said.
PRESIDENT BFS ADVISORY GROUP, LLC
Debra Brennan Tagg joins the founding members group of the Advisor Alliance with 25 years of volunteer experience at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. She currently serves on the Children’s Health Services of Texas Board of Directors.
Debra credits her parents, also Children’s Health donors, for modeling an example of philanthropy. She said supporting Children’s Health always made them feel happy, humbled and honored when they made a gift or attended an event. Now, she feels the same way.
She anticipates the region’s demand for top-tier pediatric care will continue to grow in the coming years and now is the time to expand our infrastructure. She said the new campus will offer enormous resources, such as medical staff, sophisticated facilities and groundbreaking research, to the families not just in Texas, but in the surrounding states.
“North Texas has tremendous current and expected growth, which means higher demands from more families moving to the area,” Debra said. “We have to recognize and prepare for this now, so we are always ready to meet their needs, especially when the current campus no longer has the capacity to do so.”
Kim B. Young VICE PRESIDENT, SENIOR ESTATE ADMINISTRATOR, ESTATE SETTLEMENT SERVICES NORTHERN TRUST
For more than 42 years, Kim Young has worked first as an attorney, focusing on probate, trusts and estates, and most recently as both a trust officer and an estate administrator. He has seen a lot of different scenarios and worked with people from different backgrounds, so he brings a wealth of experience to the Alliance. Kim also is connected to UT Southwestern’s advisor group, bringing additional knowledge and perspective.
“I want to be a resource for the foundation and for donors, and do whatever I can to advance the mission,” Kim said.
He believes North Texas is at the forefront of advances in medicine and treatment, and medical research is good for the community.
“Medical science is rapidly advancing. The new pediatric campus will be technologically up-to-date and be able to offer expanded treatment options. It’s a wonderful thing,” he said.
Be incredible during this special time of year and give a gift to make life better for children for seasons to come. Together, you help us make kids’ dreams come true.
1. BE INCREDIBLE TODAY: Donate appreciated stock, distribute funds from your DAF or donate directly from your retirement account.
2. BE INCREDIBLE TOMORROW: Add Children’s Medical Center Foundation to your will as a specific amount or percentage or create a charitable annuity or trust.
3. BE INCREDIBLE FOREVER: Establish a named endowment or donate mineral rights to make a gift that keeps on giving in perpetuity.
Visit give.childrens.com/legacy or contact our team at giftplanning@childrens.com for help with starting a personalized plan today.
If you’re interested in joining the Advisor Alliance, visit childrens.com/alliance to learn more.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO MAKE A LEGACY GIFT.
Children’s Health is committed to the fight to end childhood cancer.
Our partner Hyundai Hope On Wheels is committed to the same fight.
To date, the organization has awarded more than $3 million to UT Southwestern physicians at Children’s Health spearheading innovative research initiatives that aim to change the lives of patients at Children’s Health and expand our knowledge on childhood cancer.
“We value our longstanding partnership with Children’s Health as we work together to help kids fight cancer,” said John Guastaferro, Hyundai Hope On Wheels’ Executive Director.
In 2024, Hyundai Hope On Wheels awarded a $400,000 Hyundai Hope Scholar Grant to Andrew Koh, M.D., Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist at Children’s Health and Associate Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who is studying why immune checkpoint therapy —
a treatment that helps the body recognize and attack cancer cells — has largely been ineffective in children and teenagers with solid tumors. Ultimately, Dr. Koh wants to “give patients an opportunity to have a life.”
Immune checkpoint therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment of previously incurable adult cancers. Hyundai Hope On Wheels’ grant funding lays the groundwork for new therapies that can improve immunotherapy treatments for children impacted by childhood cancer.
According to Dr. Koh’s research proposal, a variety of factors could influence the disparities in such treatment responses, including the gut microbiome — the trillions of bacteria residing within the human gastrointestinal tract.
“‘Good guy bugs’ in the gut can help patients fight against cancer,” said Dr. Koh, The Edwin B. Jordan Master Physician in Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation
at Children’s Health. His research seeks to further understand how the efficacy of immune checkpoint therapy is affected by a patient’s gut microbiome.
“There are only a few groups around the world that focus on that, and we’re one of the very few pediatric groups leading this kind of research,” Dr. Koh said.
At Children’s Health, philanthropy supports researchers’ efforts to better understand diseases, chronic conditions and injuries within new areas of research not presently funded by external entities. These discoveries also can lead to the development of new medicines, treatments or approaches to caring for patients.
Each year, there are thousands of active research studies at Children’s Health that impact the lives of patient families. For many of these children, research is their last hope for the treatment of their illnesses. Together, we’re building a brighter future for children.
‘Ricky,
it’
WHEN HIS LEGS HURT TOO MUCH TO RUN, RICKY FOUND A TEAM AT CHILDREN’S HEALTH AS HE TACKLED LEUKEMIA.
Ricky was always determined to run faster than the other kids at football practice and couldn’t wait to try new terrain on his mountain bike. That’s why his mom, Priscilla, started to worry when her son was suddenly the last one running at practice, and walking his bike because he was too tired to ride it.
“One day I came home, and he was crying because he was so tired, saying that his legs hurt. I knew something was wrong,” said Priscilla, who rushed him to the emergency room at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
Ricky soon received an official diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the blood. His care team at the Pauline Allen Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Health helped Priscilla and her family wrap their heads around what Ricky was up against.
