| Children’s Hospital of Austin: From 1988 to the Present and Future |
| A look back onto the early 1980's-Austin’s Pediatric Physicians unite. In the early 1980s, pediatric physicians in Central Texas shared a special dream. They wanted to provide Central Texas families with a new hospital that consolidated pediatric services in one place, making treatment and care more comprehensive and efficient. At the time, the community’s resources were scattered between the four major hospitals in the city. The physicians’ goal was to build a regional referral center that would provide first class care for both routine needs and for the most complex and difficult childhood medical problems. They also wanted a hospital that focused on the needs of the whole child – a place where social, developmental and medical needs were met. Pediatric physicians were able to provide general health care for the children in Central Texas, but when children required specialty care for certain problems including congenital heart defects, bone marrow transplants and complex renal problems, they were required to travel to larger medical centers in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio for care. The physicians knew this was not the ideal situation for parents and sick children - to leave jobs, schoolwork and other family members – and deal with the strain of illness far away from their homes and support systems. The pediatricians worked with the City of Austin to build a facility on the grounds of the city-owned Brackenridge Hospital. A Children’s Hospital Steering Committee was established to work with Brackenridge Hospital and city of Austin officials in the planning of the hospital. They turned to colleagues in pediatric programs across the nation for guidance and support. Plans included a three-level, 75,000 square foot hospital that would cost $14.8 million, which included $12.3 million for construction and $2.5 million for basic equipment and furnishings. In 1984, funding for the new “Children’s Hospital of Austin” was approved by Austin voters. In the summer of 1985, the Children’s Hospital Steering Committee identified several areas of concern in the relationship between Brackenridge Hospital and Children’s Hospital and surveyed the members of the Austin pediatric physician community. The results of the survey proved that the pediatric community shared a unique unity of purpose – almost unanimously they ranked “quality of pediatric care in the community” as their most important priority. The entire pediatric physician community came together – general pediatricians, neonatologists, and pediatric ophthalmologists, otolaryngologists, surgeons, orthopedists and neurosurgeons – and their involvement to realize their dream of building a new children’s hospital was immediate, enthusiastic and fruitful. In the summer of 1986, construction began on the site of the old, red brick Brackenridge Hospital and was scheduled to be completed within 18 months. The Brackenridge Foundation began raising money for the hospital, even before it opened, through the annual Children’s Miracle Network Telethon and other fundraising events. The response and support from the community was overwhelming – it was obvious that Central Texans cared deeply about the future of their children. |
Children’s Hospital of Austin Opens Its Doors
On Valentine’s Day in 1988, this special gift to Central Texas families became a reality when the new Children’s Hospital of
Austin opened its doors to the public. It was the first and only hospital in Central Texas, with state-of-the-art pediatric
services consolidated in one place, dedicated to serving sick and injured children.
In 1995, the City of Austin and the Seton Healthcare Network joined forces to ensure that unique community medical
services, including the trauma center and care for children and the indigent, remained available to all citizens of Austin. It
made perfect sense for the region’s two not-for-profit, mission driven organizations to collaborate.
Children’s Hospital of Austin has thrived under Seton’s stewardship. “Seton was the pivotal point in the historical
development of Children’s Hospital,” says Dr. Karen Teel, co-chair of the steering committee for the development of the
hospital. “With Seton taking over the leasing and management of the hospital, we had the expertise and commitment of a
professional hospital management team on our side.”
Central Texas Pediatric Physicians Alliance is Formed
In February 1995, the pediatric physician community established the Central Texas Pediatric Physicians Alliance (CTPPA),
a civic and professional organization of pediatricians and pediatric sub-specialists who joined together to provide an
effective and proactive impact on issues of common interest. Today the group is more than 200 physician members strong,
and its membership includes almost the entire local community of pediatric physicians and pediatric medical and surgical
subspecialists in Central Texas.
CTPPA works to:
• Enhance the delivery and quality of health care for Central Texas children
• Strengthen Children’s Hospital of Austin
• Support the practice of pediatric medicine and surgery
• Help provide access to comprehensive health care for Central Texas children
“We saw a need for everyone involved in the care of children to be on the same page,” said Dr. Teel, who served as a co-
founder and then as president of CTPPA from 1995-99. “We have a remarkably united and cohesive pediatric community.
