Covenant Children's brings leading pediatric cardiovascular surgery resources from Texas Children's Hospital to Lubbock area

HOUSTON - (Feb. 26, 2015) - An exciting new collaboration announced today between Covenant Children's Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital helps ensure children of Lubbock and West Texas now have access to world-class pediatric cardiovascular surgery care.

Ranked No. 2 in the United States in pediatric cardiology and cardiovascular surgery by U.S. News World Report, Texas Children's Heart Center's integrated,multidisciplinary team has combined cutting-edge technology with compassion and a family-centered approach for more than half a century to treat more than 17,000 children with congenital heart defects and perform more than 900 surgeries annually. This new, joint effort will help extend that reach to provide high quality congenital heart surgery to Covenant Children's patients.

"This is truly an historic day for the children and families of Lubbock, West Texas and even the Eastern New Mexico region," said Chris Dougherty, CEO of Covenant Children's. "We are honored and proud to join together with Texas Children's Hospital, the best institution in pediatric cardiac care, because the children of this region deserve the best. We are delighted to work collaboratively with Texas Children's Hospital to build a world-class pediatric cardiac program at Covenant Children's right here in Lubbock."

This relationship builds on Texas Children's existing efforts in West Texas. Among these is a close relationship with Dr. Andrew Robinson of Covenant Children's, a pediatric cardiologist who has been coordinating the care of his patients in need of heart surgery with experts at Texas Children's. Those patients in need of cardiac surgery travel to Houston where their operation is performed by leading pediatric surgical experts and then they return to Lubbock to receive their follow-up care.

"We are excited to combine our knowledge and resources with Covenant Children's and believe they have a critical role to play in the treatment of children with congenital heart diseases," says Dr. Charles D.Fraser Jr., chief of congenital heart surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children's. "Nearly 1 percent of children have a congenital heart disease.While not all will need surgical interventions, for those that do, the option of receiving the best possible care close to home will have a significant impact on the families in the West Texas region," Fraser adds, who is also a professor of surgery, professor of pediatrics and chief of congenital heart surgery at Baylor College of Medicine.

According to Dougherty, features of this relationship will include:

• Texas Children's cardiac surgeons will travel to Lubbock to perform cardiac surgery at Covenant Children's.
• Care of Covenant Children's patients will be fully integrated into the Texas Children's cardiac program, with integrated cath conferences, integrated patient selection and integrated patient management.
• Covenant Children's will follow all of Texas Children's protocols, guidelines and pathways as they relate to cardiac care.
• Covenant Children's and Texas Children's are establishing a Cardiac Center Executive Council to oversee the programmatic development and quality of the Cardiac Center at Covenant Children's.

"Together we will be recruiting a full-time pediatric cardiac surgeon to be based in Lubbock at Covenant Children's and to deliver the integrated care between our institutions," Dougherty said.

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About Texas Children’s Hospital

Texas Children’s Hospital, a not-for-profit health care organization, is committed to creating a healthier future for children and women throughout the global community by leading in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked as the best children’s hospital in Texas, and among the top in the nation, Texas Children’s has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthroughs in pediatric and women’s health. The hospital includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; the Feigin Center for pediatric research; Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston; and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, a second community hospital planned to open in 2017. The organization also created the nation’s first HMO for children, has the largest pediatric primary care network in the country and a global health program that’s channeling care to children and women all over the world. Texas Children’s Hospital is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. For more information, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news by visiting the online newsroom and Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.