HOUSTON – (Mar. 22, 2010) – Texas Children’s Hospital announced the formation of the West Campus Advisory Council, a volunteer advisory council made up of civic and business leaders from the communities that will be served by the new West Campus, Texas Children’s first community hospital, currently under construction at I-10 and Barker Cypress.

The inaugural members of the advisory council include Eva Bisso, executive board member, Pin Oak Charity Horse Show; Les T. Csorba, III, senior partner, Heidrick & Struggles, Inc.; Charles H. Herder, III, co-chairman and principal, Colliers International; David Hightower, executive vice president and chief development officer, Wolff Companies; Ann F. Hodge, president and chief executive officer, Katy Area Chamber of Commerce; John. E. Lowe, assistant to the chief executive officer, ConocoPhillips; Katy community leader Nancy Y. McDermott; Charles Moser, publisher emeritus of the Brenham Banner-Press; and Marsherria Wilson, president of Paradise Funeral Home & Cemeteries and senior vice president of Wilson Financial Group, Inc.

The nine-member council will provide West Campus leadership with insights and recommendations on hospital programs and patient experiences as well as share their perspectives on developments in the communities West Campus serves, which includes the rapidly growing West Houston area from Sugar Land to Bryan-College Station. The council will also help the hospital identify and develop mutually supportive relationships and partnerships with community businesses and organizations.

“We are delighted these extraordinary community leaders have agreed to join us in ensuring that the West Campus is meeting the needs of the communities it serves,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, vice president of Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. “Advisory council members bring with them a wealth of experience and perspectives and we look forward to the vital role they will play in the growth and development of West Campus.”

The new advisory council recently assembled for its first meeting, a working luncheon and tour of the West Campus community hospital construction site. The West Campus Advisory Council will meet two times a year and report to the Board of Trustees of Texas Children’s Hospital on an annual basis. Members will contribute their time and expertise over a three-year term, with no term limits.

Designed, equipped and staffed exclusively to treat children, West Campus will provide the rapidly growing West Houston area with expanded access to the same unsurpassed standard of care that families have come to expect from Texas Children’s Hospital. The hospital has been designed to incorporate the best practices in pediatric treatment environments and to provide the special accommodations that families need in a children’s medical facility.

The West Campus ambulatory services are scheduled to open in late 2010 in a 220,809-square-foot outpatient clinic The facility will offer a comprehensive array of pediatric specialty services including, but not limited to, audiology, cardiology, endocrine/diabetes, gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, neurology, occupational therapy, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, pediatric surgery, physical therapy, pulmonary medicine, speech therapy services and urology.

Inpatient services will be available in spring 2011 in a 294,198-square-foot inpatient facility with a pediatric emergency room, surgical suites, 48 intermediate and acute-care patient beds, advanced imaging services including MRI and CT scans, and a neurophysiology sleep laboratory.

For more information, visit www.westcampus.texaschildrens.org.

About Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital is committed to a community of healthy children by providing the finest pediatric patient care, education and research. Renowned worldwide for its expertise and breakthrough developments in clinical care and research, Texas Children’s is ranked in the top ten best children’s hospitals by U. S. News & World Report. Texas Children’s also operates the nation’s largest primary pediatric care network, with more than 40 offices throughout the greater Houston community. Texas Children’s has embarked on a $1.5 billion expansion, Vision 2010, which includes a comprehensive neurological research institute, the formation of a maternity center, and the development of the new West Campus, Texas Children’s first pediatric hospital in a suburban setting. For more information on Texas Children's Hospital, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news from Texas Children’s Hospital by visiting the online newsroom and on Twitter at twitter.com/tch_news.