Everyone wants to do the right thing for all of the children in Central Texas.”
Children’s Hospital Foundation of Austin is Formed
Children’s Hospital Foundation of Austin was incorporated in January 1996 to support Children’s Hospital of Austin’s many
projects and outreach initiatives through a full spectrum of development activities including:
• grants
• private donations
• local and national corporate support
• special events
• Children’s Miracle Network
• support groups like the Circle of Friends and Children’s Council
• volunteering
Children’s Hospital Foundation launched its “Campaign for Children” in 1996 to assist in the funding of an expansion of
Children’s Hospital of Austin and to establish a permanent endowment critical to the future success of the hospital.
Construction plans included the renovation and expansion on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU); expansion of the
Children’s Surgery Center; a new imaging center; a three-story Children’s Plaza; and a 175-space parking garage. The
Central Texas community celebrated the newly expanded Children’s Hospital of Austin at its grand opening celebration in
the fall of 2001.
What Children’s Hospital of Austin Has to Offer
Children’s Hospital of Austin has evolved into an environment filled with tremendous expertise, ready to serve the basic and
most complex needs of families. It is a place where compassion and healing are surrounded by laughter and joy.
“It’s always been important to the pediatric physicians to care for all kids in Central Texas and to see to it that no child is left
behind,” said Dr. Teel. “What has changed since the opening of Children’s is that now we can do what most large medical
centers can do. There are very few families that we have to send out of town for care.”
Dr. Teel explains that the pediatric physicians are truly committed to offer the best medical care to the community and have
been able to do so by attracting very high quality subspecialists to the hospital.
“The level of participation of care is pretty remarkable for a community this size,” says Dr. Teel. “People are astonished at
the number of pediatric subspecialists in Central Texas, but it’s not just the number of physicians. We have been able to
attract very high-quality subspecialists whose breadth of specialty and expertise are really quite unique.”
Dr. Robert Schlechter was a member of the Children’s Hospital steering committee back in the 80s and says it has been
exciting to watch the Austin pediatric community grow to a level of sophistication that would rival any children’s hospital in
the country. “Austin is a very unique community in that we have high levels of sophistication and a large population base,
but no medical school. Nonetheless we are able to attract young people here because they see what the healthcare
community has to offer. We’ve been able to attract a full array of specialists who are the envy of medical schools across
the country.”
Since 1983 the Austin Pediatric Education Program has attracted hundreds of pediatric residents to train under the faculty
and associated teaching staff at Children’s. Currently there are 32 pediatric residents in training.
“Having a resident training program benefits our patients at Children’s Hospital of Austin because we have doctors in the
hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Dr. George Edwards, program director for the Austin Pediatric
Education Program. “Our faculty is given the opportunity to teach young residents. The satisfaction and excitement that
comes with teaching is a real asset and has helped us recruit talented physicians to our institution. We’re really proud of
the teaching staff that has grown here at Children’s, and with the way our community has evolved and grown, we certainly
anticipate further growth beyond that as we move forward with the new regional medical center.”
The success of Children’s Hospital of Austin goes much further than bricks and mortar and quality physicians – its ancillary
staff includes highly trained nurses, allied healthcare professionals and hospital staff who are dedicated to provide
superlative pediatric health care for all children in the community.
In 2002, The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) awarded Magnet designation to Children’s Hospital of Austin,
making it one of only two children’s hospitals nationally to earn this prestigious award. The coveted Magnet Award is the
highest level of recognition that can be awarded to nursing services in healthcare organizations. Earning Magnet
designation is a tremendous compliment to the nursing staff and will help attract and retain the highest skilled healthcare
professionals to make Children’s a premiere environment for nursing practice.
Parents and Kids Today
“Our goal at Children’s Hospital of Austin is to provide care for the whole child,” says Dr. Maie Killian, current president of
the physician alliance, which was recently renamed the Pediatric Physicians Alliance of Central Texas (PPACT). “We work
to keep your children out of the hospital. Prevention is the cornerstone of pediatric medicine in general, and it starts when
babies are born. Kids must appreciate that they go to the doctor not only when they’re sick, but also when they’re well.”
