Firsts For Kids in South Texas

"Improve the health of adults and you give them back their health...
Improve the health of children and you give them their life."

Driscoll Children's Hospital is a tertiary care regional referral center offering complex and comprehensive medical and surgical care for children. The hospital's medical staff is comprised of pediatric specialists in more than 32 medical and 13 surgical specialties. Working with the Medical Staff is more than 1,800 employees including more than 450 nurses.

Every year approximately 6,500 children are admitted for inpatient care, more than 3,500 patients for day surgery, and 132,000 children for outpatient care. Driscoll was the first hospital in South Texas to provide emergency services exclusively for children and today we provide emergency care to approximately 40,000 children a year. Driscoll was also the first hospital in south Texas to perform an organ transplant.

All of Driscoll's patient care units offer high quality care for the treatment of newborns, infants, and children with life threatening illnesses and injuries.

Below is a list of the Firsts Driscoll Children's Hospital has offered children in South Texas:

Kidney Transplant Services are now available in Corpus Christi!

Dr. Stephen Almond, Pediatric Transplant Surgeon With the addition of Dr. Stephen Almond, Pediatric Transplant Surgeon, and our on-site hemodialysis program, Driscoll Children's Hospital is now able to perform pediatric transplants! Prior to our new service, transplants had to be performed in large cities such as Houston or Dallas. Thanks to Driscoll’s new service, children can now remain closer to home before, during, and after their transplants.

Driscoll Children's Hospital has cared for more than 20,000 babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Today, Driscoll's comprehensive team of pediatric professionals such as neonatologists, pediatric nurses, pediatric respiratory therapists, and pediatric dietitians continue to provide this legacy of caring and compassion. In addition, Driscoll becomes the First in South Texas to offer Neonatologists in the hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide the highest quality care for our young, fragile, and very special patients.

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Pediatric Radiology Services Now Available in the Rio Grande Valley

Another first for children in the Rio Grande Valley...Driscoll Children's Hospital now provides pediatric radiology services at our McAllen Center with the addition of a full-time pediatric trained Radiographer.

This means that in most cases films can now be read by a Pediatric Radiologist the same day, thereby greatly enhancing the pediatic level of care in the Rio Grande Valley. Radiology Monitors And through the use of the latest technology in digital imaging, the ordering physician can view images in their office over the web. This is one more example of Driscoll Children's Hospital's dedication to the children and families of South Texas.

For more information on Radiological services please call (956) 668-7660.

Driscoll Children's Hospital is first to offer Midface Distraction procedure for children in South Texas

Crouzon's syndrome is a skull deformity that can now be corrected through a procedure called Midface Distraction. This procedure focuses on the correction of deformities of the bones of the skull and face. The treatment lasts at least two weeks in which screws have to be turned every day to advance facial structure. The end result is a more normal appearance for Driscoll's pediatric patients. Today, Midface Distraction is being undertaken by highly experienced medical professionals who are profoundly changing and enhancing the lives of our patients and their families.

First to offer Intracardiac EchoCardiography (ICE)

Driscoll Children's Hospital was the first in South Texas to offer a non-surgical closure of Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) in the hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory. Now, we are the first to offer Intracardiac EchoCardiography (ICE) using a AcuNav ultrasound disposable catheter in conjunction with thte non-surgical closure of the ASD. The ICE Procedure uses an intracardia ultrasound catheter inserted via a femoral vein sheath, and the 'echo' images are obtained from insided the right side of the heart chamber (right atrium).

The Intracardiac EchoCardiography (ICE) procedure eliminates the need for a transesophageal echocardiogram, which also eliminates the need for the patient to undergo general anesthesia. Additionally, only one cardiologist is needed for the procedure now instead of two.

For more information on this procedure or other services offered through the Cath Lab, please call (361) 694-5247.

NICU 24/7 Visitation

As Driscoll Children's Hospital cares for hundreds of South Texas’ tiniest and most fragile patients, we recognize the importance of family interaction and bonding for developing newborn babies as well as the need to care for the entire family. With family centered care at the heart of our treatment plan, our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (N.I.C.U.) has implemented open visitation. Parents, siblings, and grandparents are able to visit and bond with their baby just about any time they would like. Friends and other relatives are also able to visit. In addition, Driscoll’s team of highly-skilled Neonatologists encourages parents to attend morning and evening rounds, helping them become a more active and integral member of their child’s healthcare team.

Non-surgical closure of Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)

Driscoll Children's Hospital was the first in South Texas to offer a non-surgical closure of Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization laboratory. Now, we are the first to offer Intracardaic EchoCardiography (ICE) using a AcuNav ultrasound disposable catheter in conjunction with the non-surgical closure of the ASD. The ICE Procedure uses an intracardiac ultrasound catheter inserted via a femoral vein sheath, and the “echo” images are obtained from inside the right side of the heart chamber (right atrium).

This new procedure eliminates the need for a transesophageal echocardiogram, which also eliminates the need for the patient to undergo general anesthesia. Additionally, only one cardiologist is needed for the procedure now instead of two.

For more information on this procedure or other services offered through Driscoll’s Cath Lab, please call (361) 694-5247.

NICU 24/7 Staffing

Since opening in 1953, Driscoll Children's Hospital has cared for more than 20,000 babies in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Today, Driscoll’s comprehensive team of pediatric professionals such as neonatologists, pediatric nurses, pediatric respiratory therapists, and pediatric dietitians continue to provide this legacy of caring and compassion. In addition, Driscoll now has Neonatologists in the hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide the highest quality care for these young, fragile, and very special patients.

For more information, please call 361-694-5000 or 1-800-DCH-LOVE.

RGV Surgery

After his extensive training at the University of Michigan Medical School, Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez has returned as the first Pediatric Surgeon in the Rio Grande Valley. Living near McAllen gives Dr. Hernandez the ability to have the first full-time dedicated practice of pediatric surgery for the growing communities of South Texas. The quality you expect from Driscoll Children’s Hospital and the skills of Dr. Hernandez are now closer to home.

Fetal Echocardiogram

Fetal echocardiogram is a test that can detect congenital heart disease in an unborn child. It uses ultrasound waves to examine the heart of the fetus and detect heart abnormalities, revealing important information such as cardiac structural abnormalities, heart size, pumping strength, valve problems, and Dysrhythmia. It can also be used to detect fluid around the fetal heart, blood clots or masses inside the heart and abnormal holes between heart chambers.

The Fetal echocardiogram is a valuable diagnostic tool because it provides both parents and physicians with vital information early in the pregnancy. Therefore it allows them to:

Help plan care throughout the pregnancy and establish a treatment plan after birth.
Prepare parents for important decisions they may have to make.
Plan for the baby to be delivered in a hospital with the appropriate specialists available.

This is one more service from Driscoll Children’s Heart Center dedicated to improving the prenatal recognition of cardiac anomalies.

Renal Transplants

With the only pediatric transplant surgeon and the only UNOS approved pediatric renal transplant program in South Texas, Driscoll Children’s Hospital is making medical history! In four weeks, we’ve performed four kidney transplants, filling a huge unmet need for the children of South Texas. Prior to Driscoll’s Pediatric Transplant Center opening, children from the Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Victoria had to travel to Houston or San Antonio, but now expert care is close to home, with a huge team of pediatric specialists caring for each child – some we’ve known since the day they were born. We’ve cared for the children of South Texas since 1953, and now, thanks to Driscoll Children’s Hospital, more children have a new kidneys and a new lease on life!