He started chemotherapy the next day. That marked the beginning of their longest inpatient stay at the hospital. Ricky eventually transitioned to
weekly visits at Children’s Health and taking chemotherapy pills at home.
“It was this scary time where we didn’t know what to expect, but we really felt like the doctors were giving Ricky the best possible care,” Priscilla said.
They were particularly grateful for the expertise and care from one of their child life specialists, Chloe.
“Chloe has been Ricky’s best friend through everything,” Priscilla said. “Whenever we need anything, we can call her, and she knows the plan. She knows that he loves the I Spy book and LEGOs, and is always there for him saying, ‘Ricky, you can do it, I know you can.’”
And when Christmas rolled around, Priscilla was especially grateful for the Children’s Health donors who provided funds to purchase gifts while Ricky was undergoing treatment.
“The Child Life team surprised us with things that at that time I couldn’t. Even just little things like LEGO sets that give children a chance to play and worry less about their treatment make such a difference,” she said.
READ RICKY’S FULL STORY
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Ricky’s dream: to play football again
“I continue to donate because I see the difference it makes in our kids. I’ve learned that every little bit helps. Your dollars will be put to good use, and we see the return on
these
donations through the lives of our patients.” — Ashleigh
Ashleigh Panelli always knew she would become a nurse one day. As a child, when playing with friends, she made sure to have Band-Aids on hand in case anyone got hurt. When family and friends were sick, she picked up on their emotions and knew how to help.
“It’s been a God-given gift since I was born. Even in school, I never once flinched, and knew I was going straight into nursing — and that’s what I did,” said Ashleigh, a RN in the Pauline Allen Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Health.
Now, she sees patients and families on some of their toughest days and is a familiar face throughout their journey. She often meets children when they’re most ill from cancer treatment, cares for them during isolation after their bone marrow transplant and follows them for several years after. For her, the best part is having a front row seat to watch them get back to being a kid again.
“I don’t love seeing them at their worst, but you see them from their lowest point to where they’re playing and doing all the things that kids love to do,” she said.
Children’s Health’s mission to make life better for children is something Ashleigh can attest to both professionally and personally. In 2021, her daughter Ella suddenly experienced a seizure while at home. Ella, one week away from her 6th birthday, was rushed to Children’s Health by ambulance. While receiving care in the Emergency Room, she had two more seizures and was admitted to the hospital.
After running tests, Ella was diagnosed with febrile seizures— a convulsion in a child that may be caused by a spike in body temperature — and was cleared to go home. One year later, while Ashleigh was driving with both of her daughters, Ella had another seizure that landed her back at Children’s Health. With the help of the Neurology care team, Ella, now 9, recently finished a treatment and hasn’t experienced a seizure since.
Having a loved one in the hospital can be a scary experience, especially when it’s your child. Ashleigh said having Ella in the hands of fellow care team members gave her comfort and peace.
Long before Ella was born and treated at Children’s Health, Ashleigh began giving back to the hospital system through recurring payroll deduction.
Now, Ashleigh is one of the longest-giving employee donors, providing critical and reliable unrestricted gifts that add-up over time. This kind of support is a crucial piece to the ability of Children’s Health to make a difference in the lives of kids and families in our community, fueling innovative treatments and lifesaving research.
“I continue to donate because I see the difference it makes in our kids. I’ve learned that every little bit helps. Your dollars will be put to good use, and we see the return on these donations through the lives of our patients,” Ashleigh said. “This hospital is great, but now our giving as team members is an opportunity to support a new campus that will progress pediatric care in the future.”
Tiny drivers of miniature vehicles with trailers full of toys excitedly waited outside Children’s Medical Center Dallas. The electric cars for kids were loaded with blocks, dolls and stuffed animals for a parade of Children’s Health patients to deliver to fellow patients.
The patients proudly paraded around the festive hospital atrium, filled with red balloons and piles of toys, to the sound of applause and cheering from onlookers. The toy parade concluded with a $100,000 check from Huffines Auto Dealerships and the Huffines family to Children’s Health. The gift — which celebrated the 100th birthday of Huffines Auto Dealerships — will benefit the hospital system’s Indigent Family Assistance Fund, which provides support to families
experiencing financial strain due to unexpected medical journeys and displacement while their child is receiving care.
“Huffines was founded on the principle of supporting our communities and I can’t think of a better way to honor the Huffines legacy than by giving back to North Texas kids,” said Huffines Auto Dealerships President and CEO Ray Huffines.
The generous donation from Huffines signifies the support of one century-old institution to another, Children’s Health — also a North Texas pillar that has provided lifesaving care to children of Huffines’ team members and customers.
Ray and his wife, Ann, personally understand the unique and specialized care Children’s Health
provides to kids that isn’t found at other hospitals. The couple’s niece was treated for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and their granddaughter, Bekah, was treated for a severe peanut allergic reaction.
Ann remembers the day she hurried to meet her granddaughter in the emergency room at Children’s Medical Center Plano, where she was rushed to after going into anaphylactic shock. Bekah needed urgent care, and Children’s Health team members knew how to treat her critical needs.
“There are a lot of hospitals here and a lot of children, but the care Children’s Health provides is unique and specialized,” Ray said.