“Kids spend a lot of time in front of screens – television, computer and video game screens – and they’re not in good
physical shape,” she says. “This can lead to medical problems. I try to stress that kids need to get enough exercise, put
the right foods into their bodies and get enough sleep. If they start as a child, it becomes a lifelong habit - not something
that they wake up and realize that they’d better start when they’re age 45.”
“Today there’s more pressure on parents to provide for their families,” she continues. “When we were growing up, kids did
activities because they wanted to do them, not because it was going to get them into college.”
The Future of Pediatric Health Care in Austin – Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas
Through the years, Children’s has grown into a fully-staffed children’s hospital. But even as the Campaign for Children
came to a close in 2001, Children’s Hospital physicians and administrators knew that the hospital was still too small to
accommodate the dramatically growing number of young families in Central Texas. Based on recent projections, the
population of Central Texas is expected to more than double over the next 20 to 30 years while demand for children’s
hospital services is growing at an even faster rate. Current demands for services have clearly exceeded its capacity.
In 2003, plans were announced to build a new upgraded and expanded children’s regional medical center to open in
2007. The Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas will be the cornerstone piece of a multi-faceted campus, filled with
tremendous expertise and ready to provide world-class pediatric medical care to those in need, close to home. This center
will impact the life of virtually every child in Central Texas and the future of our entire community.
The medical center will be the only not-for-profit medical facility dedicated to pediatric care and available to all
children in a 46-county region, regardless of their family’s ability to pay.
The project cost of $175 million was approved by Seton’s national system, Ascension Health, and will include
philanthropic support from the community. The Children’s Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas has recently been
established as the fundraising arm for the new medical center.
The medical center will be the cornerstone piece of the former Mueller Airport site in Austin and will serve 46
counties in Central Texas.
The new facility will be three times larger than the current Children’s Hospital and will include 164 beds, 13 operating
suites and 2 procedure rooms, along with patient prep, recovery, imaging and outpatient capacity.
The structure will be sized for future growth with an associated medical office building and garage to enhance the
recruitment of more pediatric subspecialists to provide more comprehensive services for children in the Austin community.
Families will no longer be forced to travel to other large cities to obtain specialty healthcare services.
Children’s Hospital of Austin celebrates its sixteenth birthday by preparing for the groundbreaking of the new “Children’s
Medical Center of Central Texas” in June. The pediatric community looks forward to continuing its journey of providing the
best quality health care possible to Central Texas children. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to be involved with the Children’s
Medical Center of Central Texas from the ground up,” says Dr. Erik Pronske, chief of staff at Children’s. “The hospital is
being designed and built to incorporate new technologies and will be easier for physicians and nurses to communicate.
The entire building will be wireless and electronic records will replace paper documentation. The current operating rooms
at Children’s are too small to handle many of these new technologies, so we’re designing larger, more spacious operating
rooms to accommodate them.”
“The new hospital is important to the entire Central Texas community,” said Dr. Killian. “It will be a first-class medical facility
that will address everything about kids. We are building the core of Children’s on the 31 acres, but it’s going to be so much
bigger than that. We will continue to attract the best specialists in the country to address every aspect of the growing child,
so when parents have a concern, they will look to Children’s for the answer.”
For more information about the new Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, visit the Children’s Hospital
of Austin Web site at www.childrenshospital.com.
On Valentine’s Day in 1988, this special gift to Central Texas families became a reality when the new Children’s Hospital of
Austin opened its doors to the public. It was the first and only hospital in Central Texas, with state-of-the-art pediatric
services consolidated in one place, dedicated to serving sick and injured children.
In 1995, the City of Austin and the Seton Healthcare Network joined forces to ensure that unique community medical
services, including the trauma center and care for children and the indigent, remained available to all citizens of Austin. It
made perfect sense for the region’s two not-for-profit, mission driven organizations to collaborate.
Children’s Hospital of Austin has thrived under Seton’s stewardship. “Seton was the pivotal point in the historical
development of Children’s Hospital,” says Dr. Karen Teel, co-chair of the steering committee for the development of the
hospital. “With Seton taking over the leasing and management of the hospital, we had the expertise and commitment of a
professional hospital management team on our side.”
