Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings July 2017 - 375

PHILANTHROPY NOTES
■ Child life specialists ease concerns of

children whose parents or guardians
are ill
When Carolyn Brown dropped off her
5-year-old son, Jack, they had a special ritual:
"I would pinkie promise him that I would come
back." In the summer of 2016, Carolyn was
diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, and she
knew a pinkie promise wasn't going to be all
the explanation that Jack needed.
Very few adult acute care hospitals serve
the emotional needs of children whose parent
or loved one is experiencing a health crisis-
but Baylor Scott & White Health does. Thanks to
generous donors like the G.R. White Trust, we are
able to offer this service to patients free of charge.
Our child life team is wholly dedicated to serving
children of our adult patients. Across the hospital,
they are trained to help with the psychosocial
issues kids face when their parent or loved one
is seriously ill or injured. Child life specialists help
parents openly and honestly explain a serious
diagnosis to their kids. They then work to develop
coping strategies and help children prepare for
hospital visits, treatments, and changes in mom
or dad's appearance and physical abilities.
Carolyn commented, "When you're trying
to cope and deal with all this, it's very difficult
to understand from a 5-year-old's perspective. To have someone on your team who can
help you walk through this very difficult time
is absolutely invaluable."
At this time, philanthropic support is in place
to sustain salaries for two palliative care child life
specialists at Baylor University Medical Center at
Dallas through June 30, 2018. However, philanthropic funding is needed to continue to fund
these two positions and add a third child life
specialist to the team. This is a vital service to
families and their children. Without philanthropic
support, this program will not exist.
■ Philanthropy-funded programs

you do if you don't get this scholarship?" she
was asked. "I'm going to keep going because it's
in my heart to become a nurse," she answered.
"There will be challenges, but I'm going to get
there." Vivian, a mother of five, received the
scholarship and is well on her way to earning a
bachelor's of nursing degree from The University
of Texas at Arlington.
The ANE scholarship program and a newly
established Center for Nursing Leadership are
two initiatives at Baylor Scott & White Health
aimed at ensuring its 10,000 registered nurses are well equipped for the vital roles they
serve. The success of both programs relies
on the generosity of our donors.
The ANE scholarship program helps ease
the burden of full-time Baylor employees who
are pursuing nursing degrees. With philanthropic support, selected scholars can work
part-time while earning full-time benefits as
they complete their studies. Since the program's inception in 2009, 65 employees have
been selected, and 44 have completed their
degrees. Eleven new ANE scholars, including
Vivian, were selected for 2017.
The Center for Nursing Leadership is part
of the Baylor Scott & White Institute for Nursing
Innovation. This center focuses on all levels of
nursing leadership, with programs uniquely
designed for each level: nurse executives,
nursing managers and supervisors, and bedside nurse leaders.
Thanks to a $1 million gift from Anne and
Harris Clark, the Center for Nursing Leadership
will pilot a 1-year leadership program for all nurse
managers and supervisors at Baylor University
Medical Center at Dallas and Baylor Scott & White
All Saints Medical Center - Fort Worth. Ultimately,
managers and supervisors at all Baylor Scott &
White Health hospitals will complete this training.
For information on how you can support these or
other initiatives at Baylor Scott & White Health -
North Texas, please contact Baylor Health Care
System Foundation at 214.820.3136.

support nurses at Baylor
When Vivian Sullivan, a unit secretary and
patient care technician at Baylor T. Boone Pickens
Cancer Hospital, applied for an Advancing
Nursing Excellence (ANE) scholarship, she had
to go through an interview process. "What will

Physicians Fund
Baylor Scott & White is dedicated to excellence in patient care today and in the future,

performed using Corindus Vascular Robotics
CorPath System-the first and only Food
and Drug Administration-cleared medical
device to bring robotic-assisted precision to

coronary angioplasty procedures. "Combining
the enhanced visualization of the x-ray images
with robotic precision will transform the way
we perform angioplasty procedures and should

July 2017

■ Fred Slicker Training Texas

Baylor Scott & White Health news

with a special fund to help finance our graduate
medical education (GME) program to train the
physicians of tomorrow. Earlier this year, a new
fund was established in memory of the father
of a 2016 GME graduate, Kipp Slicker, DO, who
completed residencies at Baylor Scott & White
in internal medicine, cardiology, and interventional cardiology. During the last few months of
his residency in internal medicine, Dr. Slicker's
father, Fred, was diagnosed with, and later died
from, multiple myeloma. In January, the GME
committee at Baylor Scott & White established
the Fred Slicker Training Texas Physicians Fund
to honor Dr. Slicker's father and start building
a philanthropic stream to help fund the GME
program.
Fred Slicker had received radiation treatment in Tulsa but needed a stem cell transplant, which was not available in Oklahoma.
Dr. Slicker knew that his mentor, Christian
Cable, MD, an oncologist at Baylor Scott
& White, performed autologous stem cell
transplants to treat myeloma. Soon his father
journeyed to Temple to become Dr. Cable's
patient. Dr. Slicker says the development altered his outlook on the education he was
receiving. "It becomes even more real to
you when your mentor is taking care of your
family," he said.
Mr. Slicker received a stem cell transplant,
and his condition improved. He lived another
4 years, surpassing his original prognosis of
2 years at most, and was able to see his son
graduate in June 2016 before finally succumbing to the disease in October. "I know he lived
longer and had a better quality of life because
Dr. Cable and his team were taking care of
him," Dr. Slicker said. That team included residents and fellows Dr. Slicker knew from the
GME program.
Dr. Slicker, who now practices cardiology
at the Harbin Clinic in Rome, Georgia, was
one of the first donors to the fund named in
his father's memory. "I just want something to
keep the GME program at Baylor Scott & White
going on in perpetuity," he said. To learn how
you can support the future of GME at Baylor
Scott & White - Central Texas, visit giving.
sw.org.
ultimately improve patient care," said Srinivas
Potluri, MD, medical director of the cardiac
catheterization laboratory at The Heart Hospital
Baylor Plano.
375

http://giving.sw.org http://giving.sw.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings July 2017