October is National Children’s Health Month, and leadership at the Baptist Health System have been spending this year celebrating the 25th anniversary of Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central Baptist Hospital in Stone Oak.

BHS leaders, officials and staff from the far north San Antonio hospital and community members gathered Sept. 8 for an anniversary observance.

Representatives of the San Antonio-based BHS said when Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central opened in 1997, the Stone Oak neighborhood had few businesses or homes and no traffic lights at major area intersections.

Now, the BHS said, more than 45,000 people live in the Stone Oak neighborhood, and Baptist Children’s Hospital offers a variety of services to aid children from newborn to 17 years.

Those services include a kids-only emergency department and a team of specially trained Child Life specialists to help patients to overcome their anxiety, stress and trauma to promote healing.

Bill Waechter, CEO of Baptist Children’s Hospital and North Central Baptist Hospital, said he knows the importance of specialized children’s medical, transport, trauma and surgical services that BCHNC offers the Stone Oak area, especially in a pandemic.

Waechter said his oldest child was once treated at the hospital many years ago.

“Over the last few years, as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted San Antonio, our Baptist Children’s Hospital excelled in caring for some of the community’s sickest patients by creating COVID Units and adding patient beds as needed. Staff continue working to save lives,” Waechter said in a statement.

Dr. Thomas Gowan, medical director of pediatrics and pediatric emergency room at BCHNC, said the Stone Oak hospital provides a multidisciplinary approach to care with a family-centered purpose.

“Our physicians and nurses are experienced in high levels of care in a multitude of medical specialties, and we look forward to growing these areas to meet the needs of our community,” Gowan said in a statement.

Gowan agreed with Waechter that the children’s hospital accessibility in a growing community, particularly during the pandemic, has been critical. Gowan said the hospital stayed open around the clock during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“It was a struggle; it was hard work, but we kept everything open as if nothing had happened and continued very smoothly,” he said.

According to Gowan, BCHNC has expanded speciality services over the years, including hiring three pediatric gastroenterologists.

“We’ve added what the community asked us to add,” he said, adding the closeness of these and other specialists encourages area young families to seek care for their children closer to home instead of traveling to get specialty care.

BCHNC leaders were joined by community members in another 25th anniversary event for the Stone Oak children’s hospital Aug. 18.

That is when Silas Barnett, a Johnson High School freshman with Down syndrome and autism, and his mother Stephanie Barnett were invited to help mark the anniversary.

According to a news release, Silas Barnett is a frequent patient at Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central because of his Down syndrome-related health issues.

Stephanie Barnett said she and her family expressed gratitude to doctors and nurses at BCHNC for their help and compassion.

“Not only does Baptist Children’s Hospital have the high level specialized medical care my son needs, the doctors and nurses also know exactly how to approach Silas. They have the utmost respect and listen to me as a parent and they honor Silas’ special needs,” Barnett said in a statement.

According to BHS, Silas Barnett was adopted from the Texas foster system in 2008 by his parents, Stephanie and David Barnett, when he was a newborn.

Silas is now a brother to seven siblings—six adopted from Ukraine—and a brother his parents adopted from Texas. All of Barnetts' children have Down syndrome except for one, the news release said.

Stephanie Barnett said she appreciates the capabilities featured at Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central and voiced excitement about how the Stone Oak medical facility could continue growing.

“I know so many families in this area with special needs children. There are hundreds here and across San Antonio who need the type of highly specialized and highly compassionate care that the Baptist Children’s Hospital offers,” she said.

Aside from the range of medical care, BHS said Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central is active in numerous community outreach initiatives, including Halloween, when local police officers and firefighters dress as superheroes and provide safe trick-or-treating fun to hospitalized children.