Central Texas Pediatric Physicians Alliance is Formed
In February 1995, the pediatric physician community established the Central Texas Pediatric Physicians Alliance (CTPPA),
a civic and professional organization of pediatricians and pediatric sub-specialists who joined together to provide an
effective and proactive impact on issues of common interest. Today the group is more than 200 physician members strong,
and its membership includes almost the entire local community of pediatric physicians and pediatric medical and surgical
subspecialists in Central Texas.
CTPPA works to:
• Enhance the delivery and quality of health care for Central Texas children
• Strengthen Children’s Hospital of Austin
• Support the practice of pediatric medicine and surgery
• Help provide access to comprehensive health care for Central Texas children
“We saw a need for everyone involved in the care of children to be on the same page,” said Dr. Teel, who served as a co-
founder and then as president of CTPPA from 1995-99. “We have a remarkably united and cohesive pediatric community.
Everyone wants to do the right thing for all of the children in Central Texas.”
Children’s Hospital Foundation of Austin is Formed
Children’s Hospital Foundation of Austin was incorporated in January 1996 to support Children’s Hospital of Austin’s many
projects and outreach initiatives through a full spectrum of development activities including:
• grants
• private donations
• local and national corporate support
• special events
• Children’s Miracle Network
• support groups like the Circle of Friends and Children’s Council
• volunteering
Children’s Hospital Foundation launched its “Campaign for Children” in 1996 to assist in the funding of an expansion of
Children’s Hospital of Austin and to establish a permanent endowment critical to the future success of the hospital.
Construction plans included the renovation and expansion on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU); expansion of the
Children’s Surgery Center; a new imaging center; a three-story Children’s Plaza; and a 175-space parking garage. The
Central Texas community celebrated the newly expanded Children’s Hospital of Austin at its grand opening celebration in
the fall of 2001.
What Children’s Hospital of Austin Has to Offer
Children’s Hospital of Austin has evolved into an environment filled with tremendous expertise, ready to serve the basic and
most complex needs of families. It is a place where compassion and healing are surrounded by laughter and joy.
“It’s always been important to the pediatric physicians to care for all kids in Central Texas and to see to it that no child is left
behind,” said Dr. Teel. “What has changed since the opening of Children’s is that now we can do what most large medical
centers can do. There are very few families that we have to send out of town for care.”
Dr. Teel explains that the pediatric physicians are truly committed to offer the best medical care to the community and have
been able to do so by attracting very high quality subspecialists to the hospital.
“The level of participation of care is pretty remarkable for a community this size,” says Dr. Teel. “People are astonished at
the number of pediatric subspecialists in Central Texas, but it’s not just the number of physicians. We have been able to
attract very high-quality subspecialists whose breadth of specialty and expertise are really quite unique.”
Dr. Robert Schlechter was a member of the Children’s Hospital steering committee back in the 80s and says it has been
exciting to watch the Austin pediatric community grow to a level of sophistication that would rival any children’s hospital in
the country. “Austin is a very unique community in that we have high levels of sophistication and a large population base,
but no medical school. Nonetheless we are able to attract young people here because they see what the healthcare
community has to offer. We’ve been able to attract a full array of specialists who are the envy of medical schools across
the country.”
Since 1983 the Austin Pediatric Education Program has attracted hundreds of pediatric residents to train under the faculty
and associated teaching staff at Children’s. Currently there are 32 pediatric residents in training.
“Having a resident training program benefits our patients at Children’s Hospital of Austin because we have doctors in the
hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Dr. George Edwards, program director for the Austin Pediatric
Education Program. “Our faculty is given the opportunity to teach young residents. The satisfaction and excitement that
comes with teaching is a real asset and has helped us recruit talented physicians to our institution. We’re really proud of
the teaching staff that has grown here at Children’s, and with the way our community has evolved and grown, we certainly
anticipate further growth beyond that as we move forward with the new regional medical center.”
The success of Children’s Hospital of Austin goes much further than bricks and mortar and quality physicians – its ancillary
staff includes highly trained nurses, allied healthcare professionals and hospital staff who are dedicated to provide
superlative pediatric health care for all children in the community.
In 2002, The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) awarded Magnet designation to Children’s Hospital of Austin,
making it one of only two children’s hospitals nationally to earn this prestigious award. The coveted Magnet Award is the
highest level of recognition that can be awarded to nursing services in healthcare organizations. Earning Magnet
designation is a tremendous compliment to the nursing staff and will help attract and retain the highest skilled healthcare
professionals to make Children’s a premiere environment for nursing practice.
