A desire to use their philanthropy as effectively as possible brought Texas Children's neonatologist Dr. Leslie L. Harris and her husband, Dr. Edward G. Baptista, an adult cardiologist and recent chief of staff at Kingwood Medical Center, into the fold of Ambassadors for Texas Children's Hospital as lifetime members.
This dynamic young couple met in 1998 at Memorial Hermann Hospital when she was a student and he a resident at UT Medical School at Houston. They married in December 2009 and are building laudable careers in their fields.
They had been thinking about ways to support charitable organizations in addition to the animal rescue causes they love when they learned about the Ambassadors hospital support program. "Ambassadors seemed to be a really wonderful program targeting younger people," Dr. Harris says. "It looked like fun and a great vehicle for donating to the hospital."
"We looked into it carefully," Dr. Baptista says, "to be sure this was a program that would use the money properly. We decided it would be a good thing-plus, it supports Leslie's own cause."
Dr. Harris adds, "I can't think of a better way to use my money than to put it back into what I do-taking care of children."
Born in the Philippines, Dr. Baptista moved to the Dallas area with his family when he was 5. He received many honors and awards from high school through college and medical school and has been on staff at Kingwood since 2003.
As one of the first patient care assistants in Texas Children's pediatric intensive care unit where she worked between graduating from Smith College and being accepted at UT medical school, Dr. Harris met the hospital's late, legendary physician-in-chief, Dr. Ralph D. Feigin, who later ensured that she was able to enter Baylor's residency program.
"I also look at supporting the hospital as a way to honor Dr. Feigin and to repay as best I can the invaluable gift he gave me."