Parents and Kids Today
“Our goal at Children’s Hospital of Austin is to provide care for the whole child,” says Dr. Maie Killian, current president of
the physician alliance, which was recently renamed the Pediatric Physicians Alliance of Central Texas (PPACT). “We work
to keep your children out of the hospital. Prevention is the cornerstone of pediatric medicine in general, and it starts when
babies are born. Kids must appreciate that they go to the doctor not only when they’re sick, but also when they’re well.”
“Kids spend a lot of time in front of screens – television, computer and video game screens – and they’re not in good
physical shape,” she says. “This can lead to medical problems. I try to stress that kids need to get enough exercise, put
the right foods into their bodies and get enough sleep. If they start as a child, it becomes a lifelong habit - not something
that they wake up and realize that they’d better start when they’re age 45.”
“Today there’s more pressure on parents to provide for their families,” she continues. “When we were growing up, kids did
activities because they wanted to do them, not because it was going to get them into college.”
The Future of Pediatric Health Care in Austin – Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas
Through the years, Children’s has grown into a fully-staffed children’s hospital. But even as the Campaign for Children
came to a close in 2001, Children’s Hospital physicians and administrators knew that the hospital was still too small to
accommodate the dramatically growing number of young families in Central Texas. Based on recent projections, the
population of Central Texas is expected to more than double over the next 20 to 30 years while demand for children’s
hospital services is growing at an even faster rate. Current demands for services have clearly exceeded its capacity.
In 2003, plans were announced to build a new upgraded and expanded children’s regional medical center to open in
2007. The Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas will be the cornerstone piece of a multi-faceted campus, filled with
tremendous expertise and ready to provide world-class pediatric medical care to those in need, close to home. This center
will impact the life of virtually every child in Central Texas and the future of our entire community.
The medical center will be the only not-for-profit medical facility dedicated to pediatric care and available to all
children in a 46-county region, regardless of their family’s ability to pay.
The project cost of $175 million was approved by Seton’s national system, Ascension Health, and will include
philanthropic support from the community. The Children’s Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas has recently been
established as the fundraising arm for the new medical center.
The medical center will be the cornerstone piece of the former Mueller Airport site in Austin and will serve 46
counties in Central Texas.
The new facility will be three times larger than the current Children’s Hospital and will include 164 beds, 13 operating
suites and 2 procedure rooms, along with patient prep, recovery, imaging and outpatient capacity.
The structure will be sized for future growth with an associated medical office building and garage to enhance the
recruitment of more pediatric subspecialists to provide more comprehensive services for children in the Austin community.
Families will no longer be forced to travel to other large cities to obtain specialty healthcare services.
Children’s Hospital of Austin celebrates its sixteenth birthday by preparing for the groundbreaking of the new “Children’s
Medical Center of Central Texas” in June. The pediatric community looks forward to continuing its journey of providing the
best quality health care possible to Central Texas children. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to be involved with the Children’s
Medical Center of Central Texas from the ground up,” says Dr. Erik Pronske, chief of staff at Children’s. “The hospital is
being designed and built to incorporate new technologies and will be easier for physicians and nurses to communicate.
The entire building will be wireless and electronic records will replace paper documentation. The current operating rooms
at Children’s are too small to handle many of these new technologies, so we’re designing larger, more spacious operating
rooms to accommodate them.”
“The new hospital is important to the entire Central Texas community,” said Dr. Killian. “It will be a first-class medical facility
that will address everything about kids. We are building the core of Children’s on the 31 acres, but it’s going to be so much
bigger than that. We will continue to attract the best specialists in the country to address every aspect of the growing child,
so when parents have a concern, they will look to Children’s for the answer.”
For more information about the new Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, visit the Children’s Hospital
of Austin Web site at www.childrenshospital.com.
| “Building this kind of dream requires much more than just hospital administrators and doctors – it requires the enthusiasm, energy and commitment of our entire community.” Karen W. Teel, M.D. speaking at the Grand Opening of Children’s Hospital of Austin in February 1988 |
| Pediatric Physician Alliance of Central Texas |